Goodness that Transforms - the Miracle kids

With the sole purpose of giving love and care to the troubled hearts of abandoned and orphaned young children, Sivaji (driver) and Prema (BPO staffer) embarked on creating the Miracle Children Home 10 years ago. Now working full time to run the Home with their daughter also joining them, they have embraced more than Twenty children. With no institutional funding support, they purely rely on the kindness of the general public for funds.

Since the past two and a half years, a Support Group (SG) in the neighborhood, of over a dozen families, is working with Miracle home in raising resources to meet nourishment gaps, provide basic conveniences, and place children in better schools.

But the cost of even 'simple living, reasonable education and high values' for over 20 children is steeper than what an SG can bring. At almost subsistence level of existence, total spends of Miracle home was Rs.10.5 lacs in 2016, moved to Rs.14.8 lacs with SG coming in to support basic improvements and jumped to Rs. 24 lacs with better education for kids. The planned expenditure for 2019-20 is Rs. 28 lacs and we see a deficit of minimum of Rs.10 lakhs, and the orphanage has no corpus. Miracle children's home needs goodness from a larger crowd of people to nurture and transform sustainably its children into bright, responsible and productive adults.

Sivaji and Prema describe the transformational challenge they go through with each child that comes to their home. "All the children who came to us were from a very poor background with single or no parents, no relatives to take care of them. Many were in a bad condition, without cleanliness, having an infection, and did not have enough to eat. We give them good care, love and affection to change each child personally. It takes a year of continuous care, sometimes more, to take children out of their childhood traumas and we are working at it dedicatedly.

SG partnership has enabled Miracle home to work on the overall progress of the child.19 kids are going to English medium schools and the oldest girl is doing her BBA final year. SG is also working towards skills and confidence building through individualized plans, English speaking courses, mediated home study, and mentorship.

a. The emotional health of kids of children in the Home is excellent now. They are positive and support one another in studies.

b. Kids have gotten physically healthier, and have also put on weight.

c. Bridging the Education deficit: At the start of 2018, skill and academic deficits in 80% of kids ranging from 1 to 3 grades lower led by English language weakness, concept gaps in Match and Science and lack of knowledge in study skills.

At the end of one year in the new school, kids seem happier. With exposure to value education, games, Karate, arts, general knowledge, Computers besides CBSE academic curriculum taught by decent teachers, kids have improved their skills and confidence. About 40% of kids have grade-level skills, 30% will need another year to gain grade level skills, and 15% of kids will take about two years. All kids have been promoted to the next grade with one of them having to take a re-test.

d. English reading has improved significantly thanks to skills being taught via projector linked internet-based free resources guided by SG members.

e. Building management capacity in the founders has made the running of the orphanage more transparent, professional and child-centric.

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