Introduction
July 8th 2005 was my 23rd birthday. I spent 8 hours of it on a dusty Indian train, travelling to G-Kallupatti, the village that would be our home for the next 5 weeks. I didn’t know what to expect and my head was filled with questions – why was I here? Would I get on with these 10 strangers in my group? What would the work be like? Most importantly, what would the toilets be like?! When we arrived at that evening at Anbu Illam children’s paradise, my fears were dispelled as over 180 children, bearing gifts of lemons, sweets and flowers, swamped us. Their wide, open smiles, warm handshakes, beautiful faces and excited questions was the best welcome ever and the best birthday present imaginable.
About
Reaching the Unreached (RTU), the organisation which runs the 4 children’s villages for abandoned and orphaned children, helps the poorest people of Tamil Nadu by providing medical care, schools, water systems, employment, day-care centres, vocational training and low-cost housing. It was this last area that our 11-strong team of volunteers from the UK were involved in. By working alongside families and local builders, we helped demolish the existing huts and construct 12 houses by helping to dig foundations, lift bricks, mix cement and white-wash. By living in the village, we became accepted into the families and were privileged to share meal times, prayer times, study time and play time with the children and their foster mothers. The individual stories behind these people are heart-breaking but their overwhelming love, joy, courage and resilience and the work or RTU, will inspire me for the rest of my life. In the words of James Kimpton, founder or RTU “ Imagine a world where every child is safe, well-fed, educated and happy. Imagine being part of making that dream a reality.”
MLMF Support
By your support, you have enabled me to be a small part of such good work and be blessed with such wonderful experiences and memories. THANK-YOU!!
