Children at an SOS Children's Village in India

02/23/09 - The movie "Slumdog Millionaire" took home eight Oscars at Sunday's Academy Awards in Los Angeles, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie, shot in Mumbai, India, tells the story of an 18-year-old orphan from Mumbai's slums. Uneducated, he grew up with his brother on the city's streets and faced great deprivation, as well as love. His tale is revealed in flashbacks as he plays India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." At the February 22nd awards ceremony, the movie's cast and crew gathered on stage. Some of the young cast members came from the same poor areas depicted in the film. The movie is a tale of hope but also starkly portrays the sad life of India's orphaned children.

SOS Children's Villages Cares for India's Orphans

Children playing at the SOS Children's Village in Pune, India

India's economy has flourished in recent years, but poverty is still widespread in its largest cities such as Mumbai, where "Slumdog" was filmed. Poverty often produces orphaned children. SOS Children's Villages, the world's largest charity focused on providing loving homes for orphaned and abandoned children, operates 37 Children's Villages across India.

SOS operates a Children's Village in the city of Pune, 120 miles south of Mumbai. SOS-Pune has 20 family homes, a primary school and a clinic. Orphans fortunate enough to be brought to this village are raised within a stable, supportive community. SOS-Pune also manages a special center for street children and a youth facility. These facilities emphasize vocational training in preparation for higher education and the development of realistic life plans.

In 1963, Hermann Gmeiner, founder of SOS, met Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, then Prime Minister of India, who was extremely impressed by the SOS Children's Village concept. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, was instrumental in hastening the realization of the first SOS Children's Village Greenfields near Delhi in 1968.

SOS Relief Programs During Emergencies

Besides caring for children and youths, SOS also steps in during national emergencies. India has been repeatedly plagued by ethnic unrest and environmental and natural disasters. SOS Children's Villages has given immediate assistance to victims of the country's catastrophes. Examples include the 1984 toxic gas accident in Bhopal, two devastating cyclones in the 1990s, catastrophic earthquakes in Latur (1993) and Gujarat (2001), and the December 2004 tsunami. Often, SOS relief programs have subsequently been converted into permanent SOS Children's Villages.

If you would like to help a child in India secure a warm home and a bright future, consider sponsoring a child.