Many children in Mumbai have no roof over their heads and no family who can take care of them. These street children -especially the girls- are exposed to serious risks on a daily basis and are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse.

Holland Nursing’s Rainbow Home Project is devoted to helping these girls by providing them housing in an existing school. Here, after a settling-in period, they go back to school together with their more fortunate peers and are provided with everything they need. The aim is to help these girls enjoy their formative years and to provide them with a good education to improve their chances for the future. Integration with their peers plays an important role. They take classes together and learn from one another.

Holland Nursing is a partner of the Partnership Foundation. This foundation is wonderfully devoted to improving the living conditions and future prospects of street children in India. The goal is to create a chain of 50 Rainbow Homes by 2018, in which 10,000 street children will be supported to adulthood. A Rainbow Home is an existing school building in which dormitories, a kitchen plus sanitary and recreational facilities are installed for street children. A Rainbow Home offers children a home with all that a home should have: healthy food, clothing, medical care, education, recreation and assistance with reintegration.

We made a very conscious choice to work together with Partnership Foundation. It is a 100% volunteer organisation that achieves its objectives with very low costs (only 2.8% expenses in the Netherlands). Sacha de Boer, Paul Rosenmöller and  Gerlach Cerfontaine are the Recommending Committee members.

Holland Nursing will soon be starting its own Rainbow Home in Mumbai, initially with 20 street children, and has set itself the goal, together with its principals and the Partnership Foundation, to complete a Rainbow Home for 150 girls by the end of 2012. The costs per child per year are approximately €500. Clients who travel with us to India to select the right candidates, will be  given the opportunity to visit the Holland Nursing Rainbow Home in Mumbai.

Would you like to add your contribution? There many ways you can help. Get in touch with Regina Oosterveld at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on 026-355 4629 and find out what you can do.