UDAYAN is a Sanskrit word signifying 'Eternal Sunrise.' Udayan Care Trust, registered under Indian law in New Delhi, on 7th February 1994, is an organisation for parenting orphaned, abandoned and abused children. It also extends its activities to disadvantaged women and girls who are keen to study but come from poor and/or first generation learning families.
It currently parents 113 children spread across six Ghars (Homes), three for girls and three for boys. We follow a strategy called LIFE - Living In Family Environment.
We extend such a strategy of LIFE into other areas of social development. These are empowerment of the girl-child through the Udayan Shalini Fund for supporting education of meritorious but poor children for high school, college, university and vocational training courses. We currently support 673 such students who are spread across classes XI and XII, college, vocational and professional courses, college, university and vocational training courses.

We get our children from various sources: Child Welfare Committee, Directorate of Social Welfare, Police, Childline (which is a free telephone hotline service available by dialling 1098), Non Governmental Organisations like Prayas, Butterflies and Salaam Balak Trust, etc. Our children are orphaned, abused and abandoned; and have not been able to find adoptive parents. As a rule, we only take children who do not have parents. So far we have touched the lives of 143 children out of which 113 are currently residing with us in our six homes (65 girls and 48 boys). 

Is there any age criteria for these children?
Yes. Ideally we like to take children who are past the adoption age of 5 years. This means that we take children between the ages of 6 and 12;though there have been some exceptional cases.

What is the Udayan Care Ghar (Home) model?
We make the conscious effort to have our Ghars in middle class neighbourhoods to encourage two-way interaction. The children are under the care of Mentor Mothers/ Fathers who take care of the value guidance and training of the children. These are well-placed people who commit themselves to bringing up these children. Caregivers look after the physical needs of the children. Tutors take care of educational needs, supervised by the Mentor Mothers. The children study in the best neighbourhood schools.

Tell me more about Mentor Mothers/Father?
Mentor Mothers/ Fathers are like the parents that many of us have had the advantage of having with us all the time. In fact, they are, indeed, parents, who have now voluntarily decided to participate in Community-strengthening.
They have chosen to be mothers/ fathers to the Udayan Care children. They own responsibility for imparting good value systems to the children, hugging them to soothe their emotional traumas and pain and to run to the doctor when they scrape their knee at play!

Who qualifies to be a Mentor Mother/Father?
Anybody, with love, compassion and tons of patience! Bringing up a few kids in a family is often bad enough to test a person's patience. Here, there are a dozen at a time! Seriously speaking, choosing to become a Mentor Mother/ Father is a fantastic way to participate in strengthening the community.

Do they stay with the children?
Not physically, all the time. They spend quality time with the children every day 24/7. These Mentor Mothers/ Fathers still have families to run. So it is not as if they share and apportion their time. No way. Like Superman, and in our case Superwoman too, they create 48 hours every single day!

Do we own the flats where we have our Udayan Ghars?
We prefer to own the flats since the children who come to us have a history of disturbed and uprooted existence and through permanent residences; we try to develop a sense of stability in them. Unfortunately, we do not own all our 6 Homes but try to make use of what is available to us, accepting the fact that different opportunities require different strategies.

Is it not risky keeping girl-children?
Of course it is. More importantly, many of these children have already survived 'High-Risk' living. We have ex-street children; terribly abused and molested girls and emotionally traumatised children, among others. But then, God always favours the brave!

How do we look after them?
Through the Individual Progress Plan (IPP). This is prepared for every child under the supervision of senior professionals in education and counseling. For instance, it may be more important to deal with the scars of abuse before emphasizing on an academic curriculum. The balance that is created is the key to the child's progress.

Who pays for the upkeep of the children?
The Trust raises its own funds through donations, sponsorships and events. Many individuals, Trusts, Foundations and Corporates support us.

How do we handle their emotional traumas?
With great difficulty! There's no running away from the fact that emotional trauma is extremely difficult to both cope with and handle. What is marvellous is that our children soon become active participants in the 'Battle to be Eternal Winners!'

