While I grew up in the U.S., I am only a few generations off from poverty in India - my dad grew up in a small, mud walled house in a village outside of Bangalore, with 9 siblings, children of a farmer. His was the first generation to be educated at a college level - he obtained his doctorate in Germany and immigrated here in the 70s with my mom, allowing them to raise two successful physicians in the U.S. The stories of the children that Butterflies helps are tangible to me, and their work makes a real difference.
I spent 5 weeks at Butterflies NGO in Delhi, India as a marketing intern during Summer 2019. During Fall 2019 I also volunteered working on a fund raising project at Butterflies USA Inc, mostly with Kristin McDonough. I saw myself how professional, kind, patient and caring the people in this organization are. I know that all funds are spent for the well-being of the children who were not lucky to be supported by the society or even by their parents; the children who unfortunately do not have childhood and have to fight for their lives and Have to work since early age. I talked to those children, they have big dreams of becoming doctors, engineers and other great professionals. Butterflies USA Inc is like one big family which dedicates their time to finding all the possible ways to give the ticket to life to those children. I believe in Butterflies USA Inc with all my heart and hope that with the help of other kind people they will keep doing their job of saving one child at a time every day.
I worked at Butterflies as a paid intern several years back in New Delhi, for almost 2 years. During that time, I project managed and helped to launch a couple of key initiatives that are still there today. Butterflies started small and has now grown into one of the most influential childrens' rights organizations in the world. They are a pioneer in launching a children's co-operative bank, run by the children and mentored by adults. This bank has been replicated in other countries and states in India. The experience I had with Butterflies still stays with me today and I love giving money and whatever support I can on a yearly basis. The work they do is far-reaching and massively important for the welfare of children everywhere and they define the very notion of a great non-profit
For the past 31 years, Butterflies has been working tirelessly to improve the lives of street connected children in New Delhi. Their unique rights-based, democratic, non-institutional philosophy has children's active participation at its core. Over the years, Butterflies has empowered, educated, and transformed the lives of thousands of the most vulnerable children in Delhi.
These children are given opportunities which they would never have had if not for the commitment, love, innovation and vision of the Founder, Rita Paniker and the dedicated
staff. The Butterflies Children are allowed to experience fully the joys of childhood because they believe in a child's right to play. This right which is taken for granted by most children is a gift that is cherished by these children.
The children are nurtured with tender loving care; their minds, bodies and souls are fed on a daily basis to build character, give them the strength and might to fly and soar up high to achieve their dreams.
For the past 31 years, Butterflies has gifted society with responsible, caring, educated, thoughtful young men and women.
Crescentia Coutinho
Board Member, Friend, Believer and Supporter
Butterflies is is an outstanding organization, impacting the lives of children. I was fortunate to have met Rita Panicker, the Founder over ten years ago and have been involved as a volunteer and donor ever since.
I have been involved with this extraordinary organization for 15 years. They are fantastic. They do life-changing work with the World's most vulnerable children. Please support them.
I held a fundraiser for them a few years back! They are super passionate about working with children in India and it was a wonderful experience to aid them in fundraising. Some of the kids sent a personal video thanking me, it was incredibly touching. You can see the direct implications of where the money goes to aid the efforts in India.
If you are lucky enough to experience first hand the legendary work of India’s leading child rights organization for vulnerable street-connected and working children, you find yourself an avid BUTTERFLIES champion-for-life. Six years ago a dozen Butterflies USA's board members visited Delhi for Butterflies' 25th Anniversary. Celebratory events included a full-scale theatrical production, a spirited, joyous Sports Competition, and a luncheon prepared and served by the students in the Butterflies School of Culinary and Catering. The hours during which we were embedded in the daily CHILDREN’S COOPERATIVES activities at outdoor contact points across Delhi were memorable. We watched kids deposit their earnings in the CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT KHAZANA (Bank); observed Child Health Educators in the CHILD HEALTH COOPERATIVE administer first aid and give pep talks on nutriiton and personal hygiene; and listened as members of the BUTTERFLIES BROADCASTING CHILDREN MEDIA COOPERATIVE voted on the issues they would tackle in their weekly radio show.
Fast forward to 2020 with COVID 19 raising global concern. Board members again visited Delhi to formally inaugurate Butterflies’ new eco-friendly Resilience Centre with short-stay quarters for boys needing legal, medical, and psychosocal therapy after being rescued via BUTTERFLIES 24/7CHILDLINE hotline. Again, we saw for ourselves how collaborative learning and peer tutoring in the relatively new EDUCATION COOPERATIVE help children thrive. (100% of the 10th and 12 grade students passed the 2020 national school exams with flying colors.) The expanded CHILD HEALTH AND SPORTS COOPERATIVE now focuses on mental as well as physical health. Trained teen “buddies” steer troubled teammates to professional counselors. When the lockdown hit, ‘advances’ from savings accounts processed via mobile phone helped the struggling families of CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT KHAZANA (CDK) members. Butterflies continuously sharpens its programs, services, and research agenda. The CDK has now been exported to eight other Indian states and 7 Asian and African countries. This replication of Butteflies’ unique conceptual framework of COOPERATIVES to bolster the potential of street and working youth suggests its effectiveness when applied in practice. Butterflies' founding director Rita Panicker has been named recipient of the 2020 International Cooperative Innovation Award. All of this makes it a pleasure and a privilege to serve on the Butterflies USA, Inc board.