An orphanage in India will be expanded to accommodate more children.

Food, Shelter and School for AIDS Orphans in India

Updates from the Field:

Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

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Index of Updates from the Field

Field Visit

By Jaya Canterbury-Counts - Ex. Director, The River Fund, March 26, 2008 06:20 PM

This was my first visit to Little Hearts and the children certainly stole my heart. My son and I spent some few days with them in January '08. Please read Meredith Landis' update from last August for more detailed information. As the children get older and they are growing every day, the need for a second floor is more urgent. The are literally outgrowing the space they currently have!
The children are well cared for and loved. Even though many of them have suffered so much ... they have lost their parents to AIDS, violence often witnessing that directly, they are happy and they also look after each other. The children are also interfaith ... there are Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the mix.
We loved Little Hearts and the children. Thank you all who have given so generously.
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Little Hearts

By Jaya Canterbury-Counts - Executive Director, The River Fund, December 17, 2007 06:08 PM

I will be visiting this project on the 5th of January and will update more when I return home. These kids have no one but us to look after them. Thanks to Mr. Kumar for his care and commitment to these children. Thank you for your generosity this past year.
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Observations from a project visit

By Meredith Landis - GlobalGiving Volunteer, August 13, 2007 08:27 PM

Nellore, a city located in Andhra Pradesh, India has the second highest occurrence of HIV/AIDS in the state. 13% of the 14-28 year olds living in Nellore are infected. Sadly, most AIDS victims die before the age of thirty, leaving behind children and families. Besides the AIDS epidemic, poverty, political instability and corruption plague Nellore.

C.P. Kumar was from a large family of eight children. All eight children lived together in the cramped conditions of this hutch. As a young, idealistic man, Kumar completed his education from a free government school and decided he was going to change the world. When C.P. Kumar returned from school, he became aware of the horrible conditions in which the children in his town were living - conditions even worse than from his own childhood. He witnessed children on the streets while their parents were drinking away their wages and beating their spouses. C.P. Kumar realized that if action wasn’t taken, these homeless kids would cause huge problems for society.

On June 18, 1991, C.P. Kumar opened an orphanage for 10 orphans of HIV/AIDS victims. The orphanage is located on the very site where the thatch hut he lived in as a child was located.

C.P. Kumar and his family spend much of their free time at the orphanage. C.P. Kumar works as a clerk in the government during the day, but spends most of his evenings with the children. With the help of two staff members, the orphanage is now home to 25 girls and boy that range from 2-13 years old. The children attend free government school during the day, and also have tutoring in the morning (6-8am) and in the evening back at the home. Also, there is a pediatrician that volunteers to treat the children as needed.

Future Plans:
With further funding, the Little Heart Orphanage hopes to add a second floor in order to separate the accommodation for the boy and girls. As these children approach puberty, the separation becomes culturally important. Additionally, the orphanage hopes to institute programs that will educate and raise awareness of the dangers of contracting HIV/AIDS.

A recent donation through GlobalGiving of $500 led to the installation of several new toilets and showers in the orphanage.
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Update

By Jaya Canterbury-Counts, M.Ed. - Executive Director, The River Fund, May 10, 2007 05:16 PM

HIV/AIDS is spreading quickly in India, with 5 million infected adults. As in other poor countries, this will result in millions of orphaned and destitute children.

With the funding to date, we have built additional toilets on the second floor for the children in anticipation of completing the building to care for more children. At present we support 26 children: Seven children are attending Nursery School which is at a back side street of the Little Hearts. The remainder of the children are studying at the Government School which is just a two minute walk from the orphanage. To date, no children are infected with HIV.

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