Searching for Hope In Hyderabad
When I locked in my travel for India a month ago, I reached out to Carey Aiken at Mt. Bethel. Carey is the Pastor of Missions at Mt. Bethel, and I learned that Mt. Bethel supports a mission group, Hope for Today Ministries, in Hyderabad. One of the cornerstones of Hope for Today is their orphans ministry that takes in orphaned and destitute children, provides them a home during the school year, and helps provide them an education. When the children aren't in school, they are sent to be with their relatives until school starts again. Hope for Today has four orphanages serving a total of 106 children. Most these children stay twelve to fifteen years here. Unfortunately, the children were on break. I didn't get to spend time with any of the younger children, but I did get to see the success the program when I met with 4 boys and 1 girl from the program. One of them was in the 11th grade, three of the boys were in college and the young lady was a working medical transcriptionist at one of the hospitals in Hyderabad. These children rose from poverty to get solid educations in India.
In India, education isn't a right, its a gift. Children compete for positions in local public schools. If you aren't accepted in to one of these schools, your options become more limited. You can go to a private school or you can work with your family. Unlike America, an education isn't a guarantee. India is trying to change this, but this is what makes the Hope for Today's ministry so special. Not only are they taking in orphaned children, but they provide them a gift of an education. In India, an education is the difference between a good life or debilitating poverty.
I contacted Carey on a Thursday and he quickly responded that Dr. Peter Pereira and his wife Ester would be at our church the coming Sunday, and I was invited to attend the India Missions lunch where Peter, Ester and I made contact. Peter is the head of Hope for Today, and I let Peter know I was going to Hyderabad in a few weeks. After a few emails, Peter and Ester realized my trip was real, and they gave me a list of supplies the orphanage needed.
I posted my trip details on Facebook, and there was an overwhelming response. From pencils, erasers, and sharpeners to clothes and underwear, family, friends and neighbors filled two suitcases of supplies for the children.
On Saturday, I met with Santley Bantu, one of the staff members at Hope for Today at my hotel. Earlier in the week, Stanley came by and relieved me of over 50 pounds of supplies. When we met that morning, he mentioned how heavy the suitcases were, and he was surpised by the amount of outreached I generated in a short time. Stanley took meet other members of the team at the Methodist Engineer School in old town Hyderabad. He wanted to share how the ministry and Christ were helping a broad spectrum of people in Hyderabad. He showed me a presentation that focused on the compassion ministries that teaches women how to sew so they have a trade, helps widows, and ministers to the rag pickers. The rag pickers are the homeless in Hyderabad.
While there, I learned about how the team is providing soy milk to the
children in Hyderabad using a soy bean still that steams the soy beans
and converts them to soy milk. I met Das, my first Alumnae member of the Alpha House orphanage. Das showed me how the soy conversion process worked.
The soy milk process serves over 480 children in Hyderabad and Bihar. For the children receiving this milk, it is a major source of protein and nutrition. This is one of the many outreach programs this team of dedicated Christians run in India.
The group treated me as an honored guest, and I was grateful for the joy they had for spending some times with me. The children sang songs and gave me a tour of the house. The house right next door is very close, so I asked them if any of them ever jumped over to the other, incomplete house. They all said no, but I said I might have when I was there age. At this, they quickly piped up that Srinivas might have jumped over once or twice.
I snapped a picture of the boys' room where up to 25 children sleep on the floor every night. Everything each of these children owns is in one of these lockers. There isn't air conditioning, only a couple ceiling fans. The cold floor is their only real relief from the heat. Each day, the host family cooks for these children in a kitchen the size of a typical guest bathroom. Even though the boys weren't there this week, Stanley got an older picture of them for me. I want to post it so everyone that helped me can see the people they touched.
I can't say thanks enough to everyone that took a little out of their pockets and sent it to these children. Its easy to take for granted underwear, pencils, paper and other things we see as everyday items. These are just a few of the 106 children that will benefit from your donations.
In India, education isn't a right, its a gift. Children compete for positions in local public schools. If you aren't accepted in to one of these schools, your options become more limited. You can go to a private school or you can work with your family. Unlike America, an education isn't a guarantee. India is trying to change this, but this is what makes the Hope for Today's ministry so special. Not only are they taking in orphaned children, but they provide them a gift of an education. In India, an education is the difference between a good life or debilitating poverty.
I contacted Carey on a Thursday and he quickly responded that Dr. Peter Pereira and his wife Ester would be at our church the coming Sunday, and I was invited to attend the India Missions lunch where Peter, Ester and I made contact. Peter is the head of Hope for Today, and I let Peter know I was going to Hyderabad in a few weeks. After a few emails, Peter and Ester realized my trip was real, and they gave me a list of supplies the orphanage needed.
On Saturday, I met with Santley Bantu, one of the staff members at Hope for Today at my hotel. Earlier in the week, Stanley came by and relieved me of over 50 pounds of supplies. When we met that morning, he mentioned how heavy the suitcases were, and he was surpised by the amount of outreached I generated in a short time. Stanley took meet other members of the team at the Methodist Engineer School in old town Hyderabad. He wanted to share how the ministry and Christ were helping a broad spectrum of people in Hyderabad. He showed me a presentation that focused on the compassion ministries that teaches women how to sew so they have a trade, helps widows, and ministers to the rag pickers. The rag pickers are the homeless in Hyderabad.
 | |
| Stanley is in the T-shirt in the middle. Rebecca(red dress) is on the right and Mr. Kumar is in the white shirt. |
After my visit to the downtown Hyderabad, Das, Stanley and I left for the outskirts of the city to visit the orphanage. The trip from the center of Hyderabad to the orphanage took about an hour. I took a lot of pictures on the way, but I wanted to stay focused on the hope many of you helped provide this week. The host family for the orphanage was waiting for us at the gate when we arrived. I took a picture of some of the children and alumnae that were there. The boys were studying for their finals, and the home provided them a quite place to get their studies done.
I can't say thanks enough to everyone that took a little out of their pockets and sent it to these children. Its easy to take for granted underwear, pencils, paper and other things we see as everyday items. These are just a few of the 106 children that will benefit from your donations.
Comments
Post a Comment