Hyderabad

Country information

In April 1999, Mr Kutin, President of SOS-Kinderdorf International, was told about more than 200 infants from the province of Andhra Pradesh who had been bought from their parents for adoption. These children were then living under terrible conditions in a home run by the local authorities. 30 of them were admitted to SOS Children's Village Visakhapatnam immediately. In order to help the others as well, SOS Children's Villages India took over the children's home where they were living. The German SOS Promoting Association Hermann-Gmeiner-Fonds Deutschland provided funds to cover medical costs and to help re-link the children with their parents. By October, SOS Children's Villages India had managed to improve the infants' health and to at least keep them from dying. Since it had become clear that most of the children would remain under the care of SOS Children's Villages, it was decided to start the construction of a new SOS Children's Village at Hyderabad. SOS Children's Village Hyderabad is situated at Vottinagulapally, about 25km outside Hyderabad City. It consists of fifteen family homes, a community house and the necessary administrative buildings, such as the Village Director's house and staff quarters. The SOS Kindergarten with places for 60 children is also open to children from the neighbourhood. For the older boys from the SOS Children's Village, a house in the city has been turned into an SOS Youth Facility. For a youngster growing up at an SOS Children's Village, moving to an SOS Youth Facility is usually the first step towards life as an independent member of society.