With a view to customizing the life experiences of orphaned, abandoned and abused children with family mores and ethics, Udayan Care has, over the years, successfully tested and demonstrated the model of Group Foster Care and the strategy of Mentoring. This model, born from study and reflection, evolved through group experience. It is guided by the principle of Quality Care for the Disadvantaged; from Disadvantaged Life to Eternal Winners.

The system of Group Foster Care is based on the realization that as orphaned children need parenting, women, coming from highly placed situations in life too, have a need to give back to society and can extend themselves as a parent to such children. This enables them to make extended use of their parenting experiences as well as experiences of being a home maker.

Under this institutional arrangement, Udayan Care brings together a group of women with vision generally from the neighborhood of each Udayan Ghar who collectively compensate for the missing element of motherhood in Udayan Ghars. The host of other caregivers and service providers attached and associated with Udayan Ghars function under their tutelage. Udayan Care owes it to these Mentor Mothers that children of its Ghars feel as if they are living in family environment.

Mentor Mothers, under Group Foster Care, work on the following principles:

• Established & commonly accepted objectives
• Consensual methodology
• Working together - clearly chalked out work areas
• Always learning (mostly from the children) and sharing - workshopping all the time
• All thinking & action geared towards the children's end objectives
  

This is the single most critical aspect of our strategy of parenting wherein ladies of vision, volunteer to parent these children. These 'Mentor Mothers' as we call them, commit themselves to looking after the children like their own and become their friend, philosopher and guide. They do not stay with the children as they also have their own families, but take these children as their extended family.

The responsibilities of a mentor mother ranges from being a parent, a teacher, to a provider of opportunities for the development of the children. In each Home, we have two or more Mentor Mothers , who have joined hands together and do 'Group Foster Parenting' of these children. Their occupation with the children maybe 2 hours a day but their preoccupation with children is 24 X 7 as they are the ones responsible for their children's intellectual and social growth. They nurture the children, with the help of supervisors, in house caregivers, psychologists and counsellors, health specialists, social workers and volunteers: leading them from a traumatized past to a bright future.

When children come to us, they are mostly unlettered and also quite grown up with a huge history of trauma and abuse. The challenge is to enable them to get into good educational institutions in classes appropriate to their ages. The hard work of the children, Mentor Mothers, tutors and volunteers result in our children taking a quantum leap and getting admission in the best schools. This is as much a tribute to the children's desire to be educated as it is of the school principals, teachers and staff to face the challenge of having our children with them.

Presently, the children of our Homes are studying in some of the most prestigious Schools like CSKM Public School, Deep Public School, Delhi Public School, Dharam Public School, G. M. Memorial School, Mother Teresa Public School, Pragyan School, Preet Public School, Sanskriti, Tagore International, Universal Public School, etc. to name a few and also in Delhi University and Rai University and South Delhi Polytechnic. Those who are special, go to special schools like Amar Jyoti, Balvant Rai Mehta and Jan Madhyam. Some, who come in very late are prepared to enter an age appropriate class through Open School System.

Thus, children rise from a state of complete illiteracy to higher education. Recently, one of our boys, has been accepted by the prestigious residential school Nirmal Ashram, Deepmala Pagarani Public School, Rishikesh and two of our girls have found place in one of the best residential schools in Rajasthan, called Sagar School.

We systematically encourage our children to learn skills that they can use for earning a living when they grow up. Children are thus taught to make candles and paint simple earthen diyas into beautiful objects of art. These art and craft products made by our children find market outlets in melas organized from time to time. Besides this, they also learn cooking, stitching and tailoring, computer skills, music and dance as a part of routine of Udayan Ghars. Interestingly, some of our children are even being trained to become social health workers.

At Udayan Ghars, special attention is paid to each child's specific physical and mental health concerns. As most of the children have a history of trauma, which include physical as well as psychological abuse, attempts are made to heal these physical and psychological wounds. Therefore, intensive and regular health checks, immunization programmes, psychological therapies and individual counselling sessions make up an integral part of physical and mental health program.

