Chennai, also known as Madras, is the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India, and is the country's fourth-largest city. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is popularly known as "The Gateway to the South". The Marina beach in Chennai, stretching over an area of 13 kilometers, is the second longest beach in Asia. The 367 year old city is famous for its traditional base and modern outlook. In 1996, the Tamil Nadu government renamed Madras as Chennai.

The SOS Children's Village in Chennai was established in the year 1979 to cater to the needy and orphaned children of Tamil Nadu and has completed 27 years in the service of children in need in the state. The Children's Village is located on five acres of land in the suburbs of Tambaram, about 25 Kilometers from the City.

In the last 27 years, 360 children have been brought home, of whom 164 are still under the care of their SOS families in 15 family homes. Out of these children, 112 attend various schools & college. 11 children are doing vocational courses & 5 children are undergoing apprenticeship training. 93 children (64 girls & 29 boys) are happily married and settled. Another 10 youngsters are settled in work.They would be getting married in the next few years.

The Children's Village Campus has a Primary School, Medical Centre, Tailoring Centre & Community Centre. The Campus also has a temple called Sri Vidya Ganapathi Temple which was built in 1981 for the Village community as well as for the neighbourhood.

SOS Youth House

The SOS Youth house was started in the year 1991 and is located in East Tambaram near the Children's Village Campus. 30 boys above the age of 14 years are on the roll of Youth house of whom, 10 of the boys are studying in schools, 4 boys are in the university and 16 boys are undergoing vocational training and apprenticeship training.

In the youth house, the boys look after themselves under the supervision and guidance of the Youth Co-worker. They run the mess on a rotation basis. They also take care of the maintenance of the youth house. The work in the youth house is divided among the various youth according to a schedule and everyone adheres to the schedule and contributes to the smooth functioning of the youth house. The youth maintain a close link with their SOS Mother and family in the Children's Village. They visit the Children's Village regularly and celebrate various festivals, events and occasions with their respective families.

The Hermann Gmeiner Primary School was established in the year 1989 to provide good education to the children from the Village as well as children from the neighborhood.

The Hermann Gmeiner Primary School started functioning from its present buildings from January 2001. The school has two sections, the Kindergarten Block and the Primary Block. The kindergarten Block has the Lower kindergarten, Upper kindergarten, Computer Room and staff room. The Primary Block has classes I to V. The strength of the school is 80, out of which 45 children are from the Children's Village and 35 children from outside. There are eight teachers taking care of these children. In order to improve the standard of the school and the quality of teaching - Montessori System of Education has been introduced.

Recently a Learning Centre equipped with various visual and audio visual educational aids for children below 10 years of age was started in the school. The Learning Centre has been sponsored by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry).

SOS Medical Centre was started with the objective of giving treatment to the children and mothers living within the Children's Village and also to give necessary treatment to the people living in the neighbourhood. Later, the medical facility was extended to the needy people who live in the rural areas of Tambaram. Most cases of the medical centre are treated at the OPD.

In the beginning, there were no medical facilities in the Village except the resident nurse. Two honorary pediatricians used to visit the Village four days in a week. Therefore a decision was taken to start a Medical Centre for the mothers and children inside the Children's Village. On January 26, 1982, the foundation stone for the SOS Medical Centre was laid in the presence of a galaxy of well wishers and patrons. In February 1984 the SOS Medical Centre was opened by Dr. Mrs. Meyer Praxmarer in the presence of the Ministers of Government of Tamilnadu. This Medical Centre was the first of its kind in India under the SOS banner and provides quality health care to not only children, mothers and co-workers from the Children's Village but also people from the neighborhood. Today the Medical Centre is a full-fledged unit with a Medical Officer and nurses besides Consultant - Pediatrician, Surgeon, Dentist, and Eye Specialist on call.

As a gesture of goodwill and a token of the support to the Village by the community, in 1985 it was decided to start Rural Medical Camps around SOS Village in economically backward areas like Chitalapakkam, Madampakkam, Nuthencherry, Adhinagar and Ramakrishnapuram located in and around Tambaram once a week.

The Hermann Gmeiner Community Centre was built in the year 1988 and was inaugurated on 23.6.1989. It is designed in typical Kerala style. It consists of a stage and has seating capacity of 200. The usage of the Hermann Gmeiner Community Centre is also open to the public. We have had performances from eminent dancers like Sonal Mansingh, Ramli Ibrahim and vocalists like D K Pattammal.

The Family Strengthening Programme was started in the Children's Village, Chennai from the month of September 2003 to help children of widows and women in difficult circumstances. Under this programme, 46 deserving women are being extended support to the care and maintenance of their 99 children. The situation of each child and each family is being reviewed at regular intervals and depending upon the need the decision to continue or withdraw support shall be taken.

As part of community outreach programme a tailoring training centre is functioning in the Village campus which was started in the year 1991. Presently the tailoring centre is running with the help of one part time tailoring trained teacher. Training is imparted in cutting and tailoring to young girls from the neighbourhood community. At present there are over 30 girls taking training in two shifts.

GOPAL

Gopal came home to Children's Village Chennai when he was just 10 months old. He has been a smart and bright boy since early childhood. His SOS Mother strove very hard to ensure that he cultivated good habits in the early years knowing how well they would stand him when he grew up. Under her love and care, he flourished and did very well in his studies. His self-confidence and self - esteem also grew steadily. His capability in sports, particularly cricket and chess, gave him a chance to represent SOS Chennai along with the representative children from other SOS Villages at the Asian Pacific Children's Convention in Japan in 1989.

Right from his childhood Gopal showed an interest in mechanical and electrical gadgets. Recognizing his aptitude, the Organisation extended every possible support to help him realize his dream. Achieving his academic ambitions with an engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications, today he is a software engineer in a renowned company with a promising future. He has been posted in USA since 2005. At 26, Gopal is already well settled and has built his own house along with his SOS brother. Recently, he gifted a car to his Mother Laxmi as a token of his love & respect for her.

We wish him all the very best for a bright future.