Family Houses

…halfway home and long-term family based care…

Namaste family houses, increasing in number through the years, is a project that started from the very beginning of the Organization as an alternative solution to orphanages, in order to meet food, care, affection and educational needs of less fortunate children: orphans or children stemming from families that, owing to different reasons, are not able to look after them in a proper way. If not protected, such children might be sent to orphanage or end up in the street with no abode.

Family houses are within a protection scheme for destitute children, widely accepted by governments and major international agencies dealing with children in adverse conditions.

Family House admission is usually opted with kids that have lived through the deaths of their parents, neglect or abandonment. In such cases children are admitted in one of our family houses, where a young couple – most of the times - or single women are nurturing them and equipping them for life. Selected house parents are looking after the children in the houses and providing needful care and attention to the education, health and character formation of the children.

Housekeepers undergo a careful and strict selection procedure to the end of evaluating their eligibility. Applicant housekeepers have to be educated and a good example in society. Namaste Wings to Fly is then in charge of selecting proper housing for the purpose, with all facilities and comfortable enough to accommodate maximum 10 children.

All housekeeping mothers are asked to follow guidelines and instructions regarding food menu, education and neatness provided by Namaste. They are also regularly visiting the school of their children to enquire about their performance and behaviour, which shall then reported to Namaste concerned staff. They undergo monthly meetings in Namaste headquarters to discuss problems, progress with other mothers along with Namaste social workers and key staff of the organization and in order to jointly find solutions to experienced problems.

A total of 140 children are presently living in our 15 family houses. We also make efforts to keep natural brothers and sisters united, raising them together in the same family. Children are staying in the same family house without any discrimination of castes and creeds. All children are admitted in the nearby schools for education and among them 27 are in English Medium schools. Most of the students are getting tuition classes in the premises of Namaste Tuition Centre, in order to ensure high quality education through our skilled and trained tuition teachers and to develop a feeling of belonging to the same Namaste community. A dedicated team of the organization is working for the educational improvement of our family house children.

Regular medical checkup and issue of medicine are being carried out for the health improvement of the children. For medical assistance there is a nurse working full time taking care of all medical issues concerning the children.

If members of the family are there, children are allowed to go home during major holidays and parents/relatives may visit them whenever they want to.