India is facing an accelerating threat from HIV, with more people infected with HIV than any other country in the world. Introduce intense poverty, famine, drought, natural disasters, and malaria, and it is no surprise that there are an estimated 15-25 million orphans in India. The number of children in India orphaned by AIDS alone is approaching two million, according to UN estimates. The impacts of the AIDS crisis have not begun to emerge fully in India, and AIDS-related orphaning is not yet occurring at a large scale. Yet, India has the largest number of AIDS orphans of any country in the world. This number is expected to more than double in five years, and the proportion of orphaned children will remain exceptionally high until 2020 or 2030.
Santvana Children’s Home is run by Dr. Lalita Edwards and provides residential care and education to 25 children affected with HIV. Forty percent of the children who live in the home are true orphans; the rest come from single parents or situations where AIDS and HIV have affected the family as well as children whose parents work in the Red Light Area (RLA) in Pune. In conjunction with the Santvana Children’s Home, the creche was estabilished to provide evening care to the children of workers in the RLA.
There are approximately 35 children at the crèche from 5 pm to 10 pm, during which time they get to play, receive basic Bible teaching and enjoy learning and singing choruses as well as a snack. As a result of the creche, two young girls have been rescued from the RLA and have found shelter at the Santvana Children’s Home. In an effort to provide a home to 15 more children, renovations will soon be underway at Santvana Children’s Home. Dr. Edwards, who is well connected to the local government offices related to childcare, has been encouraged to apply for the FCRA approval from the government which will enable her to receive funding more easily in the future as the Home expands its ministry.
Ministry Opportunities
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Mission trip opportunities for VBS, construction, evangelism and outings with the children.
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Financial assistance for operations of the home to improve salaries, increase the number of children served and their living conditions.
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Pray for Dr. Edwards, her staff and the children in the home and the RLA. Pray especially for health, encouragement and wisdom in this ministry.
The Elwyn Parekh Home in Anand, Gujarat is run by Mainesh and Snehlata Parmar. This Home provides residential care to destitute and needy girls from nearby village communities. At present there are 12 girls living at the Home. Next month, an additional eight girls will be coming to live at the Home, three of which are orphans.
The Elwyn Parekh Home is currently in the advanced stages of receiving the needed government approvals and licenses to expand. They are now in contact with the local Child Welfare Committee and hope to get the final permissions soon. In addition, they have a goal to extend their care for orphans to include adoption and are seeking the guidance of Orphan Outreach staff to set up and begin facilitating adoptions in the near future. They are also well into the process of getting the needed FCRA approvals, which will make it easier for them to receive more funding. This project is at a very early stage and is looking forward to finding the best ways to help many more orphans and girls from the nearby communities.
Ministry Opportunities
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Mission trip opportunities for VBS and outings with the children.
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Financial assistance for operations to increase the number of girls they serve and improve their living conditions.
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Pray for the Parmar’s as they continue to serve and care for the girls and also for receiving the licenses so they can expand the program.
Dar-Ul-Fazl (DUF) Children’s Home (House of Grace) and Rainbow School
The House of Grace Children’s Home and Rainbow School was founded in 1982 in Srinagar, Kashmir by Mawitei (called Auntie). In 1995, in order to escape the war in Kashmir, the home moved to the Manali area in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Currently the orphanage is home to 76 children, including 11 who are enrolled in college. Located on the same property, the Rainbow School serves 164 children in grades preschool through seventh grade. The twenty-two children in eighth through twelfth grade must attend school in the local community since the school does not have the resources to provide for those grades. This home and school provide unique Christian refuge in an area of India where less than 1% are Christian. Orphan Outreach is partnering with House of Grace to help manage, fund and provide resources for the Rainbow School to serve children at the orphanage and impoverished children in the community. Our goal is to construct a new school building and renovate the existing school building, which is in poor condition. We are in the process of developing a sponsorship program to provide ongoing funding for the school. We also plan to develop resources for children who are in college and for future graduates.
Ministry Opportunities
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Mission trip opportunities to build upon the truth of the Gospel that is already being taught in the home, train and support the staff in their daily functions, home renovations and construction projects
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Financial assistance for operations of the school and orphanage
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Participation in matching building fund for the new school
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Prayer for the children in their studies and for the staff of the home and school as they continue to serve and care for these children
You Can Get Involved
Travel on a Mission Trip
Your commitment to travel with Orphan Outreach allows the children we serve to know they are not forgotten. In ministering to these children you become the hands and feet of Christ and profoundly impact their lives as well as your own.
Your financial gifts to Orphan Outreach will help meet the physical, spiritual, and educational needs of children living in orphanages and substandard situations around the world.
Current Leader - Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh
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Compulsory Education - 6 to 14 years
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Literacy - 73% (male); 48% (female)
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Religion - Hindu (80%), Muslim (14%),
Christian (2%), other (6%)
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India is located in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.
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Although India occupies only 2.4% of the world's land area, it supports over 15% of the world's population. Only China has a larger population.
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There are an estimated 35 million orphans (all of sub-Saharan Africa has 43 million). 9% of all children in India are orphans.
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No country can rival India’s children in need. Of India’s nearly 400 million under 18, over 70 million are child laborers, 10 million are bonded laborers (a form of slavery to pay off family debts), 13 million are homeless, 2 million are street children without families.
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There is widespread child abuse, and there is a deficit of 40 million girls because of female feticide — over 20,000 ultrasound clinics thrive on this illegal practice. There are 575,000 child prostitutes and there is a massive trade in Bangladeshi and Nepali girls sold into prostitution.
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Malnutrition affects nearly half of all children under age five.
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The adult literacy rate has a wide discrepancy between males – 73%, and females – 48% (2000-2004).
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Only 59 percent of boys and 47 percent of girls attend Secondary school (1996-2005).
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AIDS has spread rapidly in India and some estimates have said that by 2020 there could be 200 million carrying HIV.
Orphan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization Orphan Outreach • 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 3700 • Plano, TX 75075 • 972.941.4440
