The Baale Mane (Baale Mane means "Girls’ home") at Gopalapura is a home for around 50 girls between the ages of 6 and 16 situated on the outskirts of the city of Bangalore, India. Founded in 2001 by Paraspara Trust, an NGO dedicated to the eradication of the child labour system, and now owned by The Baale Trust, it provides shelter and a loving home for girl children. The girls are either orphans, have a single parent who is unable to care for them or have lost contact with their parents. Most of the girls have been rescued from domestic service, some have been found homeless in the streets by volunteers and others have been given shelter having been arrested by the police when living on the streets.

Where possible, the aim of our home is to reunite the girls with their family but where this is either not possible or desirable, the girls are given long term care and protection at the Baale. All of our girls attend local government schools as well as receiving extra tuition at the Baale. We have a part time English teacher and most of the girls learn to dance and as a troupe they have won many trophies in local competitions.

Originally located in a converted silk weavers’ cottage, in 2008 the Baale moved to two purpose built buildings on a one acre site in Gopalapura. The move was made possible through the support of The Friends of Baale Mane Gopalapura, ("The Friends") a UK charity set up in 2007 for the specific purpose of supporting the home over the long term. To date, The Friends have raised over 1.4 Crore Rupees (£190,000). Considerably more money is needed to meet our long term aspirations which include:

• Improvement of the level of comfort and security in the existing buildings and increases in the level of staffing at the Baale
• The extension of the existing facilities to provide a mini campus, offering a range of residential and recreational facilities making use of the latest sustainable environmental technologies.
• Improved access to educational resources enabling each girl to reach her optimum level of academic attainment and to develop the skills for an independent adult life
• Developing the founder’s vision of using the Baale as a model for training and educating the wider community on issues of child labour. Through its efforts, the Paraspara trust has already eliminated child labour from four wards in Bangalore city. There is the opportunity to reach out from the Baale, to influence the community and the wider city, to eliminate child labour altogether from the Bangalore area.