Love. Light. Hope. Joy. Strength. Kindness. Caring.

These are just a few of the ways we can describe Deepu. Deepu was only 10 years old when we first rescued him. He was living in a slum, the eldest son of a single mother who all but abandoned the boy when she realized his cerebral palsy could not be healed. Deepu was a shell of a boy when he first came to us. His lips were quivering due to unresolved feelings of loneliness, abandonment and insecurity.

Deepu had limited memory. This and the paralysis of his right hand and foot, and his oddly, oversized shaped head were the results of the CP. It made him stand out, which was not to his advantage early in life. It made him the punching bag of other kids in the slums. It caused his relatives to mock him, to blame his mother for having bad karma. It caused his mother to want to hide him from the public eye. But Deepu does not see himself as different. He is not aware that he is any different from you or me. That is was is so beautiful about him. He loves..everyone.

It took a whole year to see Deepu rise above his trauma; a whole year of working to replace old memories with new ones; a whole year of reassuring him that he is safe, loved and perfect.

Today, 7 years later, Deepu is a force of kindness in our home. We nicknamed him the house “manager”. He has memorized the daily schedule and knows all about practicing hospitality. He will let everyone know if we are running 5 minutes behind schedule. And he will criticize our housemothers if they arent quick to serve chai to our guests. If he sees one of his brothers in need of a tissue or the tying of a shoelace, he will, without any instruction or announcement, go grab a tissue or bend down to help.

Deepu continues to thrive in our Beautiful Home. As he gets older, we realize Deepu will forever be dependent on OLTL. This is one of the main reasons we have plans to build another orphanage for boys who grow older with us. You can read more about that here: https://www.onelife2love.org/sponsor-a-community/