JEANNE DEVOS FOUNDATION

The following tangible projects are the first goals of the foundation

Cosmogolem

The action “Golem Networker”: under the slogan “Give all children the same opportunities!” we wish to provide the means permitting Sister Jeanne to offer children having fled away from their situation decent care and education to give them the same chances as children raised in our country. For a mere three hundred euro a year, a child can be taken into a boarding school, all costs for residence, utensils as well as medical care included. Whoever transfers this amount, is entitled to call himself a “Golem networker”, referring to the sculpture “Cosmogolem”, installed in Mumbai in 2004 by the Flemish artist Koen Vanmechelen with the support of the University Hospitals of Louvain. It symbolises our belief in the engagement of Sister Jeanne and serves as a shepherd to all the children, taking care of their dreams of a happy future.

Trauma training for the coordinators of the National Domestic Workers Movement

In May 2007 the “Sister Jeanne Devos Foundation” set up training for 21 coordinators from as many Indian States. They spent one week with the Oblates Fathers. All staff members of the Louvain Fiducial Centre for Child Abuse participated. Mixed training groups were created and mutual experience and knowledge exchanged. This presided a pivot program for trauma training that can be passed on to the basis workers of the movement.

The next intermediate step is the local training of the movement’s middle management. These are the fellows who, either by experience in their own youth in the slums or belonging to some religious movement, have gone into the coordination work.

Staff members of the Louvain Fiducial Centre will cooperate in pairs together with the local coordinators and provide a three days’ training. This middle group will afterwards take care of the spreading of this training among the many fellow workers of the movement.

LESSIUS Hogeschool Antwerpen takes care of the Jeanne Devos Foundation!

 Under the encouraging leadership of Prof. Flora Carrijn, general director, the various departments of Lessius Hogeschool engaged in supporting the movement of Jeanne Devos. More of this is to hear in the next months.

At this moment the edition of a pedagogic record book with 11 lessons for primary schools is proceeding. It pays attention to child labour, children’s rights, the work of sister Jeanne, the interreligious and intercultural engagement.

More is to be found on IDeE op www. lessius-ho.be.

Cooperation intent between the university hospitals of Louvain and the St. John Medical university hospital of Bangalore

In May 2007 the vice-rector and the head of the department of Child Psychiatry of the University Hospital of Bangalore attended the Louvain International Congress on Child Abuse.
On this occasion they discussed the possibility of cooperation. Given the fact that Sr. Jeanne intended to start up an intake centre for children, this was a chance to accompany this initiative with excellent medical care. Prof. Johan Kips, general director of the University Hospital of Louvain, and Prof. Karen Maex, vice-rector of the Catholic University of Louvain, signed a declaration of intent on cooperation with the representatives of Bangalore University. They intend to get an idea of the medical condition of the children the movement of Jeanne Devos is confronted with and to follow up their evolution after assistance.