Today a new Third World aid and development organisation will be inaugurated in Cork. Its aim is to concentrate primarily on long-term care facilities for street children and those living on the outskirts of society, particularly in Calcutta.
It will be known as the Edith Wilkins Hope Foundation.
Three Cork women, Edith Wilkins, Maureen Forrest and Celena Daly, have come together to form the foundation. Together, they have put in 35 years of work for the disadvantaged in the Third World.
Calcutta has been their main focus. It is estimated that there are 10,000 children on the streets of Calcutta, and this figure reaches 200,000 when applied to children living under plastic or in hovels and shacks.
The priority in the care shelters provided by the foundation will be to restore children's health and nourishment. After that, counselling and education will become part of the programme. Where possible, the foundation will seek to link programme beneficiaries with their immediate or extended families.