Hyderabad

"And the smile that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears."
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Today we shed tears of joy.

As our van pulled up outside the orphanage on the outskirts of Hyderabad, we noticed the children sitting quietly outside working on their homework. Amit, the man in charge of our visit, kindly informed us about the children and the orphanage itself. They currently house and take care of twenty two children. All of them are either single or double orphaned, and all of are living with HIV. They are received by the organization through the police or by the parents or relatives who can no longer care for them. One boy was found abandoned outside of a church by a Priest. He was one year old at the time and was expected to live only a few months. He was incredibly weak and had behavior problems. It has now been years and he is intelligent, strong, and happy. In fact, all of the children appeared happy. We were introduced to the children, the young female teacher and the two older women who help run the small home. The organization cannot afford rent in the city which is why they are in the outskirts of Hyderabad where rent is about $200 USD a month. They currently have to turn away children because they don't have any more room and so they desire to build a larger building. I asked Amit what this would cost and he thought about 30 or 40 Lakhs which is the equivalent of about $70,000 USD. Hmmm....what it would it take to be able to raise this much money from those we know in the states? Could we buy a home for these children?

The children performed a few songs in English for us. Although their English was spotty, their happiness was clearly communicated. We passed out toys and school supplies to them and the gratitude that they expressed touched all of our hearts. Such small gifts brought such smiles. I looked around and felt pure joy when noticing the smiles on the faces of our travelers, as well as, on each precious little face. The joy and contentment that we experienced during our time with these children is what, perhaps, we all long for most in life. We were privileged to spent this time with these beautiful children who have challenged us to live more fully.

Since our visit we have had discussions about what we can do to help build the orphanage. Plans are in the making for a fundraiser in LA. Keep your eyes open for updates on this. We would love to have you there! We also encourage you to perhaps have your own fundraiser where you live.

"I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, By the grace of God, I will do." --Edward Everett Hale