New hope for India's poor

Their bright, young faces radiate with a newfound hope.Their futures shine with the genuine expectation of success.   Due to the unwavering courage and compassion of a young man who envisioned a way to wipe away their tears and despair, there is, finally, a way out of India's terrible poverty for thousands of children and adults. 

Perhaps inspired by the legacy of Mother Theresa, a newly ordained priest in the late 1970s saw serving the needs of the poorest of the poor in India as his highest calling. But in 1980 when Tom Chitta, then a Roman Catholic priest, found his response to the devastating poverty in India thwarted by church officials, he took off the collar, married Geetha Yeruva, and together they founded the Foundation for Children in Need. 

Since 1980, Tom and Geetha have been working in the villages in the State of Andhra Pradesh in South India. Through many years of experience and with the encouragement and support of friends in the U.S. who have adopted or sponsored children from India, there grew a desire to pool the resources to reach out to the needy in India.

Tom and Geetha facilitate the sponsorship program assisted by part-time staff and volunteers in the U.S. and by teachers, social workers and staff in India. They organize and supervise all the FCN programs in India assisted by FCN staff and volunteers.

Through FCN, they are able to help more than 2000 desperately needy children, college students, and 50 elderly persons in the rural villages of India. As a tax-exempt non-profit, FCN is meeting life-saving needs such as medical care, health education, women development. 

Child labor is a serious problem. Often older children have to stay home to look after the younger children so that parents can work in the fields. Through sponsorship, children are helped to go to school and parents are motivated about the importance of education. Malnutrition is another problem. Most of the people in the villages do not eat a balanced diet. The health and sanitation conditions are very poor. Sponsorship provides better living conditions.

FCN has also established several schools, a few boarding homes for boys and girls, St. Xavier’s home for the Aged, Sneha community health center and training for women serving the needy in rural areas of India.

There are thousands of stories of lives saved and enriched by the generous and compassionate outreach of so many who have sponsored children through FCN.

Here are just two stories, among thousands:

Shiva Kumar Kattimani ’s father, Mohan Rao died of a heart attack when he was very small. His mother, Mahalakshumamma is taking care of her children while also working every day. 

Shiva has five siblings, three elder and two younger brothers. Shiva’s two brothers earn a little. With a meager amount of money, the family struggles. Education, clothes and food was a distant dream for the family. Shiva’s brother Eshwaraju is attending his Inter second year. Shiva’s younger brothers, Govardhan and Suresh are in the fifth grade. They are all struggling to provide food and education. When they lost all their hope FCN Sponsorship lit a light in their dark life. Through Sponsorship, Shiva is now able to continue his studies without any hindrance.

Priyanka Sirivella is in ninth grade. Her father died three years ago due to Jaundice. She is staying in the hostel. Her mother Subbalakshmi is a day laborer. She goes out to work in the field for the maintenance of the family. 

Priyanka's sister, Tejaswani. is in sixth grade. FCN has come to their rescue and is supporting their education.

And there are more, many more nameless and voiceless impoverished children in India, who thanks to the priestly call of one man, now have an opportunity to go to school, and pursue a more prosperous future.

More information is available at FCN's website: http://www.fcn-usa.org/index.html

Special thanks to Thaddeus for sharing this information with Tiger Lilies and his supporting sponsorship of FCN.

Let the whole world rejoice, all together!

There is only the One, the All in all, who whispers to us softly within our hearts and minds and calls us to Himself and to each other. You will know Him in your love, and in the peace within your mind.

He is the beginning and the end, the All in All, forever and ever.  He has no name.  He is in you and you know him in the quiet of your mind, the peace in your life, and in the sweetness of life all around you.  He leads you to love.  He is the way to love, to life, and that way runs through you. 
That is the truth, the only truth, and that truth is the One who is you, and in you, and in all of us.  Let nothing, absolutely nothing, separate us. We are all his beloved children, regardless of race, religion, tribe or perceived sense of value. We are all on a continuum of growing awareness.  Reach for awareness and it will come to you, and lift you higher into greater levels of light.

His everlasting love knows us, deeply and profoundly. And, loves us more than we can imagine.  We are all so dearly called to reach for that awareness and live with it as we hold it closely to our own hearts and those around us.

Let Us All Be Blessed.