The Svalerne organisation (Swallows) was set up in Copenhagen in 1963, after others were set up in Sweden, Finland and Norway, to send volunteers and to support development work in the slums and isolated rural areas in India and, from 1971, in Bangladesh.
In 1965, Grete Lauritzen set up SOS Boîtes de Lait to support child victims of economic insecurity in developing countries, supplying products for dispensaries, maternity hospitals, day nurseries, hospitals and leper hospitals outside the big cities with difficult access. They organised collections in Denmark and the involvement of hundreds of young Danes in the Emmaus international work camps in France. In summer 1969, more than 40 cities in Denmark hosted international work camps. The first rag-pickers community was set up shortly afterwards.
