The Orphanage
While in Siwan, Dean and I visited an orphanage.
We met a boy named Manish. He lives in the orphanage with his two brothers.  Manish is 6 years old,
crippled and must walk with a makeshift walker built by the orphanage. It is really the only way he
can get around without crawling. The amazing part of this story is that he and his brothers are
still alive.
Three years earlier, the orphanage found Manish and his two brothers begging in the streets.
The father was in prison and the mother had committed suicide. They had no money, food or place
to live. Manish was three years old and crawling in the street.
"I can personally attest to how terrible that was. When we drove to the orphanage,
we had to pass through the small streets of Siwan. The smell was almost unbearable. Imagine trash
and waste from humans and animals throughout the streets and gutters. I just can’t fathom a
three-year-old child crawling through that filth just trying to survive. His brothers had taken
care of him as best they could. It was truly a miracle that they were found and saved from the
streets and what I believe would have been certain death for Manish." Dean
The School Bus
When we boarded the plane in New Delhi to fly back to the states, I noticed Dean was very busy on his laptop. The plane hadn't even taken off. I asked him what he was doing. He said, Mom after seeing the kids of Bihar, how they live, the fact that they have very little opportunity to have a better life, I want to do something to help. Education will help them step out of poverty.
We had visited a school in the slums of Patna where the poorest of the poor children  attend. It was not a government school. Their current school bus was very small and about to fail. The government was going to take it off the streets if they found it. The school bus allowed the kids who lived a distance away to be able to attend the school. Without the bus, they could not attend because their parents didn't have transportation or money to get them to school.
"Every day I look at my young daughter, I think of how much opportunity she has and how difficult it would be for her to live in Bihar. A new school bus will allow kids in Patna to be able to attend the school. I'm going to start a fund raising drive to collect enough to buy a new school bus for the kids in Patna. I will continue gathering support until I reach $10,000. It’s a simple need and I believe with some help, we can achieve this goal together."
Dean put up a web site, contacted everyone he knew and within one month he had the
$10,000 raised and bought the bus for the Patna School! This mom is very proud.
While in Bangalore we also visited the slums and found an equally challenging need.
 Continue with How It Started - The School
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