Salaam Baalak Trust - Delhi

Salaam Baalak Trust translates literally to a Trust that 'salutes a child'. Saluting the indomitable spirit of street children without any discrimination based on gender, religion, caste, colour, or nationality. The NGO 'salute' their determination to live a dignified life by providing them with care, affection, health, nutrition, education, and vocational training opportunities to help them to grow into self-reliant citizens.

Major Activities include:

Full Care Residential Programs: A safe space is the most critical need for any child to realise their full potential The Trust deeply believes in the idea of providing a secure environment for the children on the streets who have gone through some sort of mental trauma at least once in their lifetime. With this idea they have opened up various shelter homes and day care centres for boys and girls separately that work on transforming a child’s life by constant intensive engagement and counselling.

Contact Points: Contact points (CPs) are typically situated at places where one would find a vulnerable children on the streets. Once the NGO rescue the child, they then proceed with a proper medical and mental health check-up and try to trace the child’s parents if in any case that does not happen, the team then accommodate the kid at their Full Care shelter home and take care of their every need. The NGO motivates vulnerable children to attend the programmes where they have access to education, medical assistance, a healthy meal, life skills, and the opportunity of realising their full potential.

Child Helpline: Childline is a 24-hour national helpline for children in difficult circumstances - be it a child physically assaulted by an employer, a minor who has faced physical or mental abuse, a child in pain, or a lost child. Salaam Baalak Trust responds with alacrity and follows laid down protocol to be able to help the child within 60 minutes of the call being recorded. It works round the clock arranging for the affected child's immediate needs from emotional support to medical care, shelter and protection.

Mental Health & Nutrition: Regular medical check-ups of the children are done at the full-care Residential Centres and Contact Points. Individual health cards are maintained for each child, pathological tests are conducted as per the recommendation of the doctors. To meet the nutritional needs of children, nutritionally balanced and hot-cooked meals are served wherein the meals are prepared in the kitchen space provided at the centre under the supervision of staff members to ensure safe and hygienic practices. Some children are provided with special nutrition, including protein supplements, and additional servings of fruits and milk due to illnesses such as tuberculosis and malnutrition.

The intensive engagement of SBT with street children is carried out to transform them into capable and thinking individuals via enabling access to education and empowering children with skills.