Giving Hope Foundation Orphanage

Jake with the CP boy at the orphanage. Cutest lil boy wanting to help too.

Me and one of the lil girls

The classroom.

Two days ago we traveled into Delhi with another aussie guy Ray that's working here at the ashram and Praseeda ( the mother of the 17 adopted street kids we have spoken of). We went to go see a small orphanage which is part of the hope foundation. We arrived and had to check the address...we were in a clean neighbourhood and the building was colorful and nice!
We were greeted by Wendy the manager who was so warm and inviting.
We walked into a mall room which was being used as a classroom for a group of kiddies, they were all well dressed and so so cute! One little girl who is unable to talk for unknown reasons babbled away using huge hand movements and even pulled a "hang loose" sign at me (thinking this was a mistake but kudos all the same).
Upstairs some smaller children played in a room with a huge hand painted mural of a scene from the bible of an abandoned baby moses being picked up by ladies at a river side. One boy with cerebral palsy was gorgeous. He smiled and laughed and his eyes were so playful. The other small kids loved attention and hugs and scrambled to take turns in hugging us.
One girl (who I am holding in a photograph) was found under a bridge. She has a skin problem where she bleeds into her skin so looks red and blotchy, she also has behavioural difficulties. When she was found and bought to the orphanage by the police she was so malnourished was just skin and bones, her cheekbones protruding. Now she is jumping around the room, asking for love and attention. My heart really broke for her, there is a very small chance she will get adopted into a family as she does not appear "normal".
So many of these cuties are abandoned in the streets, left not knowing who would find them, whether that be a kind or bad person, or hungry street dogs or rats. These kids are so helpless! Some parents are just so desperate and it is sometimes a question of if we let this new child live, then the rest of us die. I definitely struggle with this but I also know I have never been in a situation of absolute desperation.

We sat in the babies room and talked about the children's stories, who is adopting who and how the orphanage started. I love finding these places in Delhi. Sometimes you just feel like no one else cares and this city is just a massive survival of the fittest. which in alot of ways it is....yet there is still pockets of goodness like this orphanage. Wendy quotes "I do not want this to be a cliche orphanage, I want this to be a good time for them, in fact I want this to be their best memory". So cool.

Our neighbours the Rajastani nomads. Wanting to show us his prize bull-I took the photo and was outta there.

Chatting to a local family picking up some firewood.

Kaka-one of my favourite intellectually handicapped patients. So funny and lovely

Jake works hard so gets thirsty.....

Hahaha love some of the outfits worn here. All the clothes are donated so this sparkly number came from some kind American. I like to call him our ashram mirror ball.

Hanging out and coloring with the kiddies-Sara Gousty these are the ones you sent over! Rad.