Salaam Baalak Trust
A nonprofit which provides support for street and working children in the inner cities of New Delhi, and Mumbai
Hundreds of children run away from their homes every day in India and are found wandering at various railway stations across the country. A few of them become targets of sexual abusers, and this led to trafficking of many girls into prostitution. Other children get involved in child labour, where they are abused. It’s only very few of these who are actually able to go back/be sent to their families. Most of these children potentially live off and from the streets thereafter. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a child goes missing every 8 minutes in India.
Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) was established in 1988 after the success of Mira Nair’s film Salaam Bombay. SBT started work at New Delhi Railway Station with 3 staff and 25 children.
Today Salaam Baalak Trust continues to an institution to care for and rehabilitate both ‘Children of the streets’ and ‘Children from the streets’.
Today, Salaam Baalak Trust is 270 staff strong and cater to approx.10,000 children a year through their 12 contact points, 3 childlines and 7 homes.They restore approx.2000 children every year back to their families.
Our friends at Synergy Marine Group take time over the year and especially around Diwali to meet with rescued boys at Apna Ghar, an Open Shelter that the SBT manages. Upon any given time 35-60 boys in transition could be housed at the home. The staff became volunteers to teaching academic curriculum and life skills programs to the children. The staff themselves benefited immensely having interacted with the children and having added to their learning. We also help pay for the annual electricity costs of two of their homes : Arushi & Udaan