Build Our Bridge

Sethu is a Charitable Trust based in Goa, India, to help all children get the best out of their lives, families, schools and communities to grow and develop. Sethu’s mission is to be a bridge between children and their families, schools and communities to foster their overall development through awareness, assessments, therapy, educational initiatives, training and capacity building in the community.

Sethu's Work in Brief

Children in Goa have a facility where they can be assured of the best quality of care for developmental and behavioural health. Established in 2005, the Sethu Trust runs the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance. Providing services to the community for over 16 years, through our child development and family guidance program conducting: early intervention for children with autism and other disabilities, innovative English education in Government primary schools, training programs for parents, teachers and other professionals, on-the-job training for students from various disciplines, networking with educational institutions, other organisations and Government institutions and providing technical support through itinerant teaching to schools that practice inclusive education.

Since its inception, over 8700 children have been registered at the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance, which caters to children with developmental, behavioural, emotional and learning difficulties, from birth to 19 years. Every year over 1000 children are attended to. A multidisciplinary team consisting of a developmental and behavioural paediatrician, child psychiatrist, autism interventionist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, behaviour therapist, psychologists, psychotherapist and administrative staff assess and manage the children and their families.

However, we have run out of space and we are operating from two overcrowded rented premises at present. Though centrally located, we still face several drawbacks:-

·     Long waiting lists 

·     Inadequate space

·     Inappropriate construction for a child development

·     Access

·     Frequent moves



After a critical team, and professional from the field, strategic planning meeting in 2016, it was evident, based on the outcomes outlined above that we needed to prioritise a customised space to call our own. Two years later through the BUILD OUR BRIDGE CAMPAIGN we have raised enough funds to purchase the land, now we need funds to build a state-of-the-art child development and family guidance centre to become a reality to enable us to reach out to more children and families in Goa.

The new Centre will focus on providing the range of services that it has been offering so far, as well as scale and strengthen these. Therefore, we hope to expand our team by taking more professionals on board enabling us to meet the needs of the children and families through assessment, therapy, advocacy and training. We intend to build a ‘fit for purpose’ Centre which is child-friendly and has disability access. 

Proposed functionality of the new Centre:

Ø Multidisciplinary Centre for assessment and therapy services in child development and family guidance.

Ø Early Intervention Centre for early detection of disabilities, in high-risk populations, such as low birth weight babies or those who have suffered neonatal complications.

Ø Training and Resource Centre for parents, teachers, social workers, health professionals and others working with children with disabilities, learning and behaviour concerns.

Ø Research Centre a dedicated space for research in child development, learning and behaviour.

The Centre will be open to all families regardless of race, religion, gender or socio-economic background and will make a special effort to reach out to children with disabilities and those coming from impoverished families.

As is present practice, Sethu will cater to children from birth to 19 years old. Professionals from a range of disciplines such as mental health, education, psychology, speech and language, physiotherapy, counselling, health, occupational therapy, social work, child development, etc. can avail of the training facilities offered.

A focus of the Centre will be on the training of grassroots workers so that through the transfer of knowledge and skills, more children can be reached.

Sethu is registered with the Dept. of Social Welfare, Govt, of Goa, the Income Tax Dept under section 12A and 80G, and also has permanent registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is empanelled with the Tata Institute for Social Sciences (National CSR Hub) for CSR grants and has been awarded the GuideStar Transparency Key.

Sethu's Mission and Vision are in line with the following 4 SDGs of the 17 United Nations goals.

Goal 3: Good Health and wellbeing – Sethu’s Child Development Centre (CDC) focuses on the mental well-being of the child and family by providing assessment, counselling, therapy and required intervention.

Goal 4: Quality Education – The Tarang and Gnyandeep programs focus on ensuring there is inclusive education and that all children learn

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities – Our training sessions, workshop and awareness activities help bridge the understanding gap and work toward reducing inequalities faced by children and enhancing the participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Our CHEER FOR CHILDREN FUND - for families that can not afford to pay for our services.

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Sethu's Child Protection Program and emphasis on empowering parents and professionals to use respectful discipline measures seek to ensure the safety of all children.