GREETINGS FROM INDIA! Vanakkam!
First I would like to thank all the good-hearted people who have volunteered around the world, and sponsored children, through Global Volunteers to spread peace through love. I sincerely thank, on behalf of our host communities, all the volunteers for making an lasting impression on our children by your love and care. Every day they look forward to spending their time with the volunteers.
As you know, our service programs are structured in a way to bring maximum benefit to the local people. As an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, we use the UN Millennium Goals to guide our efforts.
In this regard, Global Volunteers contribution towards, "United Nations Millennium Development Goals," in India during the past six months could be summed as follows -- Our volunteers have contributed over 900 hours towards teaching conversational English to over 635 children in achieving universal primary education. They have contributed over 585 hours toward childcare and have contributed monetarily towards books, uniforms and the painting of the halls at SEAMS's, renovations at St. Joseph Social Service Center along with the construction of dormitories at SEAM Children's Home, which is going on now.
During the past six months, 37 volunteers served on the India program working on a variety of projects helping the local community in sustaining itself. Some of the major accomplishments in the past six months are as follows:
Global Volunteers have almost completed renovating the entire facility at St. Joseph Social Service Center. We just need to add a wall to separate the washing area from the rest of the building. This place now looks so beautiful and the hosts are very thankful to Global Volunteers. Global Volunteers painted the main hall at SEAM Children’s Home where the children study and dine, and also fixed the floor in the main hall which caved in. Global Volunteers have contributed towards uniforms and books for all the children at Grace School and to 50 children at St. Joseph School. We have also started teaching basic computer skills to the children at SEAM's children’s home and Grace School.
There is a great appreciation among our hosts, parents and locals for our continued support in giving our love and care to all the children at Assisi Illam and SEAM's Children’s Home, and for teaching conversational English and grammar to the students at St. Joseph School, Grace School and to the novices of Bethlamite sisters as well as in assisting at the hospital.
This year we started a major project at SEAM’s Children’s Home to build dormitories where the children can sleep. At present, the children sleep on the floor with mats and pillows in the main hall. Once this project is completed, it will give the children the much needed space and hopefully we will add bunk beds for the children.
This year we plan to build three rooms on the ground floor. Next year we hope to add another three rooms on the first floor. So far we have added a new toilet and demolished the old toilet, water tank, and a room. In September we will start with the foundation of the dormitories. Everyone from the host share the excitement about this new project.
We had many fun things to do in the past six months. Our volunteers got to participate in the Independence Day celebration at St. Joseph School and Grace School, and got to go on field trips with the school children which was great fun for both volunteers and children.
Many of our volunteers have had special experiences here. For example, Kathy, fell in love with India, its people and the program so much that she has come back again for seven weeks to contribute further to the community. Another volunteer, George, has returned back within just six months, because the kids love him so much that they asked me to write a letter to him and almost all the children at Grace School signed their names at the end of the letter. They asked him to come back at once and said how much they loved him.
One of Mother Teresa’s quotations is, “In this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love.” I encourage all of you who have love to share with our children to join us again on upcoming service programs as our children long for your love. This would be accomplished in doing small things for the children like giving care to our children at Assisi Illam and SEAM's Children’s Home, teaching the students at Grace school, St. Joseph school and the novices. You could also help build the dormitories at SEAM's Children’s Home for the children to have better facilities to sleep in. In doing so you could also participate in all the major festivals coming up such as, Dasara, Christmas, Pongal, and to learn about India, its people and culture.
For those of you who cannot do another service program soon, please continue your service as a sponsor through the Global Volunteers Child Sponsorship program or by telling others about your India experience as an Encore team member.
Sincerely,
Stephen Raja Chinnapan
India Country Manager
