News:

It's not about what we do for God, but who we become because of HIM. Giving is a reflection of His grace in us!  Don't give because you have to, give because you want to. Let devotion fuel your generosity!

Mabel’s Care Centre

Mabel’s Care Centre is the oldest of the The Bethania Foundation India TM Care Centres, located on the outskirts of Kodaikanal, South India, in the village of Pambarpuram. It is an active and energetic place for children and women in operation from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. As the very young children and the women leave Mabel’s Care Centre at 4 pm, the school children arrive for the After-School Program.

Life at Mabel’s Care Centre -Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu

In the early hours of the morning, you will find Jayanthi and her staff starting the day with devotions. Staff welcome eager parents who bring their children from the local community. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., 55 young children (ages 2-5) begin arriving for our full-day early childhood program, bundled up against the morning cold. Others come with their mothers who can leave their children at day care while they join the Women’s Empowerment Program in a room upstairs. Each day begins and ends with prayer. The children spend the day in a safe and nurturing environment where they are taught Scripture verses, action songs, Bible and morality stories and how to pray. They are fed two nutritious meals and healthy snacks. A medical and public health team provides immunizations, nutritional supplements and tracks their growth.

Around 4:30 p.m., as the young children and the women leave, 50 graduates of the Early Childhood Program (ages 6-17) arrive for After-School care to receive academic tutoring, learn vocational skills such as basket-making, knitting and sewing, and receive Christian education. They have an opportunity for supervised play and receive a healthy snack before they leave for their homes at 6:30 pm.

All the programs at Mabel’s Care Centre take place in a two-story rented building. On the top floor, one of the two rooms is used for the Women’s Empowerment Program, while the other room is used for staff meetings and is where the medical team cares for our children. The Care Centre is on the ground floor and consists of two activity rooms, a small kitchen, restrooms and a nice play area in the back.

Environment at Mabel’s Care Centre

The children at Mabel’s Care Centre come from impoverished families. While the Women’s Empowerment Program allows some women to earn better and more consistent income, typically the parents of the children are day laborers. This means they find whatever temporary jobs they can, working in the fields, collecting firewood in the forests or performing other menial labor. Most of their homes are made of mud walls with tin sheet roofing and lack running water and sanitary facilities. Disease, abandonment, unemployment, alcoholism and abuse are major hardships for children in the area. Inadequate clean water supply especially impacts the youngest children, and the threat of infectious disease is always present.

The staff make regular home visits to meet with the parents and to assess the children’s home environments. The Mabel Care Centre also provides hygiene and other public health education for the community.

For the opportunity to serve these children of God, we give thanks. From desperate and hopeless situations, they are being nurtured and equipped to change their world through Jesus’ love.

The Staff of Mabel’s Care Centre

Under the loving and caring leadership of Jayanthi and her staff, each of these children receives individual attention and is carefully monitored for academic, physical and emotional progress. The Day Care staff includes three teachers, a cook and an assistant. Two teachers care for the After-School program, assisting with school subjects. Our students in the After-School program perform well above average in school, so the places at the Mabel’s Care Centre are in high demand in the community.

Teachers: P Elisabeth Jayanthi, Vanithanamary S, Shobana A, Pradeepa V, Sudha B

Cook: Kirubavanthi P; Assistant: Flora Kodimalar Mary G

Meet Children from Mabel’s Care Centre: Diya

During a home visit, our staff found Diya playing alone in a neighbor’s home. Both parents were speech and hearing impaired, so that at four years old, Diya communicated only through sign language. The first day she came to Mabel’s Care Centre she was very thin, barefoot and dressed in dirty, tattered clothes. It was difficult for her to interact or play with the other children, and instead she would stare intently at their faces when they spoke. Her teeth were already decaying from poor nutrition and hygiene, so even when she tried to speak, it was difficult for her to enunciate her words properly. Our patient and loving staff have been able to help her learn to care for herself as well as speak and communicate. With nourishing food, medical care and much love from her teachers, Diya has become a happy and self-confident child. She especially enjoys playing with the different colorful toys and looking at picture books.

History of Mabel’s Care Centre

n Kodaikanal on 5 October 1989, The Bethania Foundation India TM opened its first Day Care Centre, Mabel’s Day Care Centre, in the village of Pambarpuram. Mrs. Betsy Dailey, an alumna of Kodaikanal International School, started this centre as a Montessori school and called it “a crèche,” the local term for a day-care centre. When she left India to return to the United States, she asked The Bethania Foundation India TM to assume the operation of the programs. Mabel’s Care Centre was named in memory of Betsy’s beloved grandmother Mabel.

How Can You Help?

    • Please continue to pray for the children, women and families served by Mabel’s Care Centre. We are reaching out with the love of Christ to serve so many.
    • Sponsor a Child (one or more) at Mabel’s Care Centre. There are 55 children in Day Care and 50 in After School Care. $35 per month or $420 per year provides for all expenses for each child sponsored.
    • Churches and individuals may consider gifts to cover expenses for a month or a year of running the Mabel’s Care Centre Early Childhood and After School programs.
    • Monthly expenses = $2,000; annual expenses = $24,000
Talk With Us

The Bethania Foundation India TM is a nonprofit and benevolent organization registered in Bangalore vide Reg.No: 196 by the Govt. of Karnataka, India; whose mission is “HelpingOrphans, Semi-orphans, and Children displaced due to natural calamities and children abandoned by parents” to earn the public trust through developing and maintaining standards of accountability that convey God-honoring ethical practices.

Who We Are

Residence Homes

Care Centres

Women’s Empowerment Programs (WEP)

Giving / Enquiry

+91 98452 22848

admin@thebethania.org

Address

House # 23, 4th Cross,
Oil Mill Road,

Kammanahalli, Bangalore - 560084

© 2025 Bethania Foundation India, All Rights Reserved. | Design & Developed by Colourmoon

About Us

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam laboris.

Get a free quote