State of Odisha

After spending the night at a university campus, we drove 2 hours to Gangam to visit our last Dream Centre. We are traveling with the director of GNI, Dr. Faiz Rahman and when we got off the van he was mobbed by the kids screaming "Daddy" as he got off the bus. He has 30 D.C. ... over 3000 children and he still managed to know them by name.
When we arrived a family was standing off to the side. We quickly figured out that they were there to drop off a child. The Grandmother and mother had brought a little girl, no older than 6. The grandmother explained that her father had died and her mom remarried and had another son. The moms new husband didn't want the girl and was treating her badly. I noticed scars on her body. The mom was sad but said she needed to protect her so giving her away was the best option. No words.
We played and danced, and a little girl no more than 4 fell asleep in my arms as soon as I picked her up. I learned her mother had died and her father couldn't take care of her and her sister. I wondered when the last time was that she had fallen asleep in someone's arms.
A lot to process from today. So many brave, strong children I've met in the last 10 days.Leia mais