A Prayer for our Sponsors

We call upon the Lord God, the Almighty, to bless our friends who sponsored our Christmas activities until now. We pray that our Father in Heaven will shower his abundant blessings on the families of Dr. Anusha, Dr. Patricia, Dr. Samson and Preethi Bagrecha from Guntur, Mrs. Prabhavati from Gollaprollu, Andhra Pradesh, Helen Bakes, Maureen & Cedric Pinto from Sydney, and Clifford Terry from Perth, Australia, Biju & Sudha Damodaran from Muscat, Manoj & Tripta Barai from Bangalore, Sangeetha Veena, and Jude Jeyasingh from Chennai. They came forward without any hesitation to give Whispering Hope a helping hand to conduct the initial programs in Andhra Pradesh.

We also pray for all our sponsors who have helped us along the way over the last decade. A special prayer goes out for our volunteers, without whose help, we could not have achieved so much.

May the new born Infant, our Saviour Jesus Christ, raise his little hand and bless our sponsors, volunteers and their families with all the graces that they need to lead a happy, healthy and peaceful life.

And all it took was....!

100 Fruit cakes
300 cup cakes
200 buns
100 loaves of bread
100 Chocolates
100 laddoos
3 kilos of muruku (a savoury snack)

Lunch for 250 people - 50 kilos of rice with 25 kilos of chicken
Dinner for 180 people - 30 kilos of rice with 20 kilos of chicken

70 sets of toiletries
(toothpaste, shampoo, soap, talcum powder, cold cream, washing soap & washing powder for clothes)

10 Sponsors
And Good ol’ ME….for Whispering Hope to rock and roll this Christmas in Andhra Pradesh!

On to Racherla....

Our third and final program in Andhra Pradesh was held on the 9th December at a little village called Racherla, West Godavari District. The parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes Church and the village children took out a small procession around the church to the beat of drums expertly conducted by the school children of St. Mary’s English Medium School, Prathipadu.

A ceremonial mass was held for all the faithful gathered there. Soon after the service, the young village girls welcomed us with a beautiful dance. Santa also popped in to add to the cheer and with much gusto, the start of the Christmas season was celebrated in Racherla.

A festive lunch of palav, chicken curry, and curds raita was served to all the people gathered there, with plenty of left overs to take home too. Fruit cakes for the ladies and loaves of bread for the guys were given out so that they could have something to eat in the evening. Love filled the air, Peace reigned supreme, Bellies were filled and a good time was had by one and all.

Rev. Fr. Arockiasamy, Parish Priest, could be contacted on +91 95 539 52320.  He is also the Hostel Warden of St. Mary's English Medium School, Prathipadu.

And the feeding continues...!

Our next session was on the 27th November at Obul-naidu-palem, a village located about 20 kilometers away from Guntur.  Here again, we hosted a grand dinner for around 80 people after a prayer session conducted by Mr. Abraham.  Buns and cup cakes were distributed to the women and children and everyone tucked into the hearty meal provided - Palav, chicken curry, gongura, raita and pineapple kesari - being the staple traditional festive meal in these parts of the country.  Check out our photos alongside.

Mr. Abraham could be contacted on +91 863 2255235.

Ho, Ho, Ho...Let the Festivities begin....

The 25th of November - the count down begins for that special date 25th of December and all of a sudden its CHRISTMAS! 

'Feeding the poor' being the theme this year, Whispering Hope started the ball rolling for a group of slum dwellers in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.  Mr. Praveen conducts weekly prayer sessions for these people at his prayer hall in Sai Baba Colony, Guntur.  The people were happy to have us with them and after a small prayer session which included a lot of singing, a Christmas message was imparted to them by the vivacious Dr. Patricia.  While Mr. Suresh strummed his guitar melodiously,  English carols were sung with much gusto by Dr. Patricia and her charming daughter Priyansha.  This set the mood and it was an early Christmas for all of us gathered here.  Goody bags were distributed and a delicious dinner was served for around 80 people.  Our photos tell their own story.

Dr. Patricia runs a missionary hospital in Guntur where treatment is either provided free or at nominal costs to the poor.  She can be contacted on +91 863 2332331.

Mr. Praveen, who spreads God's word and with his prayers has successfully healed many people can be contacted on +91 92 471 78847.

A Summer Treat

June is also time for a birthday party and along with the two birthday boys - Sagar & Samir (two of Whispering Hope's favourite kids) - we went to a hostel for prisoners' children.  'Arunima' is in Egmore, Chennai, and a group of nuns take good care of these children. The kids were very excited and sang the birthday song with much ardour.  Cakes and puffs were distributed to fill their little bellies.  There was song and dance and after all that the big surprise landed up - Charlie Chaplin and guess what?  This Charlie had a few magic tricks up his voluminous sleeve and had the little ones enthralled throughout his performance.  The photos alongside tell you our story. 

We gratefully thank the Sekri Foundation of Chennai for providing the delectable treats for the goody bags and Devrim Tuncay from Turkey for the colourful hand towels which were an instant hit with the kids.

Rev. Sr. Lily, who is in charge of the children could be contacted at Arunima on Tel. No. 044 28553183. 

Back to School

Come the sunny month of June and once again its time for parents to pay their children's school fees.  Thanks to our Pillars of Support, we were able to help pitch in and school fees for 6 little children were paid.  We are yet to get further details from one of the schools that we patronize and will be helping a few children there too.

Please help!

