Report from BHW India Partnership Facilitator 

Key people: Jesudoss and Paulrani

I caught up with Jesudoss and Paulrani in August 2016. I visited their home and also the shelter they have set up for people in Bangalore who for one reason or another are struggling with life in the LGBT and sex worker world. This is a very sensitive partnership and therefore I am sure you will understand that we cannot provide photos and neither can we write too many details. What I can say is that this couple are astounding.

Recent Events

Activities

Ever since Paulrani first felt a heart to help and love transgender people, she and Jesudoss (and with the commitment required from their children) have tirelessly served this community in Bangalore. The ministry is further complicated by the fact that both Jesudoss and Paulrani need to lead the ministry together at the same time. It is too personally risky for either of them to serve on their own. As a result neither can work to help generate funding.

The centre is a local house that they rent which is used for three main purposes:

i) A shelter for between 4 and 6 people who need somewhere to live to help them make a new start in life, or to provide them some time to think through their various struggles.

ii) A site for running small income generation projects – at this stage they have been experimenting with a bag making operation

iii) Running a monthly event for the LGBT community where they come for an evening of social activity, sharing from the bible and dinner. I attended one of these evenings and was able to encourage the attendees.

During the evening I was struck by the love that Jesudoss and Paulrani have for the community and the way this is reciprocated. They are truly working with a group of people that are generally shunned in Indian society and often within the local church. The solutions are not straight forward.

DEAR have costs of running the centre of about US$600 per month. In addition they are trying to start a business that will employ some of the community and at this stage are paying about six people's salaries. This results in a further monthly cost of about US$600. However, the current revenue is low and is not meeting their monthly costs. 

I was able to spend a good amount of time working through the numbers with Jesudoss for which he was greatly appreciative. We will work with them over the coming months to see if there is a viable market for the work they are doing and if so there may be an opportunity for BHW to fund some better sewing machines and a generator to allow for greater production (BHW has now done this - see IND16a). It is a tough time for DEAR as they have very little income and hearts that are large! 

Personal Stories

Not appropriate at this stage.

Partnership's Influence within the Community

The impact is evident by the 27 members that turned up to the community night. I was amazed that in a very real way many of them give up a significant revenue earning opportunity for an evening to come and meet with Jesudoss and Paulrani. They receive dinner at these evenings, money for transport and also free medical check-ups. 

Current Issues and Challenges

As above, income generation is the big challenge for them.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) Praise for the community that is being impacted by this ministry
2) Prayer for income generating opportunities for DEAR
3) Prayer for strength for Jesudoss and Paulrani and others to become involved in the ministry
4) Pray for wisdom as they need to be very careful how they do this work and how they set up any business structures. If they get it wrong they can face legal challenges from this community.