English

AKTION LEBENSRETTER (Lebensretter = Lifesaver) raises funds for children and women in the slums of the Indian capital New Delhi. The donations are administered by the local non-profit organization PROJECT WHY, that is running 13 educational centers in Delhi to date to help the poorest of the poor help themselves.

This year, the collected funds of AKTION LEBENSRETTER will go to the KAMALA CENTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN and the CHILDREN’S CHANCE PROGRAM, both institutions of Project Why.

Last year, Project Why opened the KAMALA CENTER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN in one of the poorest areas of New Delhi. The center is a refuge for abused mothers and their children, provides education for local youths and women and runs a kindergarten and a primary school. Since a lot of the slum kids cannot go to school, the ambitious education in the Kamala Center provides the children with an alternative to a life on the street and a CHANCE FOR A BETTER FUTURE.
The Kamala Center has also become the new home of Jhunnu, who had been married off at 13 years, beaten and abused by her husband and driven to alcoholism. She bore her first child at 14 years, then had two miscarriages and now suffers from manic-depressive disorder. Jhunnu and other slum women are trained here to become seamstresses, beauticians and jewelry manufacturers. The more children and women can be taught here, the better the chances for the slum inhabitants will be.

After AKTION LEBENSRETTER has helped finance the initial equipment of the Kamala Center, we would like to realize the further development of the center with this year’s funds. In just one year, the institution has not only become the hope of hundreds of children who have never sat in a classroom before but also the hope of many suffering women who want to take their destiny into their own hands. In order for more slum children and women to receive education here, further sewing machines and other training materials as well as tables and chairs are needed. Furthermore, the roof of the center needs to be repaired urgently, before the next monsoon will hit the region. Also, the expenses for Jhunnu’s therapy need to be taken care of.

The CHILDREN’S CHANCE PROGRAM caters to the cases that seem particularly hopeless. It assembles together under one roof abandoned children and young adults with disabilities, orphans and half-orphans as well as children whose parents cannot or do not want to care for them. Despite these difficult conditions, the children are exceptionally bright, well-mannered and eager for knowledge. We would like to use the collected funds to send two of the particularly smart children – BABLI and ADITYA – to boarding school.

Enchanting BABLI is eleven years old, although she looks a lot younger due to her long-lasting undernourishment. Since she was born with a serious heart problem and her parents could not afford her medical treatment, they did not feel the need to invest in her future and therefore did not provide her with enough food or send her to school. Instead they made Babli do the housework or replace her father at work. AKTION LEBENSRETTER saved Babli’s life by co-financing her urgent heart surgery and post-care and has since been covering the costs of her medication. Babli’s big dream is to become a police officer. We would like to help her realize this dream by sending her to a boarding school that provides a very good and value-oriented education.

We would also like to send the five-year-old half-orphan ADITYA to the same boarding school. At her wedding, Aditya’s mother Neha had still been a child herself, and when Aditya’s father died, the rest of his family abandoned them. When Neha was diagnosed with tuberculosis a few months back, AKTION LEBENSRETTER paid for her medical treatment and saved her from a life in a wheelchair. Neha is still very weak and cannot take care of her son. Despite of his destiny and his often empty stomach, Aditya belongs to the project’s liveliest and cleverest children. He is a true sunshine!
Both Babli and Aditya have great potential to escape the vicious circle of poverty and – with the proper education – become the hope of the slum.

Every year, AKTION LEBENSRETTER flies to Delhi to ensure the successful distribution of the collected donations. In addition to our fundraising activities, we conduct SINGING AND DANCE WORKSHOPS with the slum children and women. In February 2009, we wrote and recorded a song with the slum children in which they sing about their dreams and wishes: “I WISH“.
We also organize charity concerts in Germany where we collect further donations for AKTION LEBENSRETTER.

HELP US SAVE LIVES!

If you like to get in touch with us or make a donation from outside of Germany, please contact Verenice (verenice@verenice.com) or Christian Schönborn (info@kelvinentertainment.com).