India

India is renown for its rich historical heritage, storied traditions, distinct cultures, and resilient people groups, all of which contribute to the collage of beauty and brilliance that makes up this great nation. Still India is a country torn apart by an exploding AIDS epidemic, religious tensions, political instability, an ever-increasing economic disparity, unsustainable population growth and rampant inflation. In a nation such as this, vulnerable children suffer the most.

WMF serves in two cities in India: caring for ill and abandoned children in Chennai, in (southern India) and serving among women and children who prostitute in Kolkata (northern India).

CHENNAI (MADRAS), INDIA

Vision Statement
Our calling is to see Jesus among the least and the poorest of the poor in the community, especially children orphaned by AIDS and children living with HIV. We are committed to make the knowledge and love of Jesus known to them by providing homes filled with love and warmth, giving them an opportunity to grow up with dignity and love, and providing witness to the love of our Lord.

Machzhilchi Illam – Children’s Home
Machzhilchi Illam (Home of Happiness) was opened in 1994 and was the first WMF care home to be established and we understand it to be the first pediatric AIDS care facility in South India. The Home of Happiness cares for children orphaned by AIDS, children living with HIV, children from families affected by AIDS or Hansen’s disease (leprosy) and abandoned babies.

Patrick and Victoria Samuel (Care Home Directors) have led the home since the beginning and continue to take in more children, daily laying down their lives for each one. There are 37 children (26 girls and 11 boys) between the ages of 3 and 14. Three of the children living with HIV are undergoing special care and treatment (antiretroviral therapy). In 2006, the children and staff were forced to vacate their rented building and move temporarily to another rental. Thankfully, a building has been purchased and is in renovations now. The children and staff will move to their new home by the end of 2006.

Samanthana Illam – Home for Disabled Children
Upon John and Ruby Dhanasinghs’ retirement as the administrators of Samanthana Illam (Home of Peace) in Chennai, we are now partnering with Prema Vasam (Where Love Resides), a well-established institution with education and physiotherapy specifically for children with special needs. After careful prayer and discernment, Patrick and Victoria Samuel decide to place the 11 children from Samanthana Illam into Prema Vasam.

Chennai Children’s Homes Statistics

Children under the care of WMF Chennai (two homes)	48
Children orphaned by AIDS	5
Children who have been abandoned	9
Children from AIDS-affected families	8
Children who have tested negative for HIV after a positive test	4
Children from families affected by Hansen’s disease (leprosy)	12
Children of poorest of the poor families	4
Children taken into WMF homes since 1995	84
Children who have passed away since 1995	10
Children who are living with HIV	3

We honor the lives of those who have died under the care of WMf. We thank God for entrusting them to us, if only for a short time. Please visit the Remember page to read the memorials of Abraham, Ester, Keren Ragini, Megeswari, Nandhini, Poornima, Prema, Sarah, Anusha and Suryakala.

Destitute Women

WMF Chennai also runs a ministry among destitute women. These women, who have struggled to escape lives of prostitution or who are living with HIV, widowed, divorced or victims of domestic violence find love and acceptance in the WMF child-care facilities. WMF trains these women as caregivers, providing them with a family atmosphere, Christian discipleship, economic stability and giving them an opportunity to educate themselves through correspondence courses during their stay at the homes.

 

KOLKATA (CALCUTTA), INDIA

WMF Kolkata Vision Statement
WMF Kolkata exists as a community of Christ-followers called to be in relationship with sexually exploited women in Kolkata’s red-light districts. We serve to bring liberty to women and children who are held captive by the sex trade.

Mukti Network
WMF continues to participate in a network of Christian organizations and individuals who are working with women and children in Kolkata’s red-light districts. Kristin Keen (Kolkata Field Staff) provides leadership and vision to Mukti Network (Freedom Network).

Sari Bari
Sari Bari, the WMF business initiative, began in February 2006 in a red-light area called Kalighat. They began in a small room with three women who are currently on the road to freedom from the sex trade.

WMF has chosen to partner with existing non-profit organizations that work in Kolkata’s various red-light areas. The partnerships function in two ways: via a WMF-funded production unit in Kalighat and also via a partnership in which WMF and Sari Bari contract work with existing organizations that are in relationship with women in other red-light districts of Kolkata. At print, Sari Bari provides employment to 12 women from the red-light areas of Kalighat and Sonagachi through these two kinds of partnerships.

Sari Bari seems to be growing and changing daily. WMF Kolkata is in the process of developing the most ideal program to assist the women on their path to freedom. In September 2006 they began a new training program for the women working at Sari Bari. The training includes literacy, math, budgeting, nutrition and informal group therapy. The community hopes to see a transformation of the women’s minds and to encourage the women’s value and self-esteem through the additional training and support.

In May 2006, Melinda Snader joined WMF as the Sari Bari Program Administrator and has pioneered the U.S. side of distribution, marketing and administration. You may visit the Sari Bari website at: http://saribari.com.

Sonagachi Brothel Ministry
The WMF community continues to spend time with the people of Sonagachi three or four days a week. Since June 2006, the staff have begun to see a dramatic increase in the number of visiting hours they have been able to spend in Sonagachi. By making day visits to Sonagachi three days a week, they are able to build relationships, teach Bengali and English literacy and assist with connection to alternate sources of employment. Through relationships in Sonagachi, WMF Kolkata has assisted nine women in finding alternative, life-giving employment in 2006. Doors are opening into brothels that they have never before been able to enter, and they continue to see a movement of God in this area of town. In April 2006, Sarah Lance and Kristin Keen moved into the same neighborhood as the red-light district, which has assisted them in forming deeper relationships with the women.