El Shaddai

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A Refuge for Children of the Streets
While Goa attracts a large number of the bold and the beautiful, what is not too well known is that it also attracts a large number of people from the fringes of society – the poor and the poorest of the poor who hope to better their lives by having a small slice of the tourism pie, or at least some crumbs.
An English woman who was on holiday in Goa spotted a migrant child scavenging through a garbage bin in Calangute and felt something tugging at her heart. Three days into Anita Edgar’s holiday in Calangute in 1996, she was appalled to see street children begging and living in filthy conditions. She had earlier been doing charity work during the war and other trying periods in Bosnia, Albania and Romania in the early ‘90s, but didn’t really expect to see the kind of suffering she found right here in Goa. She says, “The poverty really shocked me. I felt I had to do something.”
Coincidentally, a certain Matthew Kurian moved to Goa from Kerala to work with Kripa Foundation, an NGO working to rehabilitate drug addicts and alcoholics. Staying in the coastal belt of Bardez, north Goa, where drug abuse was rampant in tourism-dominated villages like Anjuna and Calangute, a chance visit to a slum in the area changed Matthew’s perspective on life completely.
The desperate lifestyle of the slum-dwellers shocked him, he says, and his heart especially went out to the children who were living in those conditions. He saw the youngsters begging on the streets and collecting rubbish and eating out of garbage bins to relieve their hunger.
Mathew began by teaching them the importance of clean drinking water and healthy food. The more he interacted with the slum-dwellers and their children, Matthew began to see his mission in life: to start homes and shelters for these children. But due to lack of funds he could not do so. A Christian pastor, Matthew would hold Sunday prayer meetings at the Faith Community Church in Calangute.
A chance meeting between Anita and Edgar changed both their lives and the lives of more than 3,000 children over the years. A mutual acquaintance who met Anita Edgar while she was taking a stroll on Calangute beach took her to meet Matthew. It was a meeting of kindred souls. Together they began a charity called El Shaddai Charitable Trust (ESCT) and have been working together ever since. From a humble beginning in 1996, El Shaddai went on to win the National Award for Child Welfare 2008, presented by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to its co-founder Matthew Kurian in New Delhi.
Based in Assagao, El Shaddai is devoted to child rescue and support of underprivileged street children and women, says Mathew as we chat in his office in Assagao. Anita returned to England after that first visit and set about raising funds for a children’s home. At first the reaction was disappointing but soon her prayers were answered. As the funds started coming in, Anita returned to Goa and set up a school and health clinics in the slums. A search was soon underway for a suitable property for the first children’s home. They rescued the first 15 children in 1997 and opened a small children’s home.  Today they have over 3,500 children in their care in many states in India. Many of their first children who have completed college, university or vocational training are now qualified and out in the world maintaining good jobs.
Matthew has travelled the length and breadth of India to promote the welfare of children and is working bring an alternative ‘Non-Formal Educational System’ to the country. He has also travelled to many countries overseas to promote El Shaddai. Anita Edgar, co-founder and executive trustee, is the main fundraiser, providing the money needed to look after the children by finding sponsors. She works in Goa from November to April every year and then often travels to the U.S., Europe and Australia raising funds and promoting the much-needed work of El Shaddai. When she eventually reaches home in Devon, UK, she continues to tour the UK, giving talks and slide show presentations. The children affectionately call her ‘Anita Mother’.
Says Mathew, “Our day and night shelters provide the first line of refuge to children on the streets. Here they find daily nutritious meals and a bed for the night should they require it. Counsellors are available to them to talk to and for guidance. We also try to place these children in local government schools so they get off the streets.”
They also have five orphanages, where children are housed and cared for full-time. Children in their homes receive a roof over their heads, food and clothing. More importantly, staff is constantly on hand to offer help, guidance and most importantly, love. “We also provide a meal every day to needy children through our ‘Manna Meals on Wheels’ feeding programmes in three cities in Goa, Mapusa, Margao and Vasco,” says Mathew.
Shanti Niketan is the open school run by El Shaddai in Assagao Goa, catering exclusively to street children in their homes. The school enables the children to answer the national examinations, giving them opportunities in the job market. Some of these children also opt for vocational training on completion of basic schooling.
To volunteer, donate or support El Shaddai in any other say, check out their website
www.elshaddaigoa.org