My wife and I decided to travel to India and visit a number of HOPEworldwide programs for our winter break and honeymoon. As we planned for our trip, we contacted HOPEww representatives in three different cities: Chennai, Bangalore, and Delhi.
The brothers and sisters there were fantastic; helping us set up all of our stay and travel needs. This is the first of several blogs we will share about our trip. To see how you can help go to Disciple Adventures.
As I write this, I find myself in the orphanage called Arias Home of Hope, which hosts 30 children that are HIV positive. The home is two hours away from Chennai, a southeastern city in India, and it is located in a remote village rural area. Hope is doing a great job of taking care of these (20) boys and (19) girls. All are HIV positive and about 75% of them are orphans, with the other 25% having one parent who is not able to support them or care for them.
The center recently moved from the city to the rural area due to a number of administrative and cost issues. At the center they have four staff members that help with cooking and cleaning; two of which are disciples. There are brothers and sisters who work for Hope in the city and in the village that also routinely visit. Additionally, there is a young brother from the United States who decided to leave all behind and volunteer full time at the orphanage. He has been here for two years, has learned the language, and is a true hero as he gives to these children constantly, loving them, educating them, and helping them spiritually.
With all the great things that Hope is doing here, the needs are still tremendous. See Disciple Adventures. The children receive an excellent diet and have good living quarters, but all of them share only one teacher a day and they study on the floor. While the teacher tries his best, it is simply impossible to actively engage all the children for extended periods of time. They have school supplies but their quality is not great. They have a need for more resources to supply desks, chairs, blackboards, an
d more teachers. There is also a tremendous need to install a purified water-well and water pump, solar panels for electricity, fix a sewage piping problem, and other needs for infrastructure.
I met a young boy, age 10, though he seems to be more like 7 years old. His name is Muni. He is as sweet a boy as you could imagine. He tries hard in school, has a soft heart, but suffers greatly with his disease. As I spent time with him, I prayed fervently to God to miraculously heal him. I shared with God that I knew that the most likely outcome would be for him to continue to fight with his disease in a regular way– which may result in life or death – but that one word from HIM could restore Munny’s health. As I went to bed last night and again tonight, I have thought, that there is nothing more dramatic and important than taking care of orphans in this world and in this life. They are such
a vulnerable group; exposed to the greatest challenges, risks, and pains of life. They may have witnessed the death of their parents, becoming completely abandoned or ostracized, both because of their conditions as orphans and as AIDS victims; die in hunger, in disease, or grow up without education, being destined to at best very difficult life.
I pray that my life can be dedicated to the cause of helping the orphans and the widow. I pray that I can devote my financial resources, my time, my energy, and my mind to help advanced the cause of these children.
I also pray, that as you read this reflection of mine, you will decide to visit any orphanage and give yourself a chance to understand their trouble and their world. I pray that you will seek to generously support any of our Hope orphanages around the world on a consistent basis. I pray that we will all consider adopting them into our families and giving them a greater chance of hope in this world.
If you are a college student and are reading this, help us make this a “One-Year-Challenge” (www.hereamisendme.net) site to come and help. Disciple Adventures. Also, if you are an engineer, consider joining Engineers without Borders (www.ewb-usa.org), and add this site as a project and bring your chapter to make a difference!
If you would like to learn more or donate, please visit: www.hopefoundation.in and contact: Dr. Ashok Prabath at: Ashok_Prabath@hopeww.org
Malar Prabath at: malar_prabath@hopeww.org