Its time to help parents pay their children's school fees and we beg you to help us in our endeavour to reach out to the poor and needy.  Its getting tough as the days go by and any help would be appreciated especially by the students whom we sponsor from year to year.  School fees range from Rs. 4000/- to Rs.20,000/- depending on which school the child goes to and anything that you can give will be a great help to us.  Thank you very much.

We still do the 'little' things!

Whispering Hope hasnt scaled 'great heights' but continue to do the 'little' things to spread smiles around.  Since January we have been doing the rounds and distributed bread and cup cakes to the poor.  Staple food was supplied to a few families when their shelves were empty.  A used gas stove was given to a servant enabling her to switch from a kerosene stove thus making her home a healthier environment for her child to grow up in.

Kevin and Anita Mawdsley of Chennai donated 25 kilos of rice to the Parish Priest of a little church in Andhra where many poor people come to pay homage to Mother Mary.  We also gave the Priest celebration robes to celebrate the Easter service in this little village.

Whispering Hope helped 'Jesus Park' in a tiny way by donating a few Horlicks packets.  Jesus Park distributed over 300 Horlicks to the patients at the old Cancer Hospital, Adyar, Chennai.  We thank Mr. Britto (tel.no. 91 94 448 62717) and Mrs Marlene Nicholas for giving us this opportunity to serve; we also thank Mrs. Jennifer White and her sister Sona and friend Yoly for the Horlicks that they gave for this cause.

And its THANKS to....

With the continued support from our sponsors and friends, we managed to do our bit to spread a mile of smiles.  Our heartfelt thanks go out to Yvette & Vicky, Sharon & Troy Gomes, Pam & Ashraf from Melbourne, Helen & Ashley Bakes from Sydney, Juan & Ana Fradera from Brazil, Bernie Vanspall Toomey from Canada,  Kudzai Chinhengo from Zimbabwe, Cuneyt Meran & Devrim Tuncay from Turkey, Biju & Sudha Damodaran from Muscat, Betsy, Mahalakshmi & Lakshminarayan from Mumbai, Bridget White from Bangalore, Jenny White and her friends Avril & Julia from Chennai, Aunty Hermie Vanspall, Anita & Kevin Mawdsley, K. Sathya, also from Chennai, Julie John from Chirala, Pearl & Nagaraj from Muscat.  Very special thanks go out to Ramesh Kavuri, Guntur, for the bonanza of chocolates and biscuits that he supplied to get this show on the road! Ramesh..you've been great!

We pray that the Good Lord will bless and keep them in His care, showering them with blessings all through the year.

St. Mary's English Medium School, Tadepalligudem, AP

Whispering Hope had the pleasure of conducting its first program in the delightful state of Andhra Pradesh.  This was held at St. Marys English Medium School at Tadepalligudem (tade - palli - gudem : not so bad now to pronounce the word, is it?!). 

Our volunteers - Thomas, Vittal, Arul, Edward, Michael and Riyaz came down from Chennai to give a helping hand.  They packed all the gifts for the students, teachers, Priests and servants, decorated the hall where the program was held, taught the kids a few dances.  Arul, who was the Santa Claus, was the Star of the show as the children didnt expect to find Santa in their midst.  They jived, they danced, they sang and we all enjoyed ourselves till the very end. 

The most Rev. Fr. Charles and his team welcomed us whole heartedly and stood us a magnificent lunch.  We in turn, gave them 5 kilos of fruit cake and 100 buns which came in handy at the children's tea time.

Rev. Fr. Arokiaswamy, the Warden, can be contacted on +91 95 539 52320 for details on the school.

Our pictures displayed in the Photo Album speak for themselves.

The little things we do...

During the months of November and December 2011, Whispering Hope set out to do a variety of little things to make the smiles go around.  Staple rations were given out to a couple of families, school fees were paid for a few students, children were sent to the movies with their parents, loads of chocolates were given out to the young and old alike, new clothes - saris, trousers and shirts for the adults, pensions to the ladies on our list were given out. 

A lavish breakfast was given to the poor members of the Vincent de Paul Society of St. Joseph's Church, Vepery.  Each of these also received a little gift bag with biscuits, chocolates and a little money for the way.  Special thanks go out to Joseph Sagayaraj and Deborah Thomson for giving us this opportunity to serve the poor.
We look forward to receiving plenty so that we can give out much much more and make that smile a mile long!!

A wish for a Bible

It was a glorious moment when a maid working at my office asked me for a Bible.  The very thought that someone needed a Bible was exhilirating.  Through a friend, I managed to lay hands on a couple of Telugu bibles and gave her one.  She was so thrilled that she could have her own Bible to read when attending the prayer service on Sundays.  This gave me the momentum to go forward and get some more Bibles, New Testaments and distribute them amidst the needy.

Maybe we could take this one step further and our Hindu and Muslim sponsors could contribute some copies of the Bhagwad Gita and the Holy Koran. 

Everyone needs something to believe in and what better way to start than to possess the Holy Book.  Not only does this enhance our faith and trust in God, but also gives us the graces we need to lead a better life.

Santa's heart is heavy!

Yes, my dears, Santa's heart is very heavy as our call for toys went unheard and unanswered!  Despite mails being sent out, not a soul came forward with used toys.  This was a big disappointment for Whispering Hope.  But then, we still would like to carry on and if anybody, somebody has some toys which are not being used any more, please do let us know and we will make arrangements to collect the same.