“My life forever changed when I had the privilege of visiting my first Hope Learning Center in India. Experiencing the pure love and gratitude these children exude is nothing more than a Divine blessing I will never forget. In driving through the desolate areas to reach the centers all I saw was poverty and unforgiving conditions that would naturally be connected to the tremendous underdevelopment of human life and community. While I cannot imagine living through the unrelenting hardships these precious beings have endured, I was quite shocked to discover that in meeting these kids you would never know what they have gone through as they are not defined by it. They are full of such deep compassion and empathy it was quite overwhelming to experience how powerful their happiness and their gratitude authentically is. They were all so eager to share their joyfulness and delight while talking about how blessed they were to be a part of the HLC program, it was perhaps the most moving thing I have ever seen and brought tears to my eyes. The visits were incredibly healing for me I think more so than for the children!!
Watching the kids pray before eating their meal was also quite compelling. Their prayers were full of profound intention and purpose; beautifully expressed with such amplitude for giving thanks it blanketed the room with an unshakable grace that penetrated my heart so instantaneously, magically and medicinally. The level of recognition and acknowledgement behind their prayers for something greater than themselves carried such power it was quite an honor to witness. Easy to see the light of the Divine in their faces and feel it in their words.
I will never forget how gripping it was to see the children feeding each other; sharing what little they had so freely despite it being the only daily meal for some. And while I was capturing this on video, a girl stood up eager to feed me with her hands. As she lovingly offered part of her only meal to me, a domino effect occurred, and all the children wanted to do the same. I still get goose bumps remembering how these young hungry children would unquestionably share their food and want to give others what little they have. Never have I come across a program that has achieved such transformational results in developing selfless acts of kindness as witnessing the hearts of these children at the HLC; it truly is compassion in action. Without a doubt I know that in continuing this work we can all change the world.
Perhaps the most life changing moment for me was when I was introduced to a 10-year-old girl who had recently lost her mother and was left alone to take care of her epileptic father. She was responsible for his health and for getting herself to school on her own without the basic necessities like having shoes or a backpack as she had to walk a good distance to get there.
Her story hit me hard, and as an adult caring for my own stroke surviving father, my perspective changed in a second, as I could not imagine taking on all that this child does without resources.
And as it took me a minute to sort through all the emotions coming up, I was most astounded by her cheery attitude and delightful perspective; her eagerness to express how she was thriving on account of the phonemic intelligence technique she was learning; how it helped her focus better and she was smiling with such assured realization. The little girl radiated this genuine appreciation and deep sense of giving back to those less fortunate then her it’s made an immeasurable impact on me and I will never forget that. She said she was the luckiest girl to have friends at the HLC to talk to and was very thankful for her teachers and sponsors for making it all possible. I had no words for moments like that and all I could do was embrace her as I felt nothing but my own heart sorrows mending and being lifted away.
Imagine a world full of people with resilient stories like these creating a community of service for others touching everyone along their way with hope, love and endless inspiration. Thankfully you can see this happening for yourself when you support a HLC. I am so reassured that the work of Tripura Foundation and these pioneering Hope Centers are leading the way for a path of change going forward for a better Humanity.”
– Jamie Haro
We captured Jamie’s visits on video as she visited three Hope Learning Centers. You can watch the short videos at the following links:
Vellur 2 Hope Learning Center Visit