Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010: The Children of Sishu Kshema Bhavan

Wednesday morning the group woke early for the drive to Kanjirapally, the location of the original orphanage behind the home of Elizabeth and Rajin.  Their home, and the orphanage, are located on land that has been in Rajin's family for generations.  We visited with Elizabeth and Rajin in their home and had a chance to meet their ambitious son, Zach.  Zach is currently working in the spice trade but is interested pursuing a career in public accounting.  We then got a tour of the grounds around their home, where they grow fruits and spices for the orphanage.  Furniture for the orphanage was being built in the building next to the home.

We moved on to the orphanage.  The orphanage is home to approximately 30 children right now.  Many of the children in the orphanage have already been adopted but are awaiting completion of the paperwork to move to their new homes.

This was a special day for Sophie - her first time back to the place she was loved and cared for as a baby.  Many of the orphanage staff remembered Sophie as a baby so many years ago.

The day was spent working and playing with the children.  It was wonderful to see the loving care the children receive at Shishu Kshema Bhavan.

We enjoyed lunch at Elizabeth and Rajin's home, but the real treat was the outdoor buffet followed by a martial arts performance.  Thank you to Elizabeth, Rajin and Zach for such a wonderful day but, more importantly, thank you for all you do for the children of Sishu Kshema Bhavan.



Elizabeth and Rajin's home




Making furniture for the orphanage

Black pepper on the left - coffee on the right - all home grown

Pepper trees

Fr. Laird with Rajin





Elizabeth with Jeanne, Julie, Sophie, Carolyn and Sue









































Audience participation












Zach, Elizabeth and Rajin
 
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7 comments:

  1. Kristy HallJuly 10, 2010 at 11:12 AM

    Thank you sooo much for sharing these photos. I stumbled upon your blog and was surprised and delighted to see our son in your photos. We are currently waiting for a NOC for the little boy in the orange shirt sleeping spread eagle in his crib.

    Thank you!

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  2. Allison in BostonJuly 10, 2010 at 7:05 PM

    Thanks so much for these photos! We adopted our son Vineet from SKB in July eight years ago and it was nice to see familiar faces in the photos, like the Abraham family and staff members. I think that I recognize the older boy who is lying on a blanket. If he is the same boy that I remember, his name is Robin and he has cerebral palsy, I think. I was glad to see that even if he does not have his own family, he still has a home -- and family -- at SKB. I will never forget seeing Vineet give him a kiss before we left.
    Thanks again,
    Allison

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  3. Shad and Maggie AlsworthJuly 12, 2010 at 5:13 AM

    Thanks for sharing! These are fantastic! We were at SKB in November and have begun the process to adopt Shilpa (sweet young lady in the teal dance costume). What an amazing place!

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  4. Heart of Her HouseholdMarch 18, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    Thank you for sharing. I remember being there at SKB 5 years ago. I too was adopted 25 years ago from the very same place. I volunteered there for 5 mos. in the orphanage with the caretakers. I see some of the same childcare workers are still there. I'm sure you saw the beautiful plaque with gold plates of all the children who were adopted from there and placed in their forever homes. I was number 13 on that list. I'm glad Sophie was able to connect and learn. It is rewarding to learn and see the places of your roots

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  5. PaulzineNMarch 31, 2011 at 6:15 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. PaulzineNMarch 31, 2011 at 6:16 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. UnknownOctober 25, 2017 at 11:03 PM

    Thank you for sharing...

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