The SAMPARC^TM Balgram for orphan Girl Child is known as the ‘Mother’ of SAMPARC™ organization. SAMPARC™ Bhaje Centre was started with 7 orphan children and few resources, in a small mud house in Bhaje Village, at the footsteps of the famous Bhaje Caves near Lonavla in 1990.

The sheer commitment, devotion and concern of two social workers Mr. AmitKumar Banerjee & Smt. Lata Pande to provide care, security, education and family environment for the abandoned and orphan children paved way for the establishment of SAMPARC™.
 
As more abandoned children were brought in, the mud house became inadequate. The children were then shifted to a rented house with the support of few well-wishers. Later on, more children started coming in and facilities were added one by one to the Balgram over a period of time.

 Today a total of 124 Children are sheltered here & the Bhaje Balgram is a full-fledged Children’s Village with 10 Balsadans. Each Balsadan has 10 children a separate house along with attached bathrooms & has 1 Sadan Mata who takes complete care of the 10 children in her sadan right from waking up the children to sending them to schools ,taking care of their complete daily routine , monitoring the children in all their activities and ensuring that the children are healthy & happy.   

The centre is unique for its picturesque location, a pleasant environment & with lot of greenery around makes it an ideal place for the children to live in a spacious area covering 6 acres of land. The centre has good facilities like community hall, central kitchen-cum-dining hall, office, library, guest room, counseling-cum-meeting room, study room, computer room, medical centre, playground, basket ball ground, garden & staff quarters

The primary children attend the Zilla Prathamik School, the middle & the high school students attend the VPS School, some children also attend the English medium schools at Lonavla and Malavli. Special coaching classes for English Medium School and for SSC students are conducted in the centre.

Medical check up of children is conducted regularly to ensure the wellbeing of all children. A part time nurse daily visits the centre & a doctor visits the centre thrice in a week to look after the health needs of the children. In case of emergency the children are taken to SAMPARC™ Medical Centre, Malavli or to Saraswati Hospital Lonavla.

The children’s ‘Bal Panchayat’ meet is organized once in every week and this is an ideal platform to address various issues of children, discuss them and solve them within themselves in the presence of one of our qualified staff.

This centre conducts regular development activities for the children & staff like group discussions, sessions on Personality Development, Capacity Building, Spoken English etc. These activities improve not only the confidence of the children but also help the inmates and the staff members to do their duties in an efficient manner. The Bhaje Centre also serves as a training centre for housemothers from all other SAMPARC™ centers. Psychologists and other resource persons regularly visit and interact with the children & they give their inputs for the development of the children.

Children are keen in taking part in various cultural activities, sports, drawing & painting competitions. A part time music teacher trains the children & encourages them to participate in various cultural activities. The children celebrate all National & religious festivals with lot of patriotism & enthusiasm such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Ganeshotsava, Rakhi Poornima, Children’s Day, Diwali, Dassera and Christmas..

A Local Committee functions with 13 committee members to support the overall functioning of the centre and to provide guidance and counseling in the areas of care, protection & overall growth of children.

Under the able leadership and guidance of Smt. Ratna Banerjee a team of dedicated staff which includes a Project In charge, Counselor, housemothers, tutors, clerk, are doing a praiseworthy job. Regular Staff Meeting is conducted at every fortnight to review the progress of work and to take necessary steps.

The centre is a Licensed Children’s Home under Department of Women & Child Welfare, Government of Maharashtra. The Bhaje Children’s Village also functions as the Registered Office of SAMPARC™.