Asha-Kiran: 20 years of creating welcoming spaces
We are celebrating two decades of Asha-Kiran and would like to thank everyone who has made this journey possible.
Twenty years.
When we look back, it is not easy to capture everything we have lived in just a few words. These 7,305 days have many names, many faces, and many stories. Children who found a safe place where they could simply be children. Young people who were able to continue their education. Families supported through difficult times. People who arrived seeking help and, some time later, began helping others themselves.
Asha-Kiran was founded with the purpose of creating welcoming spaces for people in situations of vulnerability—places where care, education, health, protection, and opportunities can become a reality.
A journey that began in India
India has been an essential part of our journey.
It was there that projects were born which accompanied us for many years. The Yashodhara Children's Home offered vulnerable children a home where they could grow up cared for and protected. Our Community Development programme took us into some of the most disadvantaged communities, providing education, healthcare, hygiene, family support, and the promotion of children's rights. The Rainbow Girls' Home became a true home for girls who had experienced particularly difficult circumstances, offering them protection, care, education, and a stable environment where they could grow and look towards the future with new possibilities. These projects have now come to an end, but they remain an essential part of what Asha-Kiran is today.
And our journey in India continues.
Our Day Centres for Migrant Children support the sons and daughters of construction workers who move from one building site to another, providing education, nutrition, care, and protection. Young Promises accompanies adolescents and young adults so they can continue their education, look after their health, and build their own life projects.
And the journey has gradually expanded to other places
Over these twenty years, Asha-Kiran has also evolved. We have learned, completed important chapters, and begun new ones.
In Málaga, the Vínculos Project has become a place of welcome and support for vulnerable migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and young people formerly under state guardianship. There, people learn Spanish, build support networks, are accompanied by volunteer mentors, and above all, no one has to begin again completely alone.
And in Saint-Louis, Senegal, our Talibe Children's Home opens its doors to children living in situations of abandonment, forced begging, and exploitation. Food, literacy classes, healthcare, hygiene, protection, games, and something as fundamental as having a place where they can simply be children again are all part of everyday life at the Home.
India, Málaga, Senegal. Very different realities united by one shared purpose: to make it possible for other people to have greater opportunities in life.
These 20 years belong to you too.
None of this has been achieved by Asha-Kiran alone.
Behind every project are volunteers, staff working on the ground, organisations that have placed their trust in us, and many people who one day decided to become members, donate, or simply offer whatever they could.
That is why we want this anniversary to be, above all, a message of gratitude.
To those who were with us from the beginning. To those who joined along the way. To those who continue to walk beside us. And to those who have not yet discovered our work, but who may wish to become part of the years ahead.
Celebrating twenty years fills us with joy, but what truly matters is being able to continue this work and renew it every day.
To keep opening our Day Centres every morning so children can learn, play, and be cared for. To continue supporting a young person so they can complete their education. To keep welcoming those who arrive in Málaga in need of a supportive community. To continue preparing meals, providing medicines, offering classes, and caring for the talibe children of Saint-Louis.
For all of this, continuity matters.
If you would like to celebrate these 20 years with us, become a member of Asha-Kiran. A regular donation, no matter how small, helps us sustain our projects month after month and allows us to keep looking towards the future.
Twenty years later, we still believe the same thing: when many people each contribute a small part, extraordinary things can happen.
Thank you for these first 20 years.
Let us continue creating welcoming spaces together.