Its over now in AP!

Taking this opportunity to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2017, we now close our programs in Andhra Pradesh and head onto Tamilnadu.  Needless to say, the cash crunch is not helping us get things moving but we tried to do our little bit to spread a few miles of smiles. 

May God bless our generous sponsors and well wishers abundantly during this special time and in 2017!

Just Boys all the way!

I was pleased when Rev. Fr. Innareddy invited me to come across and make his hostel children happy for a while.  I was hesitant due to my ill health but then I said, 'lets go, it is Christmas after all'.  And its just BOYS all the way!

Thanks to Manoj and Tripta Barai from Bangalore, these 10 little boys at Tirukapalem, near Sattenapalli, Andhra Pradesh, were delighted with their goodies and the chocolate cake and cream buns that went with it!

Our photos give you the complete picture.  They showered me with flowers and even gave me a sweet little gift as a token of their united love.  God bless them always and may they grow up to be fine young men.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Praveen's Children @ Sai Baba Colony, Guntur

A lovely day was Sunday, the 18th of December, when we had a little program for the Sunday School Children at Praveen's Church.  Gifts, Cake, and Cream buns were the order of the day and about 60 children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Singing with much gusto and enthusiasm, these kids brought glory to the Lord's Holy Name. Photos in the album are a lively testimony to the fun times enjoyed by all.

A big Thank You goes out to the Ms Lynn Divina McAdam from Spain who sponsored the whole show! God bless you Lynn!

Vijaya Lakshmi Puram Rocks again!

On the 11th of December, last Sunday, we headed to this village that we discovered recently and had a small celebration.  Starting with a Holy Mass, with gifts for the church were so kindly presented by the Coyne Family (oh, yes! they gave a dumb box as well to replace the rusty one mentioned earlier!), we made the congregation and the people from the village sit down to a sumptuous meal of rice, chicken curry, veggies, lentils, yogurt, and a sweet.

Our grateful thanks go out to:

Rev. Fr. Dhanraj for inviting us to celebrate Christmas with his parishioners
& Rev. Fr Joseph for assisting at the mass,

The Coyne's from Chennai, for the church gifts,

Biju & Sudha Damodaran from Muscat, Elizabeth Pereira from Melbourne, Dinesh & Deepak from Chennai for pitching in and providing the food for more than 120 people

Julie & John, Giri from Chirala and Monica Charles from Chennai for the invaluable help rendered for getting this program take place without a hitch!

Thank you so much!

 

Our first Bucket goes home!

We started with an empty bucket and then rummaged through the cupboards and put a few things together and hey presto! a Bucket of Goodies was ready to go!  We sought out the maid who looked after us when we were little kids and presented her with the first bucket of love and hope.  We felt that it was the right thing to do and a small way of showing our thanks for all that she did for us as kids. Happy Christmas Subulu! God bless!

Putting out a feeler!

Come on, everybody, its Christmas time, festive time all over as we get to prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  What better way to do this, than to spend time with the poor and the needy. After all our Lord was born in a stable, and spent a lot of time with the poor.  As we prepare for a bigger spree, Whispering Hope decided to take a look at a real poor village in Andhra Pradesh.  Named Vijaya Lakshmi Puram  and tucked away near a sea shore, it was a perfect setting for a lazy Sunday morning. 

The parishioners of the little church there were so happy to welcome us and after the Sunday mass, a small treat of Choco Pies, fruit cake and mango juice was given to the people.  The Church itself was so simple and the only possessions it appeared to have had was a Crucifix, a fan and a microphone system.  The collection box was a rusty old tin and that's the first thing I want to replace when I go next.

Pictures of our time out are in the album and will give you and idea of what a good time we had.  Our sincere thanks to Rev. Fr. Dhanraj for inviting us, to Julie and John for volunteering to help.  Our warm thanks to Guruvaiah for the loan of his car and Rafi for driving me around and last but not least our heartfelt thanks to Elizabeth Pereira from Melbourne who so kindly supplied the goodies to distribute. Thank you one and all!

