In early 2009, we were completing the construction of a new orphanage in Kochi, so that Reena - the girl so cruelly blinded to make her a "better beggar" and whose smile began this work four years ago - would have a decent home.  At about that time our volunteer Stuart Padley, of Microsoft, found that the need was even more critical and the situation even more desperate in Secunderabad, the twin city of the high tech center of Hyderabad.  There the sisters were struggling to house and feed hundreds of street children brought to them.  The children were huddled in a small room, sleeping on the floor, four or five under a single blanket as there was so little space.  Our Secunderabad   video dramatically shows the conditions. 

              We vowed to build our second orphanage and I can report that we are well on our way.                         As you can see we have a tentative plan, but what is truly unique is that we are going to build India's first "green" orphanage.  It will be a building that utilizes solar power to generate electricity, harvests and reuses precious water, produces its own methane gas through a biofuel unit, and will be a model, showing that "green" building is feasible, even in construction for these, the poorest of the poor.

            We are working in conjunction with architects in India and in  the US to qualify for a LEED certification as an environmentally friendly and resource-conscious structure.  Right now, the sisters are in the final stages of buying the land and we hope that construction can start after the monsoon, around August or September. 

            Some of you are already donors to our 100 Steps to Home initiative, our way of thanking donors of $3,000 by having their name, or a parish or group name, on one of the stepping stones that will lead to the entrance of the orphanage.  The sisters and orphan girls will "pray" those stones every day, much like a rosary, and you will be remembered.  We have 59 of the 100 stones committed and have raised about $250,000 toward the $300,000 needed to build this orphanage.  Here is an opportunity for you to not only build that orphanage, but to be remembered in a very special way.

           In the past year over 20 of you have gone to India as a HopeCorps Volunteer.  You have gone to our orphanages, schools and hostels and worked alongside the Salesians and have performed brilliantly.  You taught English, you helped in computer labs, led art projects, taught songs and games, comforted sick children, visited the slums.  Some of you volunteered for a week or two, while some of you were in India for several months.  As you have precious memories of your time in India, you are in turn remembered.  I hear about you on every stop I make.

            Being a HopeCorps Volunteer presents an ideal service opportunity. We look at your individual talents and assign you to one of the 32 locations in the province, to the location that can best use those talents.  Many of you were recent college graduates. A mom and daughter traveled together.  One volunteer, Mike Joseph (at right), is a lawyer, and he is currently in India on a whirlwind tour of all of the houses, so that we can determine the most critical needs.  Mike will be returning to the states in May and plans to return to India for another six months as our informal field director.

            From recent college graduates to a seasoned lawyer, there is a place for you as a HopeCorps Volunteer.  Just send an email to paulwilkes@ec.rr.com for more information and an application. And tell your friends about this life-changing opportunity to be of service in India.