Help support an amazing charity providing a family for over 65 abused and abandoned children in West Bengal by giving them the funds to finish building their secondary school, allowing them to be financially sustainable forever..

 

A great friend of mine introduced me in 2007 to Familia and its founder, KC Thomas, a lively, inpiring man with a vision - to offer the joys and benefits of family to abused or abandoned children who would otherwise never had a chance to bond with a caring adult.  

 

KC and his wife Kavita founded the charity, Familia back in 1977 by purchasing some farm land in the village of Bhaluka, 55km north of Kolkata in West Bengal. Over the years, they have built four houses here caring for a total of 65 children. In each house between 14-16 children share a foster mother and father (a husband and wife couple), who look after the children as if they were their own. Girls and boys of all ages live in the house together - providing a family feel. Every child is cared for and provided with an education to the level of their individual ability – many are currently studying for their degrees. When the time comes to leave Familia KC ensures that their future is secured and maintains close contact with all the children, so as the years go by, Familia's family grows!

 

Familia is a beautiful and inspiring place surrounded by the charity's own crops of rice, semolina, mango trees, banana tress and fish ponds which provide the children with a space to play, food and the charity with a little money. Familia already has its own English medium primary school so building on this success KC’s dream is to allow the pupils to continue education in their own secondary school, helping to provide even more opportunities for it’s own children and those in nearby villages.

 

This school building is underway - with classes already being taught there, though it is still to be completed, which is why they need our help! Once it's finished, it will be the only English medium secondary school in the area of Bhaluka – for which demand is high. The school will also the answer to the survival of Familia itself, since the fees paid by villagers who can afford it will make Familia sustainable financially – which is not the case at present.

  

With our help…they can do it!