As part of our Mental Health Programme, our children are counselled by a team of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Counsellors.

Unlike the traditional orphanages, which used to be confined within walls, LIFE Udayan Ghars are always set up in busy neighbourhoods, where the community embraces our children. This encourages a two-way relationship between the community and the children. We become like a catalyst in getting the neighbouring community involved in the lives of our children. The children too create an association with the neighbours, neighbourhood sights and sounds, which gives them a sense of bonding and belonging, thereby making the neighbourhood a part of their growing up. It also gives them an opportunity to grow in a neighbourhood environment wherein they can freely play in a neighbourhood park, intermingle with other children and celebrate festivals together. All these factors contribute to the process of our children's complete integration in the society and bringing up to be responsible citizens of society.

We believe in respect for all religions. In line with this, children celebrate all religions, whether Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or Sikhism.

Besides visiting the Homes of their respective Mentor Mothers and other willing volunteers and neighbours, our children make regular expeditions to their respective local markets, parks, temples, churches etc. We also make attempt to take children of all our Homes for joint excursions too. These excursions serve as occasions of revelry as well as an opportunity to meet their siblings from other homes and strengthen their bonds with each other. Regular picnics are held at amusement parks like Appu Ghar where our children spend the whole day and have lunch with their Mentor mothers and caregivers. They also get to see movies at cinemas and visit museums. All the outings are possible courtesy our many benefactors.

We make an effort to take our children outstation every summer in the month of June for a period of one week, in summer holidays, so that they can be away from scorching heat of Delhi and reenergize themselves. Mentor Mothers , caregivers and professional staff of all homes accompany children to the trips.

Besides outings, children also celebrate various
festivals, which promotes social integration. It serves as an opportunity for children to meet their siblings and respect each other's culture. Majority of the times, children of all Homes gather at one place, normally at out Greater Noida Home as it is the largest, and celebrate the festival, playing and singing together.

Documentation and research studies play a crucial role in Udayan Ghar programme. The in-house documentation such as Udayan Ghar Manual, Carers' Guide, Mentor Mothers' Manual and our Corporate Mentoring Programme are a regular feature. These documents serve as a reference for us to take action. The process of documentation is an on-going process, since we keep revisiting our manuals. Besides, three monthly reports are prepared on the activities of each and every Home. We also document IPP for each child and keep revisiting it at regular intervals.

• Udayan Ghar Manual: A manual has been developed regarding the functioning of Udayan Ghars, clarifying in detail the responsibilities of Mentor Mothers and caregivers.
• Carers' Guide: The Carers' Guide was developed by interns from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TIS). It exhaustively covers the tasks performed by caregivers, the competencies required, the process of identifying them and their appraisal systems.
• Mentor Mothers' Manual: Although we keep updating the documents of tasks and systems of Mentor Mothers, the manual is in the process of development.
• Corporate Mentoring Programme: With the help of iVolunteers, we have developed a manual on Corporate Mentoring Programme, under which, Corporate Mentors provide support to the professional development and growth of our children.
• Other Documentation by interns: We keep receiving interns from various places in India as well as abroad. They are provided specific assignments, after which they document the same. More…

The interns received by Udayan Care work on assignments given by us and produce research reports. We also carry research studies in relation to our specific programmes, which in turn serve as tools for monitoring of our programmes.

Our Udayan Ghar children are proving themselves in every sphere of life. They are scoring well in their schools and bagging lot of appreciation from their teachers and us. Many of them have even completed their graduation and vocational courses and have started earning. More…

The Udayan Ghar Programme is largely volunteer-based. Right from Mentor Mothers, who are 24 X 7 dedicated to their children, we have volunteers coming from the immediate Neighbourhood, Schools, Colleges, Corporates, as well from across the world, from various cultures and backgrounds. They give us their time, energy and skills and themselves so selflessly. They conduct various activities at Udayan Care and help children in myriad ways and widen our children's horizon. More..