OrphansFamily (A Social Permaculture Enterprise that supports orphan girls and orphaned elderly women)
Sense of belongingness is the blessing the orphans seek for. To fill this void, we, OrphansFamily, empower and shelter destitute women by building social bonds between orphans girls and orphaned elderly women in an environmentally and financially sustainable facility that works under the permaculture principles.
Project location: India
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Read more:- http://www.jpost.com/Enviro-Tech/Indian-student-to-build-innovative-orphanage-using-Israeli-permaculture-techniques-318504
The Problem:
According to
UNICEF, India is a home to over 31 million orphaned children. Indian
states often face difficulties providing for these children’s and much of the
work is left to non government efforts. However, sheltered homes run by
not-for-profit institutions must seek external funding for their survival,
making these home dependent on external sources. The bulk of their
funding comes from donations made by individuals, charitable foundations and
corporations.. Even with these extra organizations a large number of orphans
remain destitute and without any real support.
“The
gaps in services affect many vulnerable people. Their stories are compelling.
Ten year old Aamina lost both of her parents at the young age of four years
old, and is striving to become a Doctor against all odds. Ninety-one year old
Palayamma who was driven out by her family to the streets with no belongings is
struggling to meet her ends. The question remains on how to support and enable
these vulnerable individuals, and to strengthen their chances to overcome their
situation.”
Aamina (10) Palayamma (91)
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Our Project
What makes our
model different is that after the initial seed funding our protected home will
be completely self-reliant. The home
utilizes permaculture design which ensures that the facility will be an
environmentally sustainable institution. The benefits of the model are twofold:
supplying the needs of the facility and generating additional revenue through
eco-social tourism and as a social permaculture learning center.
This unique facility
combines a multipurpose use with social entrepreneurship, which is unlike any
other endeavor. The building will house 20 elderly widowed women as an elderly
care home. The orphaned children (who have no parents) and the widowed women
will create an artificial family that will support one another both emotionally
and socially.
By combining
young orphaned girls and elderly widowed women, our facility will be an
innovator in the way it can mitigate the challenge of homeless orphaned girls
and widowed elderly women.
What we need
We require a
one-time start-up sum of $60,000 to purchase the land, build 20 housing units on
a two hectare farm purchase livestock, equipment, and for a biogas unit.
Everything
else, including the labor to build the facility, clothes, beds and the solar
panels are all contributions from volunteers and one-time donations.
The revenue
earned from annual operations will allow us to build a second home within five
years.
The Impact
The onetime
investment of $60,000 translates to giving 40 people $4 a day for one year. For
this price, we will feed and shelter destitute orphaned girls and elderly women
an average of 20 years.
What that
means, is that for less than $0.20 (twenty cents) per person we can create a
facility that will feed, shelter and give love to 40 people for a lifetime and
build more such facilities.
Project Timeline
Jan - July 2014 - Drafting and publication of a Best Practice Manual, that will form the basis of the running of the home, in terms of the technical support (including the permaculture), the medical and social back-up, and the participatory management procedures.
First year
onward (Aug 2014-) – Permanent agriculture
Second year
onward (May 2015-) – Elderly Women orphans would take shelter and be active in
the facility
Third year
onward (May 2016-) – Orphan girl children will come in to the facility to
build social bonds forming OrphansFamily.
About
Us
After graduating Masters of Science in
agriculture, I worked for a decade with different nonprofits. Later, during my
second masters program (environmental studies) at Tel Aviv University, I
developed the concept of Orphansfamily – a national social permaculture project
(http://www.orphansfamily.org/).
OrphansFamily
is a project implemented by MUYARCHI a charity registered under
Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Act, 1975, working in Tamil Nadu, India
(Registered number 205/2009). MUYARCHI holds 80 G and 12 AA certification.
Orphansfamily is the national social permaculture project.
Last year my wife gave birth to our
beautiful son Benzion, and I was also awarded “Israel-Asia Leaders
Fellow.”
Have any questions:
Please feel free to write to Joshua @ godfrey.joshua@gmail.com or call 00919894758246. I would be more than happy to hear you and reply to your queries.
Please help us by spreading the word to get featured on the home page of Indiegogo.
What is permaculture?
Permaculture, a combination of the words permanent and agriculture,
offers a unique approach to the practice of sustainable farming and living.
Permaculture sites integrate plants, animals, landscapes, structures and humans
into symbiotic systems where the products of one element serve the needs of
another. A cornerstone of permaculture philosophy is to turn problems into
opportunities, and apparent "wastes" into resources. Once
established, a permaculture system can be maintained using a minimum of
materials, energy and labor. A permaculture system is designed to be diverse,
so that even when one element fails, the system has enough stability and
resilience to thrive.
