BPL = Below Poverty Line. This is more than just a term used in government reports; it describes the lives of millions of human beings too. Many of these are elderly people. In India, over 23 million elderly people fit this description and 10 million more are classified as...
When Krishnaveni first joined her local Hope Learning Center, she did not know how to read even a single line in English, and she struggled with her studies. After a year-long effort taken on by the Hope Learning Center mentors, Krishnaveni is able to pass all her subjects. For any event...
Arunkumar (Arun) is in the 6th grade. He astonished his schoolteachers and parents by getting good scores in all subjects on his last term exams. Before joining his local Hope Learning Center, he had no interest in studies. Instead of studying, he used to play after school hours, simply wiling...
Hemalatha is currently in 7th grade. She especially loves walking to school on crisp mornings. She comes from a large household, with three siblings, her parents and her maternal grandparents all living under the same roof. Her father suffers from alcoholism and spends all of his...
Kaaliyamal is an elderly woman living in Madurai, India. After her husband’s death and being abandoned by her daughters, she lived on her own, isolated, and struggling to provide for her own basic day-to-day needs. That is, until our HoPE Learning Center students found her and began...
Maruthavalli’s father passed away when the flu hit her family’s village. Her mother, grieving for her late husband, abandoned her elder girl child and took off with her younger son. Maruthavalli was barely 8 years old when she was left behind. A villager found Maruthavalli alone in the house,...
Hi everyone, Thank you so much for your love and support for our Hope for Chennai initiative! In Phase 2 of our initiative, we are delivering Hope Survival Gift Packs to the poorest people who have been hit the hardest by the Chennai floods. Their tiny huts have either been washed away or badly...
When we told you about the neglect and extreme poverty that elders living in India’s rural villages were experiencing, you responded with kindness. Like the HoPE Learning Centers children that devised this program, you recognized the need and took action. Because of your generous support we were...
Our elders are the backbone of every community. They hold the knowledge, culture and heartbeat of villages and communities, passing their legacies onto the next generation for years to come. Which is why, when our elders suffer and lose hope, our entire community suffers with them. Yet, when...
Nandhini was in third grade and her sister a toddler when their father started having intense pains in his stomach and was hospitalized. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and the doctors informed the family that it was too late to save him, as the cancer was already in a late stage. The family...
Kanagavalli is such an energetic and happy person that one could never imagine the tears she holds back when she speaks about her life prior to our HoPE Learning Centers. When she married into a very average family, she had no idea how much pain she would experience. Kanagavalli’s husband earned...
Bhavani is only in the 5th grade, but speaks about her life as if she were many years older. She lives with her grandparents and her mother in a small hut in her village. Bhavani was barely a year old when her father left the village to work in Chennai. They had no steady source of income, so he...