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Some months back Ellen introduced me via email to Sandhya,
saying that as we were in the same corner of the world (India) we should
meet. Actually, we both live in the south of India in Andhra Pradesh state.
Sandhya lives an eight-hour train ride south of Hyderabad (my home)
and one day came to see her daughter and other family members. She
invited me to join them for lunch. I did and learned about the Vijay
Foundation Trust (VFT), and particularly Aarti Home. I was amazed
at her organization and what she had achieved. I resolved to visit
her but it took me much too much time to actually do it.
I set out from Jubilee Hills, Hydrabad on Friday, March 26, boarding a train at 5:35 p.m. in an AC 2nd class chair car. Twelve hours later the conductor tapped me to say we’d arrived. Sandhya’s driver met me and took me home to rest. After a delicious meal of dhosas (thin pancakes) Sandhya drove me to Aarti Home in time to see the children streaming out of the school next door. In an interval before lunch they peppered me with questions. Ranging in age from 4-18, the children had different levels of English—some surprisingly good. I sang songs to them and they sang even more back to me. They’d enjoyed a number of English speaking volunteers who has taught them “Hokey Pokey”, “Row Row, Row Your Boat”, and many more.
When it was time for lunch each child took a metal plate and sat on the floor to wait. It seemed like an awful long time but eventually each went up to be served huge portions of an enriched rice mixture and some vegetables. No one touched the food until everyone was served. They sang a simple Hindu grace and used their fingers to eat. Everyone cleaned his or her plate. I’d inspected the kitchen earlier and it was orderly and clean. The food was simple but nutritious.
Everyone took a nap after lunch—or at least pretended to-- lying down on the floor alongside the others. We used the time to go up to the second floor to see the tailoring and sewing workshops. A tailoring professor taught women on new sewing machines. I also saw some of the handiwork and crafts the women made and were selling in bulk to various outlets. The VFT conducts a number of training programs for destitute women.
I spent a very enjoyable time talking to the volunteers from the U.S., Australia and elsewhere. Two were on a gap year and had spent two weeks teaching hygiene to all the children. All were very loving to the children—love that was obviously reciprocated. They knew the children’s names, treasured the pictures they’d drawn for them. The volunteers played a vital role at Aarti to include encouraging the children to use English.
That evening before the sun went down and I had to get my train at 10:00 p.m., Sandhya and her husband drove me out to the land they had purchased to build a new home for Aarti. It is quite far from the center of town but in an area where buildings are coming up. The area is rolling hills and scrub and as the sun’s rays hit the valleys and hills it cast a pinkish glow on everything. The area was still and quiet and I could imagine the new complex. Sandhya’s daughter is an architect and she is designing the buildings.
I departed reluctantly from Kadapa. I loved the children and I could see so much could be done to help each one grow intellectually and emotionally. Aarti Home deserves our support and I saw how donations—of whatever amount—helped provide food, clothes and supplies for the children.
~ Juliet Wurr, Public Affairs Officer, U.S Consulate General, Hyderabad, India
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