Katpadi, India

The Family Village Farm (FVF) was founded in 1969 by Dr. Pauline E. King for orphans and the destitute elderly in Kasam. The children mainly come from Kasam, which is a larger village near Katpadi, where the FVF is located (Vellore is the nearest city to Kasam and Katpadi).  The children are from extremely poor families, some having no parents or one parent who is not able to support them.  There are ten to twelve children, a mother, and grandparents living in each cottage. The mothers and grandparents living with the children are also poor, usually homeless people. At any given time there are 150-200 children, 15 or more mothers, as well as grandparents residing at FVF. This ministry is a critical one for the children, but it also provides a home for elderly adults who would otherwise be homeless. These adults provide "families" for the children and help to care for them while benefiting from the housing and support.

Global Ministries supports approximately 100 children living at the Family Village Farm through its Child Sponsorship Program, which provides food, clothing, education, and training for each sponsored child. 

The site also includes staff housing, a bakery, poultry farm, a feed mixing unit (where the cattle and poultry feeds are prepared), and a dairy for the supply of milk to the residents. Young boys are trained to tend crops and fruit trees and the girls are trained in sewing.  Girls are given training and the opportunity for making uniforms for the school located at Family Village Farm, hospital linen, and garments for other local schools. These activities help support the FVF, and training at school helps the children learn skills that will enable them to be self-supporting in the future. Boys can live at FVF until the age of 18; girls, if they are orphaned, are allowed to stay at the FVF until marriage.

King's Matriculation School serves the students of Global Ministries Child Sponsorship site at Family Village Farm. In the past Global Ministries has helped support capital improvements at the farm and at the school. The elementary school also serves 300 non-resident children from nearby small villages.

Recently, the Family Village Farm's director requested that Global Ministries help them secure funding for two much-needed improvements for Family Village Farm and King's Matriculation School.  FVF is in immediate need of upgrading and modernizing all of the 32 bathrooms.  This will cost about $12,000. In addition, there is an urgent need to secure a school bus for King's Matriculation School at an approximate cost of $20,000. Global Ministries also seeks to support FVF on an ongoing basis with special funds for building new classrooms, providing school transportation and other needs that if fulfilled, increase the quality of life for the orphans there.

Listed below are special ways in which your gifts can help the project:

• A gift of $30 per month would support a child through Global Ministries Child Sponsorthip Program. Contact Linda Lawrence toll free at: 1-866-822-8224 ext. 3222 or email her at: lawrencl@ucc.org.  You can also download a Child Sponsorship application.
• A gift of $50 could help provide food for one of FVF's families.
• A gift of $375 could provide much needed upgrading for one of the 32 bathrooms.

For information on the the life and ministry of Pauline King, founder of the Family Village Farm, go to Pauline King Corner.