A Picnic!

A few weeks ago, the Hindustani Church in Pune took the children and staff on a picnic. It was a wonderful time for everyone to enjoy being in nature, away from the busyness of the city and daily life. They had lunch together, sang songs, had a program, and enjoyed having lots of fun together. It was great for the kids to be out for a whole day! Much thanks to the Hindustani Church for blessing the kids and staff at HOH!

Birthday Week!

We have SO many birthdays in April! 3 birthdays were celebrated just this week!

Happy Birthday Esther! You came into our lives almost one year ago. Your sweet smile is one of our greatest joys. We have loved every moment with you - watching you learn to sit up, crawl, stand and now walk! Your future is very bright and beautiful and we are so grateful that you are part of our lives!

Happy Birthday Ranjana! Once a shy young girl, now you are bursting with life. We are so blessed to have you in our home, Ranjana and proud of the improvements you are making in your life. Your love and care for the little school children and your willingness to serve is a wonderful example to all the other kids in House of Hope. We love you and wish you all the best for the new year!

Happy Birthday Tanmai! Your laughter and energy fills our home with joy. You are always so eager to greet us with a smile and hugs. We love to watch you play and grow. We are so proud of you and excited for all that you will learn in this new year.

Easter Fun

House of Hope celebrated Easter this past weekend. A local Marathi church is meeting in the Bright Star school building nearby, so all the staff and children enjoyed going to Good Friday and Easter programs. This children were so excited to wear their nice clothes for this special day.

On Saturday, some friends from America came to visit. They dyed Easter eggs, played games, made necklaces and keychains and enjoyed some yummy sweets.

Vishal and his Easter egg

Decorating eggs

Agnes helping the little children

Happy Easter from House of Hope!

A Fire at House of Hope

Yesterday we had quite a scare at House of Hope. In the morning, while all the children were in school, a van crashed into the wall of HOH and burst into flames. It was very close to the house and we were worried that the gas tank might explode and burn our home. Fortunately no school children were in the HOH garden for outside playtime and our staff and little Esther who were in the house got out quickly and safely.

Fire and Police Trucks arrive

The fire drew quite a crowd and the fire department, police and rescue trucks arrived quickly and put out the flames. We are very thankful that God took care of everyone and our house.

Damage to the wall

The fire came so close to our house, but nothing was damaged!

Small Things Can Make the Biggest Difference!

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

~Mother Teresa

House of Hope would not be what it is without the loving work and tender care provided by some very beautiful women.  It takes a lot of time, resources, energy, and patience to care for 17 children every day, but these women do so with excellence and love. It is the “small things” that make the difference in these children’s lives.

Agnes helps the girls transition from school to afternoon activities. 

Pinky (right) is teaching Sonali how to cook Indian food. 

Nanda has learned how to care for her little daughter Esther
from her interactions with the staff ladies in House of Hope. 

Getting to know Chetan

Hiding behind this beautiful, kind smile is a very energetic boy. Chetan appears to be very quiet, but once you get to know him, you discover that he enjoys conversing on just about any topic and really loves football and art (drawing). He also plays the drums really well! He is very helpful and plays nicely with the younger children at House of Hope. He isn’t one to give up easily---he will practice over and over and over again until he is satisfied with his task. Chetan says he wants to play football and be an artist when he grows up and we believe he can do it!

Footballer Chetan

Chetan loves McDonalds!

February Update

Its been a fun month at House of Hope. New interns arrived from Holland and America at the beginning of the month and the kids have had a great time getting to know them.

We also celebrated Valentines day by decorating heart-shaped sugar cookies! The kids loved it and were FULL of energy afterwards, of course :)

The boys at House of Hope would also like everyone to know that they LOVE football!

Its never a dull moment around our house!