Meet Ching Mary, our first Angel of the Week for 2017!
Like so many children in India, she came from a life full of struggle and hardship. When asked about her childhood before Angels' Place, she replies "It was terrible. Life was hard". She describes how, after her father's sudden death, her mother fell into extreme poverty and could no longer take care of her five children. With no health care, Ching Mary was often sick. Hunger was normal for her and education a lost dream.
The film "Lion", nominated for an Academy "Best Picture" Award this year, is a heartbreaking, yet eye-opening look into life on the streets for millions of "lost" children in India. Children, like Ching Mary, who never found their way to a home like Angels' Place. They are sleeping in bus stations and digging through trash for food. Many are captured and forced into slavery or the sex-trade. Thankfully, Ching Mary does not have to fear such a bleak future.
At Angels' Place, Ching Mary is thriving. What she likes most about her life there is "the love and care of the staff". She gets to go to school and study her favorite subject, Social Science. In her free time, she is busy being a carefree teenager; singing and dancing with friends and watching movies. The caregivers know her as a sweet and cheerful girl with a bright future ahead...a stark contrast to the millions who have not been so blessed.
There is hope for these lost children. Hundreds are on the waiting list to get into Angels' Place alone. We just need the room and funds to accommodate them. Visit our Ways to Help page to find out what you can do to help a child desperately in need of a good, loving home.
To learn more about our Angel of the Week project and read more stories, click on "Angel of the Week" under Categories on right of this page.
