In early 2001, Rita Panicker, founder and director of an Indian NGO called Butterflies, was determined to find additional ways to help the many homeless children who worked and slept on the streets of India. Butterflies had put in place a variety of programs, but there was one area that Panicker, Butterflies, and other NGOs had not addressed: the children's finances. Over the course of the next few years, she helped found the Children's Development Bank, or Bal Vikas Bank, run by the children themselves. The program was successful and helped many street children, who learned independence, banking skills, and who were able to start their own micro-businesses.
