about us

About Us

Mission

COTTAGE is a project intended to financially support the children of Gokulam – Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home, to raise awareness about this happy orphanage and to provide the children with an artistic outlet enabling them to express themselves in a unique way.

COTTAGE hopes to facilitate a mutually-beneficial relationship between the orphans of Gokulam and those who purchase the high-quality greeting cards designed with the art work of the children. The children are given various colorful art supplies and encouraged to be free as possible.

The generous individuals who support COTTAGE through purchasing the orphans’ creative work will not only receive a wonderful gift, but will also know that they have helped make the lives of disadvantaged children more prosperous.

Sponsor

Sponsor of the COTTAGE Project is Gokulam - Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home (http://www.gokulam.org ), located 20 minutes from Colombo, Sri Lanka. The orphanage was established in 1999 and is managed by Nandarani Devi. These children are victims of the civil war, poverty and most recently the tsunami of 2004. However, at Gokulam, these traumatized children find solace in the awareness that they have a new and genuinely caring family. The Children’s Home currently supports youth ranging from 2 – 19 years of age.

The aim of the Home is to give orphans and impoverished children from around the country, a place they can call home. According to Nandarani Devi, the founder of the Home, “Whatever the children have lost before, they can find it here.” Today, Gokulam serves as a benchmark for service organizations around the country. Its quality driven comprehensive care is a demonstration of the high standards other institutions strive to attain.

Gokulam is affiliated and sponsored by Food for Life Global, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., and the largest Vegetarian Food Relief. Food for Life Global is assisting in designing and promoting the COTTAGE Project to assist the Children’s Home with fund raising and sustainable development. To date, Food for Life Global has raised $80,000 for this orphanage.

Aims & Objectives

COTTAGE produces and markets cards to bookstores, art stores, online and to small businesses, with 100% of proceeds going to Gokulam – Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home.
COTTAGE uses art to educate its supporters about Gokulam and its programs, as well as issues facing disadvantaged children around the world.
COTTAGE facilitates creative and artful therapy for the Gokulam orphans, enabling them to express themselves in a unique way.
By raising funds for Gokulam, the orphans and disadvantaged children are able to continue receiving quality education, nutrition, and healthcare.
In 2005, COTTAGE Project is expected to raise $250,000 to creatively promote the need and the expansion of the Children’s Home.

“Sitting happily at their little blue wooden desks with rapt attention on the teacher, it is important to keep reminding oneself that this is no ordinary school. All the children are orphans. Some of the children were actually ‘war orphans,’ having suffered the traumatic experience of seeing their parents killed in front of them! And yet, here they were studying to be good Sri Lankan citizens, obviously very satisfied in the warm loving embrace of this exceptional Children's Home.”

– Paul Turner, Food for Life Global

History

On Dec. 26, 2004, a tsunami devastated the coasts of Southeast Asia. The wave battered the island country of Sri Lanka, leaving many children without homes and families. Gokulam is currently taking in at least 100 orphans of the tsunami, offering them a safe haven in the aftermath of their loss.

Gokulam gives orphans and impoverished children from around the country of Sri Lanka a place they can call home. It provides the environment and encouragement for orphans and needy children to feel that they have a loving and accepting family.

Offering comprehensive education, three complete meals a day, and excellent healthcare, Gokulam sets the standard for quality service organizations.

Because the Children’s Home is expanding to accommodate the children orphaned by the tsunami, it is in desperate need of funds to continue its programs. Gokulam hopes to raise $250,000 to pay for land, new dormitories and a new school building. In 2005, COTTAGE Project is expected to raise $250,000 to creatively promote the need and the expansion of the Children’s Home.

COTTAGE was designed to benefit both the children of Gokulam and the concerned people of the world. Through self expression and the knowledge that their futures are secure, the Gokulam orphans will gain the confidence to become happy, healthy adults. The generous individuals who support COTTAGE through purchasing the orphans’ creative work will not only receive a wonderful gift, but will also know that they have helped make the lives of disadvantaged children more prosperous. Buy cards now!