Sneha Bhavan is a leading non-governmental – non-profit organization working for the underprivileged boys and girls in the city of Cochin, India. This organization is run by Don Bosco fathers, registered under The Travancore- Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955.

Today people talk about street children and child labourers like they never did thirty years ago. The Corporation of Cochin and the Don Bosco Welfare Center Society focused on this issue 46 years ago and the result is Sneha Bhavan. 46 years of partnership for the cause of the disadvantaged children is something very rare and unique in our country. Back in 1974, we had ventured on the road less travelled by most others. Over the last many years, thousands of children at risk have slid back into the mainstream society crafting identities and a respectable social niche, successfully discarding their painful past. Sustaining the quality and sanctity of a home, Sneha Bhavan has grown both as a work and as a network.

Currently we have seven different centers in Cochin, Kerala for the rescue and rehabilitation of children in need of care and protection. It has become the locus for the commitment, involvement and participation of many men and women. In the process, the children for whom the home exists have been the gainers. They feel wanted, better loved, cared for, educated, trained and rehabilitated. Many families think about this home when they have a celebration at home. Thanks to the part and participation of the Cochin Corporation, the Don Bosco Society, corporates, clubs, Trusts, volunteers, social workers, friends and well wishers.

We need many more works and networks for children worldwide to improve the quality of their lives and systems to build up a public consciousness and a political will that is favourable to children in difficult situations.

Vision

Inspired by Don Bosco and challenged by marginalization, we will strive by our attitudes, way of life and actions, to empower children and young at-risk in order to create a child friendly society by networking with likeminded individuals and groups.

.

Mission

To reach out to the children on the street and young at-risk, to rescue them, to heal the brokenness in their lives, to inspire and support them towards a new life, to accompany them back to the mainstream society and catalyzing for the best interest of children is the mission of Don Bosco Sneha Bhavan

Objectives

The objectives of the project are:

  • To reintegrate the children/youth found on the streets with their own family.
  • To provide shelter to those who have no home and provide them with opportunities for holistic growth of body, mind and spirit.
  • To bring about an overall psycho-social development of the children/youth in the project.
  • To improve the overall educational status of street and working children, slum children, neglected children, children of sex workers, girls on the street, socially disadvantaged groups and school dropouts in order to integrate them into society with skills, self-employment, rehabilitation and the confidence to begin empowered lives.
  • To make children at risk, respectable citizens with skills, self-confidence, dignity and integrity.
  • To help them to find a job, and found a family of their own.
  • To make them catalysts for the transformation of society to act in favour of children at risk.
  • To protect street children against all forms of abuse and exploitation.
  • To spread awareness and elicit understanding among the general public about the problems of children at risk.
  • To facilitate a network of agencies towards a co-ordinated effort in working with street children.
  • To conduct research studies on the problems of children at risk with the objective of evolving strategies to improve their lives.