ABOUT OUR CAUSE
Project Help Them Forward (H-T-F)
The more you give, the more you receive. It is a lesson that you learn over and over again in life. I did not realize the true meaning of this until a few years ago.
Since I can remember, I have taken trips to India almost every two years. It gives me a chance to connect with my ancestral culture and also meet a lot of the cousins that I only get to see in India. But in every trip, I can remember my parents taking me to different orphanages and schools for the underprivileged. In the beginning, I was very shy and felt uncomfortable interacting with them. But as time went on, I overcame my shy ways and was able to spend more quality time with them.
My parents would always say to me, "you have a lot more than they will ever have…not just family, friends, education, money and full use of all your limbs and body, but you have it all! And never ever forget that and be appreciative of that." As a younger kid, it seemed obvious and redundant, but what I didn't realize was that it was slowly making a change in me.
About four years ago, I joined an organization called HOH (Heart of Hope) in Diamond Bar, CA and in it, we interact and engage in activities that range from music, crafts and dancing activities with special needs children. When I first started with HOH, it was because the Director and Founder thought it would be a good fit for me and a way for me to complete my community service and volunteering requirements. What I didn't realize is that my interaction with these special people opened my eyes to a whole new side of me that was awakened. The trips to India had been given a new meaning and I started to look forward to seeing those kids again and how they had grown and developed.
So in my last trip to India, we visited a place called Chavara Special School that helped special needs children to young adults with learning social and vocational skills in order to help them to better assimilate into society and the general population. The school was run by nuns that gauged the level of special needs and taught them many basic social skills and vocational skills like making handicrafts and sewing, in order for them to be able to work and help support their family. It was amazing to see how they were able to impact so many special people that otherwise would be shunned by society. When I returned from India after that trip and started working at HOH again, I realized that I could do more and should, to help the Chavara Special School.
As fate would have it, Kerala was hit with the worst rains and flooding in its recorded history and caused severe damage to homes and loss of life across the State.
The Chavara Special School and many of the patrons of the school and their families were also deeply affected. Sr. Jitha, who is in charge of the facility, reached out to my family requesting help in order for them to get back on their feet and back to normal operations from the damage that the floods had caused to their classrooms and facility. The floods had also caused extensive damages to the homes of many of their special needs families and some of their homes completely. As I read her letter requesting assistance, I realized that it was the cause and call I was waiting for. If I could use my time and efforts to help them get back to some level of normalcy, then I would be able to see those smiling faces again and bring meaningful and positive impact to their lives. Thus, I started Project Help Them Forward. It was inspired by Pay It Forward movements that I had heard of and read about, but I wanted to not just raise money for the cause, but work with them at the Chavara Special School to help them forward in life.
Please read about what I am doing for them and how you can help.