SOS Children’s Village Jaipur is a result of the effort of Late Raja J.K. Atal, ICS (Retd) who found the “Meaningful” social work when he visited the first SOS Children’s Village at Greenfields. He was extremely impressed with the novel concept of child caring and decided to start something similar for the needy children of Rajasthan. SOS Children’s Village Jaipur was formed on October 21, 1973 following a visit of Dr. Gmeiner, Mrs. Tara Ali Beg and Shri J.N. Kaul to Jaipur. The foundation stone of 'Amar Jyoti' Balgram was laid by Aditya Kumar Atal on April 17, 1974 on the land donated by Shri J.K. Atal. The Children’s Village was dedicated by His Excellency Shri Raghukul Tilak the then Governor of Rajasthan on 10th January 1978. Dr. Hermann Gmeiner and distinguished citizens of Jaipur were also present on the occasion. The Children’s Village was started with two family houses and 5-8 children.

Jaipur, popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan and the former capital of the Princely state of Jaipur. Founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, Jaipur was the first planned city in India. Jaipur, with its rich and colourful past, resplendent with tales of valour and bravery is now one of the most important heritage cities in India. The National Highway No.8 links Delhi to Ahmedabad and No.11, linking Bikaner to Agra passes through Jaipur district to a total length of 366 km. Jaipur is very well connected by rail to all major cities and towns in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore etc.across the country and to cities like Ajmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner & Udaipur within the state. Jaipur has an Airport situated in the satellite town of Sanganer and offers sporadic service to London, Dublin, Singapore and Dubai. Jaipur also has well connected domestic air links with Jodhpur, Udaipur, Aurangabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata & Mumbai.

The third oldest Children’s Village in India, SOS Children’s Village Jaipur has completed 31 years of dedicated service. The Village is situated in the heart of the city, within five minutes reach from the railway station and the bus stop. It is functional with 14 family homes, a Kindergarten, a well equipped computer laboratory, basketball and volleyball courts, an auditorium, a library and a medical dispensary. At present there are 142 children (44 Boys & 98 Girls) under the loving care of their SOS Mothers. Out of them 8 children are attending Kindergarten, 102 go to different schools in Jaipur, and 8 are in Boarding Schools. 3 youngsters are attending college and 2 teenagers are undergoing Vocational Training. Till date 91 marriages have been solemnized by the Children’s Village.

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 Facility

A Youth Facility is functioning in rented accommodation since early in 2006. 11 boys are now residing in the youth facility under the care & guidance of a trained Youth leader. The facility is 4 Km from the Children’s Village.

A Girls’ facility was also started during this year in rented accommodations. At present 13 girls are on roll of the Girls Facility. They all are well settled in their vocations.

The “Family Strengthening Program” conducted by Children’s Village Jaipur is in its sixth year. Under this programme, 84 children from 30 underprivileged families are directly being provided with nutritional, educational & health support. Vocational training courses, improvement of communication skills & career counseling sessions are also being extended to deserving children.

Besides extending help to these families, the Children’s Village is also reaching out to 60 children from the neighbourhood with educational & nutritional support.

Review meetings are held every quarter with the beneficiaries to obtain a feedback to make the program more effective. The Village dispensary provides free medical treatment to the homeless and needy, on daily basis.

Daniel Verma

Daniel Verma came to SOS Children’s Village Jaipur when he was only three months old. Upon homecoming, Daniel was entrusted to the loving & tender care of mother Ms. Premvati Verma. An active and friendly boy, he soon became the darling of the whole house. He did his initial schooling from Tagore Public School, Jaipur and later was admitted in Hermann Gmeiner School, Bhimtal. After completion of 10+ 2 with good grades he opted for B.com from the University of Rajasthan and simultaneously did a part time job in Pizza hut as crew member. He worked with full dedication and commitment and regularly received awards and certificates of merit for outstanding contribution. Always a keen & humble worker, he soon became favourite of all and crossed ladders of success quite early. Computer was his passion and he always dreamt of pursuing his careers in computers. After completion of B.Com, he learned basic computer skills and languages and joined World Wide Web institute as business Coordinator. Meanwhile, he tried hard to get Scholarship for studying abroad and after prolonged efforts, got Dewan foundation scholarship for higher studies in U.K. in Computers. He took admission at De Montfort University at Leicester in U.K. in Computer science. He also continued doing a job while studying.

Currently Daniel is working as “Account Manager Mid market” in the sales division with “Software Spectrum” a subsidiary of Level 3 communications a NASDAQ listed company. Today, Daniel is well settled in London and has everything which life could offer him. He has married his long time friend Shabana and is planning to buy a house in London. He remains very down to earth and remembers his childhood in Jaipur with fondness. He is very attached to his SOS Mother and says, “My mother’s happiness is the biggest treasure for me”.

May God bless him with all the happiness!

Hena Pore

When Hena Pore of CV Jaipur flew her micro light aircraft on 27th January, 2007 at the National Cadet Corps Rally at New Delhi attended by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues, she became the first girl and first NCC cadet from Rajasthan to do so.

“It’s a dream come true! I can’t tell the feeling in words,” said an ecstatic Hena after her impressive flight. She has just crossed another milestone. In October 2006, she had won a Gold Medal and enabled her team to emerge overall winners in the National Flying Competition for NCC Cadets at Bangalore.

Hena Pore came home to SOS Children's Village, Jaipur when she was only one day old infant. Upon home coming, she was entrusted under the loving care of mother Ms. Monica Pore. A witty & sharp girl from the very beginning, she did her schooling from St. Xavier's School, Jaipur and passed XII with 77%. She was selected as head girl of the school and also bagged the best athlete award for 2005 at school level. Since her school days she has been very actively involved in Co-curricular activities, be it music, dance, sports, painting or debates; she continues setting examples for others. After passing XII with flying colours, she took admission in city's renowned International College for Girls (ICG) in B.Com. She also joined NCC (Air Wing) in college. Though at times, she had to go out of station to attend camps for weeks but this never affected her academic performance. She has grit and works very hard to achieve her aim. This always keeps her ahead of others.

She now aspires to become an Air Force pilot after completing her graduation. She counts amongst her strength……… leadership qualities, confidence and diligence and believes in living life to the fullest. Her motto in life is "Touch the sky with glory".

The sky is now the limit for Hena.