India

Photo: Girls rescued from child labor are so grateful and happy to get to go to school and receive after-school care.

We are happy to report that our Children’s Hope Center in Hyderabad, India, is nearing the end of its 5th school year since we began operation in 2010. 48 children rescued from child labor were enrolled in school this year — they studied their native Telugu and Hindi languages, English, math, science, social studies, and computer education. We received new desks and computers at our Hope Center, offering the children more resources as they pursue their education. They are taking their final exams right now, and all are on track to be promoted to the next class level next year. The children really enjoyed the school year, and are looking forward to spending time with their families this summer.

Photo: Girls from our India Girls Home send donors their love and gratitude for the new solar water heating system!

We are happy to report that a solar water heating system has been installed at our main India campus, and with the main solar panel system back online after recent construction, the campus can now function completely from solar power during the frequent outages. Winter is almost over in India, but there are still some chilly mornings ahead relative to their tolerance, so it is a blessing for the children to have warm water this month as opposed to the cold water they were bathing with during chilly mornings.

Photo: Our girls are thankful for a harvest of radishes, a healthy ingredient for their meals.

We are pleased to report that the last phases of the harvests for our 14-acre farmland, and the on-campus ground level gardens and rooftop box gardens are going very well. The latter two projects are an effort to introduce more fresh organic vegetables and herbs into our children’s diets at the Girls Home and Boys Home, beyond the lentils that our farmland is already producing. There have been heavy rains lately which may affect the yield of these harvests, so our native team in India asks for your prayers.

Photo: Saroj* (pictured at center) is grateful for his family at our India Boys Home.

We are very happy to share a powerful story of 11-year-old Saroj who lost his mother and his father and became an orphan, but now he lives a happy life full of redemption and hope at our Boys Home in India. Today he shares his story in his own words:

“My father is a lorry driver, he got married, and his first wife was died because of jaundice and liver problem. Before she died she gave birth to 2 girls. After his first wife died, he married my mother, she gave birth to 2 boys. I am the eldest son to this mother, and she gave birth to my younger brother. After him she was died because of cancer.

Photo: Children at our India Girls Home are thankful for a bountiful banana harvest! We are happy to report that plans are underway to cover every available square foot of the main India campus with gardens, including a rooftop box gardening project. These projects are an effort to introduce more fresh organic vegetables and herbs […]

Photo: Students enrolled in our slum outreach program are happy to use new computers which aid their school work.

We are excited to share the good news that the computer lab at our Children’s Hope Center in Hyderabad, India, was recently refurbished to include 3 new computers, new desks and tables, and educational charts and videos. There are currently 48 students enrolled in our program, and the upgrades to the computer lab greatly benefit their studies after school. Our electricity connection is still working, which is a great improvement from our previous usage of lanterns and a small generator. This doesn’t solve everything, as electricity only flows a few hours a day, but the children are overjoyed to have access to technology which empowers their pursuit of education.

Photo: Orphan girls once trapped in child labor and extreme poverty are thankful to be free and safe at the newly expanded Girls Home.

Thanks to profits from our native-led farmland as well as donations from our generous donors, enrollment is up at our India Girls Home by 29 new girls who were rescued within the past 2 months. We are also happy to report that the Girls Home has recently expanded to include a new space which comfortably houses 40 orphan girls. The other 30 girls live in the existing space, and all of the orphans are cared for by 5 loving women and widows who live in the Girls Home and serve faithfully.

Photo: Orphan girls rescued from child labor situations are well on their way to recovery at our girls home.

Yesterday our India team hosted a public seminar to explain the legal rights of minor girls and to heighten awareness of the illegal and dangerous nature of child marriage. Motivated by extreme cultural pressures, relatives of our Indian orphan girls often try to claim legal rights to withdraw the girls from the orphanage as early as age 12 or 13 with the hidden motive of arranging for their marriages. Thus we invited and paid transportation for many of these relatives to attend, to hear directly from government representatives about the illegal practice of child marriage.

Photo: A young girl enrolled in our program is now out of child labor, being equipped with an education that will take her far.

Good news! After a 4-year wait—yes, 4 years—we finally got our electricity connection at the Children’s Hope Center in the slums of Hyderabad. All this time we’ve been running on lanterns and a small generator.

Photo: Students rescued from child labor enjoying the newly improved computer lab and classroom space.

In one of the world’s most populous and fastest-growing cities—Hyderabad, India—there’s a slum colony situated on the edge of one of the city’s major landfills. In this colony made up of make-shift homes pieced together from discarded vinyl ad banners, tattered tarps and sticks, stands one permanent facility. This facility is The Children’s Hope Center, which exists to provide children a way out of child labor through education and nutrition.

Photo: A reason to be joyful! Girls rescued from a life of child labor in the slums are being equipped for a life of hope—at our Children’s Hope Center in Hyderabad.

As a lesser-known but massive city with a population of almost 8 million, the South Indian metropolis of Hyderabad faces extreme infrastructure and poverty challenges. With an urbanization rate bringing tens of thousands of new residents into the city each month, there is simply not enough affordable housing to keep up.

Photo: Girls who were once orphans trapped in child labor, now free, safe and full of hope at our India Girls Home.

This summer we had announced that, due to increased enrollment at our Girls Home, we needed to expand our facilities and improve security. Slowly but surely over the course of the last few months, funds were provided and just last week we met our goal of $43,500. The girls received it as quite a Christmas present and are very thankful for your support.