Article du volume XI de Sitara de novembre 2002

Les Galopins de Calcutta

WITH MORE THAN 10 MILLION PEOPLE, CALCUTTA IS THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT CITY IN INDIA WHERE APPROXIMATELY 100 000 CHILDREN LIVE IN THE STREETS.

"Les Galopins de Calcutta" is a humanitarian association that support the project of a young French woman, who has decided to work in India with orphans, abandoned children and children who have run away from home to escape continuous abuse. It is in the big railway station (Howrah station), where most of those children gather and live. There, they look for something to eat in the leftovers of the restaurant coach. They live day by day, in abject poverty and in very unhygienic conditions. It is unbearable to watch these children doomed to suffer.

Therefore, since July 1999, the association (3 people in India, and few friends and relatives in France) has succeeded in opening two homes for boys, where they have managed to take 13 children from 5 to 16 years old and who are now leading a stable life. The emphasis of this project is not quantity but quality; the number of those children should not exceed 20. Moreover, this project has to recreate a warm and homely atmosphere for the children providing them an adequate education, but also developing artistic and athletic aptitude. Volunteers do their best to initiate them to music, art and help them with their studies. The main idea is to give them an opportunity to build for themselves a solid future, which can be possible only if they go to private English schools.
It is extremely expensive to provide the basic necessities namely food, clothing, uniforms, school fees, medical care, books and other material in order to allow them to enjoy a decent and comfortable life.
In the same way, regular help is given to those who choose to stay at the railway station or who cannot be taken at the home due to lack of place, by providing them with medical care, food and other basic necessities.
Hence we would appreciate any kind of financial contribution that you are willing to give us.
If you would like more information you may visit the web site :
www.galopinsdecalcutta.org or contact someone of the association located in France at the following phone numbers :
33.01.34.74.71.47 or 33.02.33.67.07.01 or at the following email :
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Thank you on behalf of all of them.

 

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