I received an email from Anand, our general manager in India. They have had 3 months of heavy rains due to cyclones. The new driveway to the new boys’ home has washed away, the garden is gone, and we had flooding in the computer room and library. Many of the local villagers have lost their homes.

 In spite of all the rain, the children are doing well. The girls have gotten great marks in school and the little ones made first rank. The boys have done well also.

Darlene returned to India the end of June. The summer has been unusually hot and wet even for India. With all the interruptions in electrical service, it is difficult to even get through her emails.

The project to replace the windows at the girls’ home is underway. They removed the termite infested windows in Darlene’s apartment and then realized they did not have the right size for the replacements. With open spaces where the windows should be, the birds can come in anytime they want. Still Darlene never seems to lose her enthusiasm for India.

 The Penn State students arrived safely and jumped right into life at HOINA. They love India, the food, and all the children. There are six women and four men in the group this year.

Things have been going well at the homes. The children head back to school in June for the new school year. Many of them placed first in their class on their yearend exams, and they all passed for the year. We are very pleased with their efforts.

 We have received over half the funds needed to replace the windows damaged by termites, so they have started getting quotes, and hope to complete this project over the summer.

Several of the cows are expecting. With their calves we will have 18 cows. We are mixing the cows’ milk with the soy milk.

Darlene will head back to India the end of June. The Penn State students will travel to India the end of July.

 Thanks once again for your support and prayers, they have made all the difference in the life of HOINA’s children.

Darlene traveled to Pennsylvania in October to meet with the US Board of Directors. We are working to sell the old girls’ home, but the process is much more involved in India. Darlene has many ideas of things to do with the proceeds, including a chapel, medical clinic and a vocational school.

Ramadu, a teacher at the boys’ home, was very sick with hepatitis, but is showing much improvement. He will have to be on a special diet and medication for some time, but everyone is happy he is doing so well.

 The boys went on a day trip up into the Araku Mountains, and the girls were taken to Vizak to the beach. The girls love their new playground, which is much larger than the old one they had at the old girls’ home.

We are looking for a plastic surgeon in India to operate on a Nicki, who was severely burned when her father set fire to the mother, and Nicki ran to hug her mother and was burned also. She was very timid when she first came, but has been feeling more outgoing lately.

 We are starting to get more native Indians offering to volunteer and help at the homes in India. Many are bilingual with professional backgrounds, and come to help over their vacations. They have been a blessing to the children and staff.

June 2009

The construction of the new boys’ home continues with an estimated completion date of July. The boys have been helping with the construction over the summer school break. The kitchen and dining room are not finished, so we are preparing all the food in the girls’ home kitchen, and transporting it to the boys’ home nursery which is currently set up as the dining hall.

Many of the older girls chose to stay in the Chennai area with family rather than more with us to the new home.  We currently have openings at the new girls’ home, and have been receiving 20 applications a week for the openings. The boys’ home is almost full, so we are unable to accept all the boys that have been applying.

After two years of red tape, perseverance, and divine help Darlene has finally gotten her visa straightened out. She now has one that allows for multiple entry and no limits on time spent in India.

We continue to search for English speaking staff for the new girls’ home, as some of the prior staff did not move with us.

We are currently averaging 12 hours of electricity a day. We have a back up generator, but it is not sized properly for the two homes it now must serve.

The children are all doing well, and have started back to school after their summer holiday.

Darlene has been traveling back and forth between the girls’ home and boys’ home making arrangements to move the girls and pushing the construction crew to keep working. The girls’ dormitories are moving along, with the tile floors completed. The dining room concrete floor has been poured. The packing has begun of books and supplies not needed every day. Please pray for all the girls. It is a big adjustment, and some of the extended families don’t want the girls to leave. In addition, some of the staff at the girls’ home will not be moving, so we will have to find new staff. We would like to get staff that speaks English, so the children can have help with their English studies, but they are not always easy to find.

The cows have outgrown the shed we had in place, so we are building a larger one. We are also dehorning them, so they don’t poke each other and fight. Life is never dull at the HOINA homes.

If you know of someone who would like to receive our video, or if you did not receive a copy, please let me know, and I will gladly send one.

As always, we are deeply grateful for your support and prayers.

Darlene returned to India in early February. She met with several people about selling the current girls’ home property then headed up to Vizianagaram to check on things at the boys’ home. The construction of the new home continues slowly. A work crew will show up one day to work, them not come again for a week, which is very frustrating. We still hope to have the dormitories finished by mid April to move the girls before school starts again. The kitchen, dining room, and support areas will not be done by then, but the girls will use the kitchen at the boys’ home until the entire facility is completed. We hope to have pictures of the new home in the May newsletter.

We have purchased 6 dairy cows and two calves. Five of the cows are pregnant so we will soon have 13 cows.  We are excited to have fresh mile for the children and hopefully some extra milk to sell.

The staff at the boys’ home is asking for a motorbike to run errands. They want to sell the two auto rickshaws we have from the boys’ and girls’ homes, and use the money to buy a rickshaw that will have a big space in the back to haul supplies. That way we won’t have to take the van when we go grocery shopping.

The HOINA staff was very upset by the shootings in Mumbai and the image of India it has portrayed to the world. Many organizations in India have been forced to shut down or reduce their services. Although we received less Christmas donations than we did in 2007, we were still able to get each child a small gift at Christmas. Our donors have allowed us to maintain the same level of care for all our children, and we are very thankful.

Darlene will not be heading to India until February this year, so she can oversee the moving of the girls in April. The construction continues at a steady pace now that the rainy season is over. We are hopeful that by moving the boys’ and girls’ homes to the same location we will be able to operate more efficiently.

We are currently working on purchasing dairy cows. They will provide milk for the children, and hopefully provide income as we sell the extra milk. We currently have funds for 5 cows, and hope to have 10 by the end of 2009. We are researching which breeds will provide the most milk and do well in the Indian climate. Darlene has been talking to people at Heifer Project International to see if they can help us.

While Bruce was in India this summer, he brought a colleague along who is producing a video about HOINA. The video includes interviews with the children and staff. We hope to have this completed soon, and think it will help us spread the word about HOINA to potential new donors.

The old boys’ home property in Bapatla is finally sold, and the money received. These funds will be used to pay for the construction of a new home on the current boys’ home property near Vizak. We are still hoping to move the girls next April, but things always seem to take longer than you expect in India. Darlene has moved some of the boys’ home staff down to the girls’ home so they can begin teaching the girls Telegu, the language they speak in Vizak. Each state in India speaks a different language.

The current economic crisis has affected India too. Inflation is high, and we are exploring ways to make the dollars we receive go further. The staff and children are growing vegetables. We hope to purchase a cow through Heifer International. The water buffalo we currently have are not good milk producers, and we have plenty of children who need milk each day.

Christmas donations have been steady, and we thank everyone who has contributed so that each child can have a small gift on Christmas day.

In an effort to promote HOINA and educate people on the work we do, we are selling batik note cards created by boys at HOINA. The front features an original batik, and the back provides a short description on HOINA and the work we do.

We are selling them in sets of 8 for $10 (shipping is included). You can order using the button above, or mail a check to our office at this address.