Christmas - a time to remember!

"Mom, when I grow up, I also want to work in an orphanage". Jaleesa, our oldest daugther, has seen the very beginnings of House of Hope first hand. She has seen the miracles and struggles, living and dying, but also the possibilities in DOING the impossible.

The 14 children in House of Hope have experience how hope exists and what a powerful thing hope is when faced with difficult situations. As we know and celebrate this Christmas that Jesus came to this earth to bring life in abundance, it is that very life to be passed on to others, and when really necessary with words. To give life is far from difficult as Shaheena and the other children are living proof of this.

In the picture on the left, Shaheena is 4,5kg in weight and dying of Aids. Now, five years later (she is 9 years old now) she has transformed into a beautiful, intelligent girl. She wants to be teacher :).

All the children wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

New Bicycles

The children got a wonderful surprise this week - new bicycles! They were very eager to try out their new wheels and the little ones are excited to learn how to ride a bike. 

Sakshi and Prasanna helping Chetan ride a bike.

Prasanna's turn!

Sandesh will have to grow into his bike.

Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali Everyone! Last week all of our House of Hope kids were on holiday. So we thought it would be fun if we planned some activities for them to enjoy on their week off. We have been busy making Diwali lanterns, playing games, watching movies, taking trips to the park, and on Friday night we had our big Diwali party. We had dinner, played games, watched fireworks, and just celebrated together as a family! The kids have all had a blast and I am sure they have been sleeping well at night; all that playing can make one very tired! Here are some pictures from our fun Diwali party:

Sahara (front), Tanmay and Prasanna ready for the party to start!

Shaheena

Diwali Dance Party!

Diwali wouldn't be complete without a LOT of food.

Waiting to light their sparklers...

Sahara

Anush

Sanatan

Even little Angel enjoyed the sparklers!

Happy Diwali from House of Hope!

Happy Birthday Agnes!

One of our staff members, Agnes, had a birthday last week!  We had a very nice lunch at noon with the kids and then after school we had cake, sang songs, and just spent time with one another. Agnes is so sweet and all of the children just adore her. Whenever they are sick or sad they know they can come to Agnes and she will hold them and pray for them and just love on them. When asked why she works at House of Hope she says, “It’s in the Lord’s plans for me.”  Agnes always says the reason she is so good with the kids and the reason she has so much love for them is because she is doing God’s work, it is God working through her.  We love her and everything she does for House of Hope.   

Happy Birthday Agnes!

Zoo Trip!

This past week the kids from House of Hope went on a trip to the zoo with their school, Bright Star Education! It was a great time for all the kids. There were lots of animals to see and we got to have a picnic as well! 

So excited to go to the zoo!

It was a thrilling day for Kiran and Tanmay.

One of the main animal attractions was a large pit of snakes. Some of the kids weren’t big enough to see into it so we lifted them up to check it out. Sahara, when lifted up, was quite frightened by the snakes and let out a rather nervous squeal. Later at House of Hope a fake rubber snake was found in their toys and Sahara was so afraid of it she ran into the other room! Besides that, the zoo was a success and the kids had a blast! 

Meet Kiran

Another week, another addition! We are beyond blessed to receive another new boy to our House of Hope family.  His name is Kiran and he is 7 years old. Kiran is severely underweight and not as strong as some of the other children. But we have faith that he will grow bigger and become stronger and stronger with every day. He has already gained 2 kilos in a week! Kiran told Sangeeta that his auntie used to hit him when he asked for food, but now he is happy to be in a place where he gets more than enough food. 

Kiran is very sweet and seems to be fitting in very well. The first couple of days he was pretty shy but now he is laughing and playing with all of the other children and seems to be very happy in his new home! 

Playing with his new friend, Chetan

The Joy of Giving

Last week was Joy of Giving week here in India. It is a national celebration of giving to local NGOs providing care and services for those who are less fortunate. The Women’s International Club of Pune came together and presented House of Hope with many generous monetary donations, food and clothing. We were so blessed by their generosity. It truly was a joyful celebration and we are very thankful to the WIN ladies!

Rice  - 64 kg

Atta - 89 kg

Sugar - 25 kg

Tea - 6 kg

Oil - 25 lt

Pulses - 41 kg

Laudry Detergent - 4 kg

Milk - 5 lt

Salt 7 kg

Maida - 115 kg

Biscuits/chocolates - 10 packages

These donations will provide nutritous food for 13 children and 3 adults for the next two months.