Can I start an Udayan Ghar?
Yes, definitely. All it takes is the madness of a mother or a father, determined to make a difference. Determination, tenacity, equanimity and a calm mind, some money- it all helps. In other words, just relive bringing your child up.

What do we plan for the 'Set Free' above 18 years old children?
We have set up Jag Shanti LIFE Udayan Ghar, where our young girls stay and prepare themselves for a career at work and for the home, as per their choice. This is at Greater Noida. The young boys continue to live with us till the time they finish their education. If they are undergoing a correspondence course and have started earning, they are shifted to a Paying Guest accommodation, near their workplace. This applies to our young working girls as well.

Tell me about the Udayan-Shalini Fellowships.
The Udayan-Shalini Fellowships are designed to enable female students of outstanding moral and leadership ability from economically weak families to pursue a course of study that would facilitate self-fulfillment, including getting good jobs. Also, as a direct consequence of their job efforts, influence the social development of women. Such studies would include graduate, post graduate, doctoral, vocational and special short-term courses. It would include senior secondary students (classes XI and XII).

Computer Learning Centers.
In February 2006, Udayan Care and Microsoft joined hands to setup four Community-based Technology Learning Centers. It is a unique endeavor by Microsoft to join hands with NGOs and set up these centers to broaden horizons and bring IT close to the lives of underserved women and children. Under this programme, Microsoft provides technology training, called 'Community Technology Skills Programme', ranging from basic computer literacy skills to the usage of internet and business productivity applications to individuals who are underserved.

In the year 2007, we setup one more Computer Training & Learning Center with the support of Microsoft and Raman Kant Munjal Foundation in Dharuhera, Haryana. Till Jan. 2008 we have successfully enrolled 2458 trainees (1453 male, 995 female) from our 5 centers. In the same year, we shifted one of our centre to Badarpur and joined hands with Kishwarna Charitable Trust.

The project has been undertaken in the wake of growing demands for computer education and IT among the underserved urban and semi-urban communities. The use of computer and IT is vitally important for better job prospects for the community as well as in the counseling programme for the children as it enables them to plan their career options in a more informed manner as well as it develops their self esteem.

What is CREATE?
CREATE is an acronym for Centre for Rehabilitation, Education and Thought Enrichment and is located within the premises of Jagshanti Udayan Care at Greater Noida. It incorporates

• Computer Learning & Training Center .

• Life Skills Programme through which we teach Stitching, Tailoring, Beauty Therapy and other skills to community and village women. We also teach them basic English conversation.

• Counselling and Guidance Centre for our children as well as children and parents of community

• Library, Art Gallery etc.

What is the model of computer centers?
We setup our computer Training centers in semi-urban areas with the support of Microsoft for imparting IT skills to the underserved community. In each of our computer centers there are 11 computers, well equipped with LAN and Internet facility.

What courses do you teach in your computer centers & what are the charges?
We provide following courses for imparting IT skill. Our charges for computer education are Rs.150/- to 200/- per month for every course, we are also providing free education to the needy trainees.

a. CTSP ( Community Technology Skill Programme)
b. DCA (Diploma In Computer Application)
c. Web Designing
d. TALLY (Accounting Package)
e. DTP (Desktop Publishing)
f. C++ (Programming language)
g. English Speaking

How many students have passed out from your Computer Centres and how many got placements?
We have enrolled more then 2458 trainees by January 2008, out of these 1053 candidates successfully trained and certified, 30% of them get jobs in prestigious Banks, BPOs, Companies etc. (who have completed there 10+2 or are above 20yrs of age.)

Can, I start a computer center?
Yes, definitely you can start computer center. Please contact our head office for more details.

What is the Udayan Outreach programme-ve children of HIV +ve parents ?
It is an outreach, home-based programme where we support children, who are not HIV +ve, but are an offspring of HIV +ve parents. We believe that being HIV +ve still permits a parent to love, care and share with the child. On the passing away of one or both the parents, Udayan Care assures the child placement in one of its long-term residential care homes.

Is Udayan Care Trust supported by any religious organisation?
No. We are a secular organisation in the best spirit of Indian tradition. We have children from different religions with us.