My journey to India was a great success and I have you all to thank for that. Your many kind words and blessings helped ensure I had safe travels and that I was able to shower the boys at One Life to Love with love and affection. Working on the Board of such an awesome organization is an amazing feeling in itself, however visiting and living with the children who make up the organization was a life changing experience. I stayed at the orphanage for two weeks and I was able to eat, sleep and play with the boys all day long – the joy in their eyes made it extremely hard for me to part ways with them on the last day.
Ravi and Dipu, two of the boys who are currently living at the home full time, especially touched my heart. Although Ravi, age 7, is unable to speak, due to an unhealthy pregnancy by his mother, his smile spoke volumes and his dance moves echoed pure joy. Ravi also suffers from excessive hand tremors, so while on our quest to buy new toys and books for the home we picked up some building blocks (Lego’s). Within only a hour of practice Ravi was able to stabilize his hand long enough to completely stack the blocks! After every success Ravi eagerly clapped his hands in excitement.
Making sure we always felt at home was Dipu, age 10. Although he does not speak English he knows key phrases such as, ‘Good Morning’, “Chai?’ and ‘Good boy’. Every morning Dipu would say ‘Good Morning. Chai?’ From the time we arrived at the Home Dipu had a ball in his hand; I now know that he keeps it on him at all times in his sweatshirt pocket. He is a very active child in regards to sports, however his ADHD and short term memory loss makes it difficult for him to concentrate on his studies. In addition to a racket ball game set, we bought Dipu an array of flash cards that will help him with alphabets and word associations… all in English!
Time with these boys made my love of giving back so much greater. In life we all have moments of weakness, but try living with an illness, in the slums, without parents who care – that was Ravi and Dipu’s case until we brought them into our home. Living in India for two weeks taught me the value of life – In this country there were tons of low class citizens and they were some of the happiest people I have ever met. Living life with the bare essentials was not an issue for them as long as they had food, shelter and love. I’ve come back to America with a new understanding of life – happiness is the highest level of success.
Wishing you all love, peace and happiness.
Taysha, Secretary of the Board of Directors
