Candolim Boys Home | Buy a Cow Scheme | Community Aid
This is a government run establishment, home for 31 boys aged between 6 & 18 years. ‘Government run’ in effect means that the building is provided together with a meagre allowance for food, gas and electricity. The building is an old Portuguese house but it is in need of urgent renovation if it to be saved from collapse. The boys all attend local schools and therefore are out between 8.30 am and 3.30 pm. They are responsible for the cooking, cleaning and the chores needed to maintain the general appearance of the home and ‘garden’. They have a dormitory, which has 12 beds – the remainder sleep on the floor, and under the beds. They are visited occasionally by a ‘Home Master’ who calls to see all is well. When we first became involved at the home the conditions were very poor. The kitchen was very old and dirty with the walls crumbling and needing painting and most of the tiles were broken. The work surfaces were in an appalling state. Cooking is by way of two calor gas rings. The storeroom where the food was kept in plastic bins was also unacceptable and rats had chewed through the plastic and were living in the bins contaminating the food. There was no alternative but for the boys to eat this food. On a recent visit it was found that the gas pipe was leaking. The government department responsible for the home made an allowance of Rs300 (£3.60) whereas the cost to repair the pipe was Rs 2000 (£24). If financial aid had not been available from the charity, the boys who have no way of raising money would have been exposed to the risk of an explosion. There is no piped water – it is drawn from an open well, which is contaminated. There was neither a water purification system nor hot water. To have a bath the boys used to have to boil a large saucepan on an open fire in the back garden, which took half an hour. We have provided them with a basic water purification system, steel bins to keep the food in, second hand clothes a large ‘hundi’ to boil water in and recreational goods. We will when funds allow install an electric water purification system, two electric showers, improve the kitchen facilities and provide bunk beds. In addition we have made funds available for the boys to have a day out at a beach location and to provide food and transport for the occasion. We have also provided volunteers to help with the boy’s homework. In March 2005 our supporters Charlotte Sliney, her husband and friends donated new mattresses for all of the boys and paid for the kitchen to be retiled and redecorated in addition to supplying many other goods for the boys. In February 2006 Mr & Mrs Sliney donated two full football kits plus tennis balls, shoes and clothing. We made a donation of Rs 6000 towards the replacement of the sink unit that was leaking and needing replacement. Our involvement over the past couple of years has been to provide recreational equipment for the boys such as bicycles, cricket bats and balls etc.