Ready to unload the car!

Little Helper

Thank you!

  

 

Meet Anush

This week we received a new addition to our House of Hope family, a 10 year old boy named Anush. He is happy and looks very healthy. The first day he was here he was outside playing with all of the other boys, teaching them some karate moves he knew and having a blast. 

Each child in the house has a special box where they can keep their treasures. When Anush came, all the kids opened their box and gave one thing to him so he would be able to have his own box filled with treasures as well! Everyone in the house loves him and he seems to be transitioning very well! We are very excited to be growing as a family here in Pimpri. 

Puppy Love

Last week the House of Hope family dog, Lela had puppies! All the kids were so excited about these cute little dogs. It did however raise some questions about where the puppies came from, but Agnes and Sangeeta took care of that somehow. Lela and her puppies have made their home underneath a bush in the corner of the House of Hope’s yard. The kids always sneak up quietly to check out the puppies. Most of the little kids try and maintain a safe distance from Lela because they are afraid she may bite them. While the older kids get as close as they want to check out the newest members of their family, trusting that Lela wants them too as well. 

Agnes has been having Bible times with the kids at night - reading Bible stories, singing songs, and afterwards asking the kids if they have any prayer requests or praises from their day. During one of these times Sanatan told Agnes that he had a prayer request. He asked, “Can we pray that nice parents come and pick up Lela’s puppies so they have a good home like what you did with us?”  Sanatan said he trusts God with the puppies because he knows what God can do and has seen Him working in his own life.

Sanatan with one of the new puppies

Sandesh and Lela showing some puppy love

 

happiness and sadness hand in hand

The last two weeks Sahara, Sakshi and her mother Karuna had to stay in the hospital. Karuna didn’t eat properly and Sahara was coughing very much and they were afraid that she might have tuberculoses and pneumonia like Saksi had. It was a very stressful time as the staff had to travel back and forth to the hospital. We were afraid of not knowing how the disease would develop, keeping in mind that Ganesh and Suyash died of this. They observed them for two weeks in the hospital and treated Sakshi with medication. We are very thankful they are home again and doing much better.


Rakhi, one of our staff members has left us. Before she joined our team she used to work as prostitute and had some drinking problems. After a period of rehabilitation with another organization we thought she would be ready to work with us. All went well for 6 months, but she fell back into her old habit of drinking. She left our home and was found complete drunk in a slum area nearby. We have contacted the organization that helped her before and they will further take care of her. Please keep her and all our children in your prayers.

As you see things are not always easy here. Happiness, excitement and sadness go hand in hand.

Fun at the garden

Do you ever realise that something simple like going to a garden can give you a great time? Here in India going to garden is like going to a theme park back home.The children from House of Hope are simply thrilled when we do things like that. It is even worth walking  for 15 minutes in the hot sun to reach it!!                                                  

 As HOH, we went out to the garden in our neighbourhood, the other day and we had so much fun! Just enjoy the pictures and thank you so much for caring!.

Shaheena hanging on a monkey-bar, Sandesh and Prasanna on top of a slide.

Jaleesa, Sham, Prasanna and Sonali relaxing at the end of the slide, after tumbling all over eachother for some time.

Joyti and her son Joshua and little baby Angel could not join us that day sadly enough, but this a picture of all of us enjoying our outing!

With love, from all of us!

Get out of my house!

A man comes running into our home while he is screaming: “Get out, get out!!” Completely shocked the staff looks at him while he continues:” Get out of this house, this is my house!””You are not supposed to be here”. Quickly the staff makes sure that all the children are moved towards the back of the house, afraid he might hurt one of them. All of them are wondering the same thing: what is he talking about?

Then, he shows them some paperwork showing that he is the real owner of this house and that we are illegally on his land. When most of the staff panics, Sangita reacts calmly, looks into his papers and shows him our agreement. Within seconds she realizes what the problem is; We are renting this house from a second owner……………

As you understand we all didn't sleep very well this weekend. We just moved into our new home, love it and now? Do we have to leave again?
Thank God, He always takes care of us even if we don't realize it ourselves.

On Tuesday Sangita spoke to the broker and the second owner. It turned out that the broker had rented out the house to us, from an illegal owner. The illegal owner had seen that the home had been vacant for months and pretended it was his home. After that he got some false papers and told the broker he wanted to rent out his house, to us..... Amazing isn't it?

All is solved now, we have a new agreement with the real owner, this time!!!