THANK YOU

This blog is a big thank you to those who have forwarded money through us to help out over here, it is long overdue but one of the problems is that things are just not easy to buy. Miriam and I are so used to just going to the nearest shopping centre and picking up the needed items. Over here it takes months of frustrating, failed attempts and numerous cities before we find what we’re after. Another issue is the language barrier, so we always have to take someone with the lingo although we are working on this by teaching ourselves Hindi and practicing on the kids.

My brother sent through a wad of cash a while ago and with it we were able to purchase new tires and repair one of the ute’s that is used to ferry supplies and school children (not at the same time). This was done just in time as the other “Garri” (car) broke down on a school excursion and took ages to fix. They are hoping to purchase a new vehicle as the current fleet are all on their last legs. There was some money left over so we bought the girls a new DVD player to replace one that broke. I’m not sure this was such a great idea as now we are subjected to girls recounting lines from “Titanic”, “High School Musical” and now thanks to those Kiwi visitors – “The Sound of Music”. Some of the girls even reckon that Miriam looks a little like Maria but I can’t see the resemblance…

Friends from way back also sent a bunch of cash which we have put to good use buying a huge pot, big enough to cook a medium sized child in (not that we would of course) and a 22L pressure cooker to speed up the rice preparation. We also were able to replace many of the dented, warped and cracked plates and cups used by the children. After a lot of deliberation we also decided to cave in to popular demand and buy some “fairness cream” aka (moisturiser with sunblock), and over 2000 individual packets of sunslik and pantene shampoo (cheapest way to buy it). As if that wasn’t enough, with the leftovers we were able to buy two steel cupboards for the school library and another UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) for the computer room.

Some guys from my work have come to the party and provided some money which has gone towards chairs for the computer room and the last UPS required. This has meant the computer room was completed and last week every class from 1^st to 10^th (no 9^th class) had their first “real” computer lesson – We now have 7 computers running and the kids have been really excited to use them, some for the first time ever. The remaining money was spent on a filing cabinet which took some finding in India, an iron for the laundry and sporting equipment for the kids (2 volleyballs, a soccer ball, and 2 badminton sets).

Our church sent some more money over and we decided the best way to spend this was on fruit for the kids. The farm grows it’s own fruit and in-season the kids get plenty of guava’s, mangoes and paw-paws. Outside of season though, fruit is very expensive and the kids go without for months at a time. The money provided will give the kids a mixture of apples and bananas 3 times a week for about 2 months. This will also reduce the need to purchase so many vitamin supplements that are given to the children in lieu of fruit.

All of these gifts are perfect examples of how us “rich” westerners can make a real difference in the lives of these children. Because of foreign money coming in these children get a real chance at life with a safe, healthy environment to grow up in, a better than average education (I wouldn’t say good just yet, but we’re working on it) and a loving family of fellow orphans and local and foreign staff members. I quite often watch the kids playing and realize that without this place many would be dead, sick, abused or at the very least uneducated with no real hope for the future.

Thanks to all those have given of their hard-earned dough, it is much appreciated by both of us, the staff and especially the kids. A lot of the things we are buying with the money aren’t “exciting” but they are “infrastructure” items which are much needed and unfortunately take priority over toys and games. The www.indianorphanage.com website has now added a catalogue which enables “fun” things to be bought for the kids like sports gear, games and toys. This can be “ordered” online or email us to find out about other payment options.

Of course if you have time on your hands and happen to be good at anything at all, we can always fit you in over here – we’ve really enjoyed our time here so far and feel like we’re actually making a difference. We have visitors here quite often who find that this place changes their perspective on what things are really important in life. We are always looking for people who can teach (no qualifications needed), do handy-man tasks, cook or even supervising kids while they do craft, computers or sports.