Our programs serve as vocational training centers for young adults living with HIV.
WELCOME TO shine on candle making unit
How we started
The mission of SnehaCares is to set up vocational centers for young adults living with HIV, providing them a safe environment to thrive and be creative. Shine On is the first vocational center, which SnehaCares successfully completed in 2017. Shine On is a 1,700 square foot candle-making vocational center on Snehadaan's campus in Bangalore. Prior to the involvement of SnehaCares, there was a small candle making facility on the campus. Candles were sold at local churches and markets and the sale of candles generated a small and steady revenue stream contributing to the daily operations of the orphanage on the campus. This candle making facility was a 120 square foot shed with inadequate ventilation and water supply and insufficient storage capacity. The utensils and molds used for candle making were basic and the bare minimum to accomplish the activity.
Snehadaan campus
Snehadaan is a community care center for HIV and terminally-ill patients on Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, India. Sneha Care Home is an orphanage within Snehadaan's campus for children and young adults with HIV. Both Snehadaan and Sneha Care Home are run by the Sneha Charitable Trust. The mission of the Sneha Charitable Trust is to be a positive force in addressing the needs of HIV infected persons, ensuring their dignity and overall quality of life. We realized from the beginning that the mission of SnehaCares and Sneha Charitable Trust are aligned. We made a commitment to partner with Sneha Charitable Trust and build a vocational center at the Snehadaan campus for the young adults and the several children who are growing to be young adults.
Fundraising
St. Francis of Assisi said "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible". Fundraising seemed an impossible undertaking in the beginning. We held small fundraising events in New York and in Pleasant Hill, CA. In New York, third graders from Ecole Internationale de New York took charge of the evening. They auctioned their impromptu paintings from the afternoon to guests. Participants discussed the causes of HIV and the need for increased awareness of the impact of HIV on children. At the Pleasant Hill, CA event we discussed the increase of HIV among children in India and the need to provide them stability and support throughout their lives. We organized GoFundMe and email campaigns. We were all just speaking with friends and family about our mission. Our donors are ordinary people who wanted to make a change in the world. Friends, family, and local churches opened their arms to help and suddenly what was impossible became a reality.
Building, Architects and Design
Architects Sridevi Changali and Rosie Paul from Mason's Ink graciously agreed to work with our low budget project in 2016. They provided us with a design that was both cost effective and environmentally friendly. We had a few Skype sessions, phone calls, and face to face visits before we finalized the design and identified the perfect location for the building. Mason's Ink introduced us to Mud Blocks, a building material that had been used since the Neolithic period, but with modern, green, and eco-friendly technology.
Mud Block Making
Mud blocks are a cost and energy effective material. Raw soil extracted from land on the Snehadaan campus was the primary raw material for the mud blocks. A mud block-making machine was used for compressing the mud blocks, and all the mud blocks for the building were made on site. This is a labor intensive technology but an easily adaptable and transferable technology. The design for the vocational center required approximately 15,000 compressed mud blocks. The mud block machine was donated by Thomas and Rosie Payyapilli. Volunteers from Cisco and Huawei locations in Bangalore participated in the mud block making.
Inauguration
Under the supervision of Fr. Jaison Mathew from the Sneha Charitable Trust, the building was completed in seven stages. Mason's Ink inspected and approved the completion at every stage. The building was completed, blessed, and inaugurated on August 13, 2017. About 200 people, including children from the orphanage, attended the inaugural functions.
Who is in charge?
Fr. Biju Mathew is the Director of Shine On Candle Making Unit. He is a member of the Camillian order of priests, who founded Sneha Charitable Trust. Fr. Biju Mathew has been our key contact and advocate from the inception in our partnership with Sneha Charitable Trust. Under Fr. Biju Mathew's guidance and supervision, six HIV infected young adults currently work at the vocational center. They live on Snehadaan campus and receive free medication, food, counselling, and training. They are also remunerated for their work.
Candle making machine and candle molds
SnehaCares purchased a manual candle-making machine for Shine On that makes approximately 600 candles an hour. This machine is designed for making regular church candles of various sizes. SnehaCares has also provided molds and tools for making decorative candles.
Candle Sales
In the US, retail sales of candles are estimated at approximately $3.2 billion annually. In India, regular church candles are purchased by every household. It is a household item because of constant power cuts. Increasingly, people are also buying decorative candles for home decor and for aromatherapy. 35% of the candle sales are projected to happen around Christmas time. Shine On has mounted a large effort to increase their supply of candles.
New location of Shine On Candles
In 2021 the young adults who worked at Snehadaan Campus have moved out and are living and working independently. They are not under the care of Sneha Charitable Trust. At 18 years, these young adults have aged out of the system to be under the supervision and care of an institution. SnehaCares have continued to support and guide them in their struggle to live in a world of stigma and shame. SnehaCares relocated Shine On Candles to Banaswadi in Bangalore City where the young adults continue to make and sell designer candles.
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