Family Follow-up

This program aims at supporting the single-parented families of the slum, mostly deserted or widowed mothers left alone with their children.

All the beneficiaries, many of them widows who got into debt for their husband’s funeral, live in the deepest state of poverty. Private money-lenders practise huge interest rates – up to 20% per week – and seize the house or hut of such vulnerable women whenever they fail to repay their loan.

After being carefully selected, the beneficiaries of this program become sponsored through the organization. A bank account is opened under their name and they receive, from their sponsor, a monthly allocation ranging from Rs.1,200 to Rs.2,500, depending on the number of children in the family.

This amount is meant to meet the basic needs of their children in terms of health, education, food, etc. Regular school and evening tuition attendance are compulsory for the children of the sponsored families, and vocational trainings for teenagers who have been dropped-out from school.

The youngest children – both sponsored and on waiting-list – who are just starting their schooling, are systematically referred to English Medium Schools. Unfortunately, elder children who attend Government Schools, where lessons are taught in Tamil, are not able to switch to English Medium School because of their low level in English.

Furthermore, the sponsored women have to subscribe to a un iversal health insurance, which covers the family’s medical expenses.

After a few months of a strict family follow-up led by SPEED Trust social workers, the women supported can bail themselves out of the deepest poverty and join the other programs of the Trust.

Several families who cannot be sponsored are meanwhile punctually supported, particularly for children school fees. Today, more than 100 families from various slum areas benefit from this program.

Sponsors : Follow your family