What We Do
We feed, clothe, house, educate and provide medical care for over 500 destitute children in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. We are the sole provider of funds for the Light of Love Home-cum-School in the rural market town of Tuni and a Home-cum-School in the state capital Hyderabad.
Our Indian NGO partners identify children in desperate circumstances who need our help, and take them into our homes. Many have been surviving by scavenging in rubbish tips, sleeping rough and begging on the streets, or working as unpaid domestic servants or bonded labourers, effectively slaves. Because there is no comprehensive system of state care for these children in India, often they have been cruelly exploited.
Frequently the children are brought to our homes by family or friends who have nowhere else to turn for help. These children are often orphans, bereaved by AIDS, other illnesses and accidents. Others come from families simply too poor to care for them. Almost all the children are Dalits, the so-called Untouchables that for centuries have been stigmatised by Indian society as unclean, ignorant and beneath contempt.
We care for the children, some of whom come to us barely out of infancy, until they reach the age of eighteen and we strive to ensure that, before they leave us, they can go on to further education or find employment. Our aim is to bring these children safety and security, then dignity, self-respect and love.
