History

2004

Our organization began rather spontaneously in April 2004, when Elizabeth, a freshman at Emory University at the time, woke up one morning feeling resolved to open a home for street children in India. Inspiration for the project came from her high school experience in India working with street children, as well as from the writings of anthropologist, physician, and activist Paul Farmer. Within a week, she had outlined her ideas and rallied a group of six committed friends and classmates to form the original board of directors; and so, less than a week after it was a mere spark of an idea, our organization had become a tangible entity with clear, substantive goals. After extensive debate about a suitable name, the organization was officially christened the "Ashraya Initiative for Children" about four months later. Ashraya, which means "hope," "trust," "shelter," and "protection" in Hindi, became the clear choice as it embodied precisely what we aspired to provide for our children.

To lay the initial foundations for the home, Liz spent the summer of 2004 in Mumbai, India, and was joined mid-way through by Julia. Both lived in a home for street children on the outskirts of Mumbai, spent the weekdays working on research and photography among the street children living in railway stations around the city, and traveled to Pune on weekends to observe other NGOs, meet with the Charity Commissioner, look at real estate options, and develop a future budget for running expenses. They returned to their respective universities in the fall, as did the rest of the Board, and resumed work on the legal, financial, and administrative aspects of the organization. The Montreal, Austria, and Atlanta-based branches were officially launched that fall as we worked to expand the reach of our organization and the Atlanta-based organization became a registered non-profit in December 2004.

2005

In January 2005, Liz headed back to Pune. She spent the spring house-hunting and working at a drop-in center for street children near the Shivaji Nagar railway station in order to develop a better understanding of the logistics and administrative experience required to run a grassroots NGO working with street children. In May 2005, she was joined by directors Amber and Zahra, and the three spent long days assessing options for nearby schools, arranging for necessary fixtures and furniture, working through red tape with social workers, and setting up the house until they were ready to collapse each night (who would have thought that building shelving units, painting cupboards, and clearing pigeon nests out of lofts could have been so taxing?). One month later, June 2005, the hard work of AIC supporters and directors around the globe was rewarded when welcomed our first batch of children (Sanjay, Akash and Basraj) and celebrated the much-awaited opening of the Ashraya Initiative for Children home for street kids.

We won't pretend it wasn't a challenging first summer as a family, as we all (kids and adults included) had to learn to adjust to the new surroundings, schedule, and most importantly, to each other. We made it through intact, however, and stronger for the wear (or, at least, that's what we like to tell ourselves!). Outside of India around the same time, the Canadian branch registered as a non-profit in July 2005, and the Japanese branch was formally established around the same time. Back at the home, we took in a fourth child (Geeta) in September, and our first live-in caretaker Sangeeta joined the family about a week later.

2006

Back at the home, we took in a fourth child (Geeta) in September, Santosh, our fifth child, came to us in February 2006, and we had a relatively quiet spring, until the arrival of Sonali, Kajal, Tushar, and Jyoti during one week in late April. Having been at the home (and in an English-speaking environment) for just a few months, our younger children all joined English-medium school in June 2006 – a very impressive achievement! Kavita, our second live-in caretaker (definitely necessary by this point!) moved in at the beginning of July 2006. With nine children, two live-in caretakers and 2-3 directors living in a three-bedroom apartment, space was suddenly tight. Right around that time, we started thinking about searching for a new, permanent home.

In mid-July, we launched our first community outreach program - educational support for street girls. These girls do have parents or guardians, but work or live on the streets (many beg at the tourist areas at night). We started our “education outreach program” by enrolling the girls in school, providing tutoring, food, medication and material support (clothing, school supplies). Our home directors and volunteers also started organizing occasional extracurricular activities. Having become community health workers overnight, AIC director Jasleen and caretaker Sangeeta took a crash course in pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis. We partnered with a local DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy) clinic and became an officially registered DOTS dispensary.

Around that same time, we started forming the local links that led to the formation of our Pune branch, and halfway around the globe, our UK branch was being established at the London School of Economics.

Although AIC is still a young organization, we have come a long way - from a mere pipe dream to a home, nine amazing children, community outreach work, and supporters worldwide. We are excited to imagine what lies ahead, and hope that you will join us in our endeavors.