Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, Kempegowda International Airport Foundation and Touch Trust have teamed up to launch ‘Chinnara Dhama’.
The Kovid-19 epidemic has claimed the lives of countless children and has had a devastating effect on their mental and physical well-being. While some have lost both parents and no one to care for them, others are in a situation where one surviving parent is unable to provide financial and emotional support.
In a joint effort to provide care and support to the children of covid-affected families, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, Kempegowda International Airport Foundation (KIAF) and Sparsh Trust Chinnara have teamed up to launch Dhama – an initiative to provide shelter and education to 300 people. Girl child
‘Chinnara Dhama’, translated into Kannada as ‘a sanctuary for young children’ and will be a residential and educational facility within the ‘Makkala Dhama’ on campus.
Although KIAF is the CSR branch of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Sparsh Trust is a Bengaluru-based NGO working to create a safe haven for vulnerable children through their care, protection and education.
Chinnara Dhama will be run under KIAF’s flagship program Namma Shiksha (Our Education). The initiative will provide safe and secure housing, as well as social and emotional support for girls. It will provide quality education through enrollment of children in one of the schools adopted by BIAL. Children will also be provided with basic and vocational skills which are essential for developing their social skills.
Chinnara Dhama is designed to meet the basic needs of children such as shelter, food, healthcare assistance, educational and vocational training. The Makkala Dhama Campus is being built on a 2 acre property owned by Sparsh Trust at Bettakot Gram Panchayat boundary near Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore. The entire project is overseen by an independent team of volunteers consisting of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, defense and socially enlightened individuals. The campus will have a built-up space of about 46,000 square feet. The first phase of construction is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of October 2021.