Imagine

A remote Indian village.

A thatched hut with plastic roof and dirt floor.

No indoor plumbing.

Living in this hut, a family.

Imagine

Parents who yearn to give their children the education they never had.

Children who value education as if it were gold.

Imagine

Children exiting the hut each morning.

Scrubbed clean.

School uniforms crisp and looking like new.

Back packs heavy with last night’s homework.

Imagine

Children’s wide smiles.

Bright eyes ready for the day.

The girls beautiful thick braids with crisp, clean white bows.

The boys’ hair slicked back, looking good.

Imagine

The pride of the parents and of the children.

The dedication of the local teachers.

The hope for a better future for the children, their families, their communities.

Hope through empowerment provided by education and opportunity.

Imagine

These children not being able to attend school or to break the cycle of poverty.

Not able to improve their lives because the family is too poor.

Too poor to buy uniforms, school supplies, books.

So poor they need to put the children to work at a young age to help support the family.

Imagine

A girl seeing her brother go off to school.

She has to stay home and work.

The family can’t afford for all the children to be educated.

The girl is the one chosen to miss out.

Imagine

A poor family who can’t afford to take care of their handicapped child.

Have no options other than leaving the child in the street.

Needing all your family’s resources for the healthy children.

Imagine

A child’s parents die of AIDS.

No family members will take them in due to the stigma.

Or, a child’s parents are ill or alcoholic or extremely poor.

These children live on the street.

Imagine

A child of the street.

How do they eat?

What do they eat?

Where do they sleep?

Who do they meet?

How do they survive?

What is does their future hold?

Imagine

Helping to support a poor child’s education.

Empower them for a future life with possibilities that are within their reach.

Helping to support an orphan child.

Provide dignity, safety, medical care, an education and loving environment.

Change their life forever.

Imagine

The sheer joy and satisfaction of volunteering at a school or orphanage.

Tutoring, mentoring, caring, playing, loving.

Alter your perspective and understanding about the world.

An experience that will change you forever.