Report from BHW India Partnership Facilitator
The New Ark Mission of India (NAMOI) is providing housing and care for up to 450 men, women and children. T Raja says there are approximately 200 men, 200 women, and 50 children. Obviously these numbers flex constantly as various people come and go.
The main focus of our visit was to meet with T Raja again, and to see the finished children’s home.
New Children's HomeThe new children's home was quite a sight. When we visited in November 2013 the foundations had been laid and the supporting beams for the ground story but it still required a lot of work to be done. We were also keen to understand why the original budget had increased significantly. As we discussed this with T Raja we realised that the costs required to build a home of this size, and to the standards required from the Government, were proving more costly than first required, or anticipated. Details of the finished home are summarised below.
There are eight bedrooms and each bedroom can house approximately eight children. There is also a computer room with desks that have been donated. T Raja now just needs to obtain some computers for the children to use. There are also eight toilets in the block, a large improvement on the past smaller facility. The new building is only going to be used for girls and babies. Babies include boys up to 7 years of age, in accordance with Government rules. The older boys will continue to live in the old home. There is also a special larger room for mothers to stay with children where appropriate, and also more room for mentally disabled children.
The finished house, including the garden and children’s playground, ended up costing around 75–80 Lakhs (approx US$120k–130k). One of the key reasons that the cost was so high was that T Raja spent a lot extra on the foundations than he had budgeted for. The structural beams are extra large, and can take up to an additional four storeys if he wishes in the future. Furthermore, the steel rods used in the concrete pillars are normally used for apartment buildings – building up to 10 floor structures - but in T Raja’s mind this was important for the safety of the children. Furthermore T Raja has built a third building which is a dining room for the children. This was also not included in the original design.
In addition, T Raja has made the environment as fun and imaginative as he possibly could. The children now have a play park, designed and built by T Raja and one of his team. You can see his creative flare all over the finished product. We had the privilege of opening the children’s home, and afterwards the kids played on the playground. What a difference to the last time we visited. In the past the children were mainly kept indoors and had nowhere safe to play. This time we saw the kids playing and screaming on slides, flying foxes and swings. It was like any other playground you might find in New Zealand or Australia. The only difference was the stories behind each child.
What a blessing to have been able to stand with T Raja and his team as he has developed this home.
Also useful to note is that another man from Kerala sponsored the building of a new kitchen with staff lodgings above. This is a huge blessing for the community as cooking for 450 people three times a day is no small task. T Raja had wanted to find more accommodation for his staff and now he has this.
T Raja’s team continues to grow and it was so wonderful to see his daughter now training to be a nurse and with such a passion for the work of the Home of Hope. We will watch with interest to see how this family continues to invest their lives in their incredible mission of hope and compassion.
Personal StoriesWe had the privilege of praying for this little boy and giving him the name that had been decided for him - Dominic Xavier. He was only 15 days old and was being raised by the staff at Home of Hope because his mother had been raped by a family member, and was brought to the Home of Hope. She is mentally disabled and unable to look after the little boy. Dominic, just like around 50 other children, finds a loving family at the Home of Hope.
When Pankaja was brought to the Home of Hope she was mentally imbalanced. She was not able to open her eyes and her head was full of lice and nits (see photo on left compared to the present photo on right). Apparently, some street boys had mauled and sexually abused her. Some people rescued her from the boys. Knowing about the Home of Hope they called Auto Raja and he brought her home. We met Pankaja, and her transformation is astounding. One who could not speak now has no problem in conversing with others.
Aravind used to work at Ogilvy & Mather, an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan. It operates 450 offices in 161 cities of 120 countries worldwide with approximately 18,000 employees. But about 18 months ago Aravind was brought in by the police with amnesia, he does not remember much of his past life.
Aravind was brought in to the Home of Hope and T Raja looked after him. He is now healthy, although he still suffers some memory loss. As a communications specialist he is now helping T Raja with promotional material, and sharing the story of the Home of Hope. Aravind has started to write T Raja’s biography. It will be exciting to read when it is finished. He summed T Raja up with one word – Compassionate. He said that it is very rare to find a man like T Raja.
As always the community influence is apparent by the shear number of people that continue to come to the Home of Hope. The police know where to bring people and children that no one else will care for. The Government ministers even come to events such as the opening of the children’s home. But still T Raja does none of this for recognition, only as he keeps saying – “…for my people, for my children.”
While we found much positive progress, there is still a huge burden on T Raja for the rights and welfare of his people. In particular, finding a reliable water source remains T Raja’s key issue. To try and solve the issue, he was finally able to sell his land in Tamul Nadu for 80 Lakhs and purchase some land nearby for 60 Lakhs that had a water bore. However, just recently the water level has dropped at this site as well. This worries T Raja, as the nearest other source for water is about 10 kms away. This is a long round trip each day for their water truck, and an added cost. He used the remaining 20 Lakhs from selling his personal property to finish the children’s home. In addition to the water issue, if he used only gas to perform all the cooking it costs between 70 – 80,000 Rs per month (or approximately US$1,100).
To address the water issue, as well as the lack of a viable power source (gas is still to expensive to use), T Raja is planning to petition the Chief Minister when he comes to the inauguration and official opening of the children’s home.
1) The successful completion of the children’s home
2) For the continued stories of lives transformed and people like Aravind who are a tremendous support to T Raja in areas where he does not have the skills
3) For strength for Devi and T Raja - it is a tremendous load to bare
4) For water supply and gas supply to be sorted, and for the Government to take some responsibility for helping with the costs