It has been more than a year since Mumbai grace home started and this small
initiative to give a good life to these children of AIDS victim started with it.
Our aim was not to give these little just a roof to hide and place to stay but
we aimed at giving them life, a smile to wear and a joy to share.
With these dreams as we stood through all thick and thin, taking the responsibility to face
all things through this voyage, we were successful in establishing ourselves as
what is today a home for 10 children, who have no parents to call their own but
do have a good living to call their own, people to love them and care for them.
With a hope to bring a little happiness to these small children, we have been
organizing small gatherings and programs; following this good practice as our
string we arranged a Christmas celebration for these children on 20th December,
2007. A brief report on this program is as follows -
We invited all the preachers and some elders of the ministry. We expected a good
number of people to attend the program as we believed this would make the children
feel good.
We also wanted some eminent local personalities to be invited,
so invitations were sent to Mr. Jaywant Hargade, Police Chief, Malad (Malwani Police station)
and Mrs. Sujatha Prakash, Corporator West ward, Malad. Both of them agreed to preside over
for the occasion and spend some time with the children.
The program started and more than 80 people were gathered at the Church hall. We got
the hall decorated for the Christmas gathering.MY WIFE Ruth mary also brought the
children some very good new clothes and accessories. All the children were ready
for the program, and they were looking very beautiful in their new worn attractive
dresses.
After both our guests, Mr. Jawant and Mrs. Sujatha arrived; the children
welcomed them with a nice welcome song. We could notice both of them being happy
to be receiving such a good welcome. After some good Christmas hymns were sung by
the children and we asked both our chief guest to cut the special cake arranged.
After the cake cutting we presented both the guests with Marathi script Bibles.
The children honored them with flowers. A small skit presented by the children on
"The prodigal son", the children acted well and the narration was provided to the
story in Hindi so that all those attended could understand. We had a good number of
Hindi people who attended the program. The act was well appreciated and all the people
were thrilled to see the good piece of talents that the children presented.
We then handed over the dais to Mr. Jaywant, he was very excited to be among these
small children. He spoke to the children and told them that he is a police officer
and what he does for the society. He also spoke about how the police forces help in
maintaining peace. He asked how many of the children would want to become a police
officer to which some children happily raised their hands expressing themselves. He
was very happy to see the children.
Following this the children sang a national
integration song which also interested Mr. Jaywant and he could not help himself from
thanking the children for singing such a good song.
Mrs. Sujatha Prakash them moved over and spoke to children. She said that when she
received the invitation and came to know that there is an institution that serves
in this way by providing an Orphanage to children of HIV victims, she was very happy.
She said that it is a matter of pride to her that such an organization is present and
that too in her own constituency. She too encouraged the children and appreciated
them for their songs and act.
We then had a gift distribution program for the children and both the chief guests
distributed gifts among the children.
Both Mr. Jaywant and Mrs. Sujatha Prakash encouraged us that we are doing a good work
and that this work should not stop. They assured us that if they can do anything that
could be of help to Mumbai grace home they would definitely be interested in doing so.
We thanked them for coming over and spending their precious time with the children.
The children also thanked them and the program ended with a refreshment party.
The aim behind getting these social workers into the program was to gain their interests
that such work is present in their areas and with a foresight that in future if we have
any negative things be imposed form the local people, these social workers will always
be there to help. It was also a good experience for the children. It could have been
impossible for them to forget their deceased parents but we believe that programs of
this sort are socializing them as entities and helping them in getting involved into
things which will make them happy. We also got a good response from the neighboring
people who supported us for this good cause.
I would like to express my hearty gratitude towards you for being there and supporting
this good cause. Please remember the Mumbai grace home in your prayers. I am anxiously
waiting for your visit to Mumbai to see with your own eyes on this month.
Yours in Christ,
P.D.PRASADA RAO & RUTH MARY
MUMBAI, INDIA
