The 30 children under the care of Shiloh Orphanage, who have either been abandoned or are orphans (two as a result of the tsunami), have been rescued from a life on the streets of Chennai (Madras). After attempted and failed reconciliation with known relatives they now reside in a dilapidated building and are being looked after by a local Christian Reverend, Isacc Dhas. It is a full time commitment for him to care for these children who range in age from 2-16 and as such he relies totally on donations (and God) to feed, clothe and educate these children.

The Gazelle Trust has pledged to donate a minimum of £200 every 6 months to the orphanage; to date all pledged payments to Shiloh Orphanage from The Gazelle Trust have been processed. These regular donations allow Isacc to buy a wider variation of food for the children without the worry that there won't be enough food for the next day, and to save money for schooling and health costs. Unfortunately although this is a promising start this money is not enough to support all 30 children; The Gazelle Trust is looking for generous donors to pledge a regular amount of money to help Support Us and these children.

An initial needs-assessment of the orphanage found the most pressing need to be the building itself, primarily because it did not possess a roof. In the last rainy season the entire building was submerged in a foot of water, creating appalling conditions for everyone concerned.

In June 2006 The Gazelle Trust donated over £1000, raised from Fundraising Events, to enable the orphanage to build a roof and carry out further renovations so that it is a suitable place for children to grow up; various quotes were taken from trusted and known suppliers and builders.

There are several thousand street children in Chennai that have been abandoned, who have run away from an abusive family or who are orphans. The Gazelle Trust in collaboration with Shiloh Orphanage aims to help as many of these children as possible.

As such we are working towards starting a sustainable integrated farming programme for the orphanage. By hiring nearby land, buying livestock, building a well and growing crops the children could become skilled in agriculture (under the supervision of employed teachers), the primary occupation of rural India, offering them job opportunities and a means of integrating back into their communities. By instigating a "train the trainers" approach, where the children initially trained by professionals could pass down their knowledge to future generations of orphaned children, this programme could successfully continue once the funding has ended. Therefore it wouldn't be necessary to constantly support this orphanage but just to raise enough for it to reach a self-sufficient stage where it can start producing its own food and raising animals for products to sell at the local markets. The project proposal has been laid out by Reverend Isacc Dhas, who is in charge of the orphanage and The Gazelle Trust has approved the proposal. Donations and money raised from Fundraising Events will fund this project; research into grants to assist funding this programme is currently being researched.