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Kutumb (कुटुंब) is the Hindi word for family. Recognizing that the family is the essential foundation for every living being to not just survive but to flourish, a group of young social workers shared their vision for an NGO where they could put their values into practice with integrity & transparency. After many evenings of discussion, debates & brainstorming, their vision began to take shape and they were inspired to work to make it a reality. It was a daring vision for them, considering that even they had no money for the registration fee. Dr. Ashish and Puja decided to take the risk and put their small earnings into this dream and Kutumb was born. Kutumb was registered as an NGO on December 16, 2002 with the aim to provide a family for anyone in need, without discrimination.
Leaving the security of salaried jobs required a leap of faith. We first started making community visits in the slum area of Varanasi and networking with other small NGOs. Dr. Ashish started a small clinic called ‘Life Care Point’ and focused on the problem of drug addiction, especially in children because many of them even at the age of 9-10 years were addicted to sniffing the Eraser solution. Many of these children lived and worked in the railway station and were either orphaned or were the children of addicted and poor parents. It soon became clear that in order to have an impact, we would need to dedicate programs for early intervention. We began a small childcare program in the slums to give the children a safe and drug-free environment. Very soon we got the insight that without the residential care program our interventions will have a very limited effect. But we needed greater funding to accomplish this goal.
As if our prayers were answered, in 2003, a German woman named Nicola who was volunteering in many social projects in Varanasi was inspired to lend her support to us. This was the beginning of an important and lifelong connection for the founders of Kutumb. With her help, we were able to start the Kutumb Shelter House in 2004 with three young children who were found on the railway platform.
Nicola started creating awareness about Kutumb and the great need we were attempting to address when she returned to Germany. Along with other supporters she established Kutumb-Familie Fur Benaras to help with fundraising and networking. With this increased support we were able to establish an important educational initiative known as Kutumb School Team and expanded Kutumb Baalwadi program.
After achieving some sustainability & continuity we started more programs for community development. For a long time we dreamed of starting a computer education centre. Once again, a dynamic woman named Sandra from Australia came forward to help. She arranged the necessary resources through the Ipswich City Council and Harmony & Arts. KUTUMB COMPUTER CENTRE took shape in 2007.
With increasing productivity & success came bigger responsibilities. Kutumb had stretched its wings and reached out to more needy people in a very short period of time but it was very obvious that greater expansion was required to meet the tremendous needs of the community. The building we have rented as the base for our activities was adequate for day services but not nearly large enough to provide those services and be a home. The thought of so many children waiting for help on the railway platform inspired us to design our dream project KUTUMB VILLAGE to accommodate a large number of street children in a family atmosphere.
It didn’t take a long time for our children to get an answer to their prayers. In the year 2009 we met Katie from USA. Initially she started funding the Community Health Program through her organization Vision Builders and we developed a very good relationship through visits and emails within a very short period. In 2010, Vision Builders decided to offer help for KUTUMB VILLAGE by funding the purchase of a piece of land where we can build the dream home of every Kutumb child. It is still hard for us to believe that now our children will have a better place to live which they need and are longing for.
Now with your love, care, support & good wishes KUTUMB has entered into a new phase where we are striving to strengthen our basic structure in the form of KUTUMB VILLAGE and to translate all the resources into millions of smiles. We are hoping that history will repeat itself again & again with our success and our projects will flourish with your love & support.