Box of Hope

Hope is something that we all have within ourselves. Hope gives us the strength and courage to carry on, despite our trials and backward slides. And when the needy receive a box of Hope, they rejoice.  Please join the untiring efforts of Gavin and Juli Route as they take on a herculean tax of preparing 500 boxes of Hope for the poor and needy, mainly at hospitals and in villages near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Please take a look at the colourful Notice put up in the Flikr album.

Gavin can be contacted on +91 9551055000 & +91 8754928777 and also on Face Book - Gavin Route & Juli Route.

Little things

Collecting used clothes or toys and distributing them to the little people that we come across, always warms the heart and we love doing this.  Take a look at the two little girls where the bigger one shows off her new clothes.

So, come on people, give a hand and send some used clothing, shoes and toys for the little people.  We are waiting!

And its Birdie time!

When we feed the birds of the air, we can be sure that the Lord who sees everything will bless us and provide us with all that we need.  Every morning its a ritual for me to feed the pigeons with grain. 

Its so strange to notice that even the birds follow the seasons of the year!  During the summer months, they pop in around 6am for their daily feed and as the days turn colder, they come in a little later and once the winter sets in, they come only at 6.30.  Guess they take their cue from the sun who rises later in the mornings when its cold.

From the photos, you can see them lining up on the building next door, watching and waiting for me to get their feed ready. And once this is served, they binge on all that they can and have a good feast.

I love my feathered friends and hope they keep coming regularly.

A treat for the Boys

When two or three join hands and pitch in their mite to do some good, you can be sure that its for the best. And here we have, three women - Pikul Chomduang from Thailand, Bridgette Kumar from Bangalore and Anita Mawdsley from Chennai - strangers to each other but known to me (Anita is my sister, Bridget a close friend, and Pikul a Thai colleague) and a young man - Pavan, also a colleague who contributed to the first Christmas program of the season.

50 boys and a handful of girls were treated to a variety entertainment program at the Infant Jesus' Boys Hostel in the first week of November.  Crunchy Chicken, egg puffs, cake and juice was distributed during the event and then it was time for gifts!  What's Christmas, without cake and presents!!

An enjoyable time was had by all and the highlight would have been the two young brothers - Boogie and Boonie - treating us to a dance special!  Their mother Surekha also encouraged the hostel boys to do well in their studies and forthcoming exams.  I must say that it was well worth the time and effort put in by Whispering Hope.  Our photos in our album tell the story.

 

Little things for Little Ones

When my pal, Dorothy, gave me some cash, I was wondering what to do with it and who was the most deserving person to get anything that this cash could buy.  I had almost forgotten about the money, when a little girl said she needed a pair of slippers for herself and her brother.  I jumped into give them a boost and hey, presto, a visit to the local Bata showroom and colourful slippers were bought for these two little kids. And with the remaining money, a birthday dress for the beautiful young lady was also bought.  Now who said, 'little things don't matter'! Believe me, they do and we at Whispering Hope are always ready to prove this in a mighty big way.

Thank you Dorothy and Allan Coyne for the gesture that made these two small children a happy lot!

Oh no, not again!!

Just when I was thinking of taking a break and putting up my feet, my friends decide that they should donate stuff for my charity work.  So here we have more things for distribution - brand new shirts, hand bags, used saris from Chitra and Satish Nair, colourful toothbrushes and purses from Shireen Daly. Check out the photos in the album alongside.

Thank you ladies and Satish - the distribution is well under way! 

Healing Stripes

During a recent visit to Chennai, Whispering Hope had the pleasure of meeting Gavin Route and his lovely wife Julie who run an NGO.  The main aim is to help children suffering from Thalessemia (blood cancer) with the costs of the treatment.  They also run free tuition centres, help with school fees, conduct regular sales of stuff to help attract funds and a whole load of other good things.  They have a team of workers and volunteers who help with the smooth running of their work.  Photos of my visit to their place put up in the album.

