I promised a post explaining more about the NGO that I’m working with called Salaam Baalak Trust. So, I will attempt to explain all the great work they do here in Delhi.
Salaam Baalak Trust can be roughly translated to mean “hello street kid”. SBT was started in 1988 by a woman named Praveen Nair who was a social worker. Her daughter is a famous Indian director who directed a movie called Salaam Bombay and in the movie she used real street children as actors (similar to what they did in Slum Dog Millionaire years later). The movie was nominated for an Oscar and won 8 other awards including several at the Cannes Film Festival. Ms. Nair was so moved by the street children her daughter used in the film that she began SBT with 3 employees and they worked with 25 children that year. Today SBT has over 160 full-time employees and they work with over 6,000 children each year. They run day-care facilities for street children, full-time shelter homes, open shelters for street children so they have a safe place to go, a mobile bus that goes into slum areas, a performing arts program and a partnership with the government run Childline (toll-free number). They work with children ages 6-18.
Here’s the way it works. Most children arrive at the New Delhi train station when they arrive in Delhi. (For information on how kids end up on the street read my earlier post about street life.) New Delhi train station is the second busiest train station in India. India has almost 1.3 billion people so it’s a really busy train station! About 120 kids arrive each day in Delhi. SBT has social workers that work at the New Delhi train station (as well as other stations) looking for new kids that have just arrived. It’s best to get to them early before the pimps, traffickers, gangs and handlers that will use them to steal and beg. The social workers talk to the child and build trust. Once the child agrees to receive help they are immediately removed from the street. SBT works with the Indian child welfare department to find a place for the child. Often times they are placed in a temporary SBT shelter home sometimes a government home. Then SBT and the government attempt to locate the child’s parents as they believe that parents should ultimately be responsible for their children. Once the parents are located they must be checked out to ensure it is a safe place for the child to return. Then the parents must come to Delhi with ID and pick up their child. Afterwards, SBT follows up to ensure the situation remains safe for the child. About 70% of the children are returned home. However, If the situation is not safe for the child to return then full time shelter is found for the child within the SBT system of shelter homes. There the child will receive everything they need in life; healthcare, food, shelter, education, job skills, exercise, activities, dental care etc.
Here are the different types of shelters SBT runs.
Contact Point: A contact point is where they initially encourage the kids to go when they are first developing a relationship. SBT runs 18 contact points around Delhi. Contact points are open 3-4 hours a day and are in the areas the children live. Many children live on the streets with their mothers or entire family. It is very difficult to convince the families to send their child to a full time shelter facility. The contact point is a place where they can go to receive healthcare, counseling, lunch, play games and receive informal education. On Friday the children get to watch TV. This is a BIG draw for the kids and they tell them that if they join a full care shelter home they get to watch TV everyday. They use this as motivation!
Open Shelters: SBT runs 2 open shelters. These are shelters where the boys can come and go. The first open shelter was opened for older boys so they can begin to learn to manage their own schedule and leave to attend formal school and job training programs. They recently opened an open shelter in Old Delhi for kids of all ages to have a safe place to go day or night. Here they receive healthcare, food, a safe place to sleep or stay during the day, games and of course TV. 
Short-Term Care Facility: This is where the children go when SBT and or the government is trying to locate the family. SBT has one short-term facility. Here children receive food, shelter, healthcare, informal education, activities, and yes TV!
Full Care Shelter Home: This is exactly what it says…a full care home for the kids. Everything they need is provided. Many of the boys I’ve seen are even wearing braces on their teeth! They can take karate, dance, music, acting, sports classes, photography, art, computer skills, job training, yoga etc. Some of the boys attend school at the home, some of the boys attend government school. One boy showed so much promise that SBT got him a scholarship to a boarding school where he is living and studying. They try to foster and develop each child’s skills and interests when they show potential. In 2014 they received the U.S. National Arts and Humanities Award for their performing arts program. They were the only international organization to be recognized. SBT has 5 full-time shelter homes…3 for boys and 2 for girls. They have about 300 boys and 100 girls living in full-time shelter homes.
Childline: Childline is a toll-free number run by the Indian government throughout India. If a child is in trouble or if an adult wants to report a child in trouble they call this number. SBT partners with Childline in central Delhi responding to the calls along with the police.
Mobile Bus: SBT has a mobile bus that goes into slum areas in Delhi and encourages children to come attend informal school there. In addition, they provide lunch, hygiene lessons and access to healthcare. Oh…and of course, there’s a TV on the bus Last year the mobile bus enrolled 100 kids into government school. This is a new program for SBT and they currently have only one bus.
Whew! This is a long post, but I wanted to share all the great work they do. You can check them out yourself at www.salaambaalaktrust.com I’ll do a future post on girls on the street and within SBT as well as a post on some of the best success stories I’ve heard (and met!) so far.
