[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/indianchildren.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/historia_1-1067×800-1.png” height=”455px” height_tablet=”455px” height_phone=”150px” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_enable_color=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
The founder of IndianChildren<\/strong> is Birgitta Ekman. Birgitta\u2019s parents were missionaries in former Bihar in the 40s and 50s. She was born there and lived there until age 10. The family lived next to a small village and Birgitta and her four siblings only had Indian playmates. When they reached school age, they were sent to a Swedish boarding school in southern India during school terms.<\/p>\n This childhood<\/strong> formed Birgitta and gave her ineffaceable memories of life in the countryside and the misery in the cities, which she has also told about in a popular children\u2019s book series.<\/p>\n Birgitta\u2019s commitment<\/strong> to the poor and needy in India has followed her throughout her life, and in 1998 she received the fund \u201cBirgitta Ekman\u2019s fund for Indian Children\u201d as a gift for her 50th birthday from friends and acquaintances. Until 2013 Birgitta led IndianChildren but gave the responsibility to her daughter in law Sara, at retirement.<\/p>\n When Birgitta converted<\/strong> to the Catholic church in March 2014 she chose to step down fully and gave IndianChildren to the church Word of Life Uppsala, as she believed that is where the work belongs.<\/p>\n Birgitta\u2019s commitment<\/strong> to the poor and vulnerable children continues to burn strongly, and she speaks warmly of the need to help the poorest of children wherever she goes. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n In October 1998<\/strong> a fund raiser was done among Birgitta Ekman\u2019s friends and acquaintances before her 50th birthday. On the initiative of Birgitta\u2019s sister Maj-Kristin, the collected funds became the first contribution for a fund called \u201dBirgitta Ekman\u2019s fund for Indian Children,\u201d that was presented to Birgitta on her birthday.<\/p>\n With the new<\/strong> seed capital, some specific steps were taken quite soon, such as sponsoring furniture to an orphanage in Delhi and to a girls\u2019 home in Theodori, Jharkhand.<\/p>\n The work didn\u2019t come<\/strong> any further as there was no person on site to identify appropriate projects to support and to lead the work. This changed when our first Swedish coworker Anna Jakobsson got the work going over the course of three years. The work began to take form according to the vision to give the poor Indian children an opportunity to grow into confident and strong individuals. Birgitta wanted to lift children out of poverty to a dignified and blessed life.<\/p>\n In the first mission statement<\/strong> Birgitta also wrote that \u201dIndianChildren supports development projects and emergency relief to affected areas, such as programs to improve children\u2019s health. We also give help to girls living in danger of being abused and sexually exploited. Through Christian teaching, education and vocational training the children can grow up and mature socially, spiritually and intellectually.\u201d This was Birgitta\u2019s dream and so it has become. Helping the poorest children with education has always been the focus.<\/p>\n By being able to tell<\/strong> about the fund at conferences and in Christian magazines, it soon became known and donations were given to the work and we started sponsoring children. The fund was eventually changed to a fundraising foundation with its own 90-account.<\/p>\n Volunteers are sent out<\/strong> every year from the Nordic countries, and Indian coworkers have been trained on site. Today, hundreds of children receive daily support through IndianChildren. We see children\u2019s lives totally changed for the better through good education, nutritious food and medical assistance.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n \r\n
Birgitta lives with her husband, Ulf, in Stockholm.<\/p>\nHistory<\/h2>\n