Umesh is eight years old, born on December 12, 1998. He lives in a small mud hut with his father in a small village called Katavali in the State of Maharashtra in India. His father is a farmer and earns less than one dollar a day. He lost his mother when he was young. His sister also died in an accident several years ago.

His village consists of nearly over one hundred households, most of them farmers. His house has no electricity, no water and no toilet facilities. Umesh’s dream is to become a doctor. He wants to help the people in his village. He loves to sing and helps his father with chores when he returns from school. He loves cricket, which is the most popular sport in India.

Anita is another eight-year-old child who is under the care of the Foundation. Her father is mentally handicapped and is confined to the house. He has no income and the entire family survives on less than one dollar a day. Her house is one small mud hut – four walls with a small mud stove to cook their meals. Like other houses in the village, Anita’s house has no electricity and no water and toilet facilities.

Anita attends third grade in a village school partly sponsored by the Hope is Life Foundation. Her dream is to become an engineer. She likes reading and writing. She loves short story books. Her daily routine is to help her mother carry water from a public well and sweep the mud hut before she goes to school in the morning.

Priyanka Jadhav is an eight-year old girl whose dream is to become a teacher. I visit Priyanka and her family regularly         to encourage her to stay in school. She loves to read. Hope is Life Foundation has opened a library in her school from the books donated by the friends in Fairport, New York. Priyanka’s bed is a small piece of an old, thick blanket in the corner of their hut. Every morning she walks to a public well nearly a mile away to bring water for the household needs

A group of village children who will be under the care of Hope is Life Foundation

We visit them in their one room-class school building, sing with them and encourage to stay in school

(story by Natascha Yogachandra)