Children
Caring for children in need
Imagine facing tonight without a safe place to sleep and no idea where your next meal will come from.
This is the reality for children across Andhra Pradesh. Many are sleeping rough on roads and along railway lines because of HIV, leprosy and poverty.
When a parent becomes sick and can no longer work, their children are often forced to beg on the streets. Even worse, if both parents die from HIV/AIDS or someone in the family is found to have leprosy, many children are completely abandoned.
We have found children wandering the streets without clothes and severely malnourished.
Many were orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Others were deserted by their families because of a leprosy diagnosis. Some children also come to us from leprosy colonies because their families aren’t able to look after them.
Whatever their background, we know that every little life has so much potential. We believe that every child deserves a brighter future.
A place to call home
Today we care for 80 children affected by leprosy, HIV or poverty at Rainbow Children’s Home in Vizianagaram, and 110 children at our Shanti Nivas village home.
Our wonderful sponsors - people just like you - provide everything the children need, including:
- regular medical checks, supplements and nutritious meals to keep them healthy
- daily essentials such as clothing and toiletries, and special presents for birthdays and Christmas
- school materials and after-school tuition to help them catch up with the education they’ve missed
- emotional support and counselling to bring healing after many have experienced trauma and loss.
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Generous sponsors like you provide school materials and after-school tuition for our children throughout their education.
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The children love having parties to celebrate birthdays and Christmas.
Sponsors support the children throughout their education and many go on to university or college, where they train to be nurses, doctors and engineers.
They also have the opportunity to learn at our Vocational Training Centre (VTC) at Shanti Nivas. We offer a range of certified courses – including plumbing, tailoring, beauty and electricals – to help our young people gain valuable skills and secure employment.
You can give a child the future they deserve
It costs just £25 a month to provide everything they need
From begging to big dreams: Raju’s story
Someone just like you gave six-year-old Raju and his brother Prashant a safe place to grow up after they were abandoned by their parents.
A few years ago, their father was diagnosed with leprosy. When their mother found out, she deserted the family. None of them have seen her since.
Despite struggling with a disabled foot caused by leprosy, Raju’s father continued to work as a labourer in the fields to try and provide for his sons. But tragically, in his sadness he became an alcoholic, spending anything he earned on alcohol and sleeping wherever he fell.
Raju and Prashant were left to fend for themselves, wandering naked in the streets and begging for food.
Thankfully, our team found Raju and Prashant and brought them to Rainbow Children’s Home. Today, the boys play confidently with other children at Rainbow and regularly attend school together. They have become inseparable.
Raju says he loves school and dreams of one day becoming a pilot. His next big challenge is not to search for food or try to survive a night on the streets. It is to learn to ride a bike!
This is all thanks to an amazing sponsor who changed Raju’s life forever.