Gavin can be contacted on +91 9551055000

New Kids on the Block!

Meet Hansel & Gretel, two little kittens who come to my home for their daily gratification.  Milk and a good feed awaits them.  Fed everyday by my brother Nigel and his son Wayne.  The Lazar father and son duo also feed stray dogs and other cats too.  Lets give them a big hand!

Fotos of the kittens are put up for one to see!
 

Christmas came early!

When there are presents, we think of birthdays and Christmas!  So what if its not yet Christmas, we can still celebrate a happy occasion and call it Christmas!

And we did this twice - in July - we visited the Carmel Convent in Chebrol, Andhra Pradesh, where the nuns look after 9 young girls.  We gave the girls and the nuns little gifts and just seeing the happiness is enough to fill our hearts with joy.

And in August - we visited the Mother Teresa's Boys Hostel in Thirukapalem, Andhra Pradesh.  Armed with more gifts and a potful of chicken biryani, we spent time with these young boys.  Eleven boys were so happy to receive gifts from us and tucked into wholeheartedly into the sumptuous biryani.

Photos in our album alongside show the kids joy.  A big Thank You goes out to Shaik Rafi for the awesome biryani and to Lavanya Vadde for sponsoring some of the gifts.

Velankanni Helping Hands

During our pilgrimage to Velankanni, Whispering Hope took some time out to visit the orphanage run by a group called Velankanni Helping Hands.  These children were left desolate after the tsunami and Mr. Antony Franklin Jayaraj took pity on them and brought them under his wing.  With a few friends to help out and the untiring effort of a young lady from Switzerland, he now shelters about 17 children.  Take a look at the photos in our album.

A big Thanks goes out to Miss Fenella Patterson who sponsored a Sunday lunch - we hope the kids enjoyed their chicken.

The kids were so talented and already have their aims in life all set.  From doctors and nurses, to engineers and scientists, these kids know what they want! 

What made me happy was seeing the joy and thrill on their little faces when they were given a chocolate.  The five Rupee 5 Star chocolate had them drooling and a couple of the kids piped up and said that 'no one ever gave us chocolate'. A big Dairy Milk chocolate for these kiddos for sure when I visit Velankanni next time! And that's a promise!

A dream comes true!

When you dream what seems to be the impossible, and God makes it possible, you can only bow your head in thanksgiving and praise the Lord as long as you live. 

Ever since our first pilgrimage in August 2002, it has been a dream to take a bus load of people to Our Lady of Good Health's Shrine at Velankanni.  Due to the lack of finance, it remained just that.  It was my birthday in March and I decided to go for it come what may.  I passed the hat around, knocked on doors, begged, borrowed and now am proud to say that my dream came true.

On the 30th June, a group of faithful people headed off to Velankanni with me leading the group.  A three day stay for most of them while three families had a two day stay.  A total of 12 families - to spend time together, bonding, eating, praying, playing and in general have a real good time just being together. Photos in the album alongside tell the story.

This would not have been possible, if the following people didn't help me out.  I'm indebted to them for their selfless giving and standing by me all the way.

From Bangalore : Fenella and Wendy

From Chennai : Divya, Nalini, Chandu, Anita, Belle, Aziz, Belinda, Chitra, Faiz Jahan, Akshita, Monica, Jennifer, Ruby, Nigel, Wayne, Wasim and Sangam Medicals

From Guntur : Isaac David, Gopi, Raju, Sajeev, Cuneyt, Guruvaiah, Lavanya, Sudha, Irfan, Srihari

From Hyderbad : Ritha, Pavithra, Usha, and Ali

From Muscat : Pearl and Biju

From Sydney : Helen, Malka, Maureen, and Manju

From Vizag :  Jackie, Daphne, Noreen, Sandra, Lynette, Daisy, Johnny, Dominic and Josephine.

And in Velankanni : Rev. Fr. John and Joyce
 

Birthday time again!

Year after year, we have been hosting birthday parties for our protégées - this time it was fun and frolic for the two brothers - Sagar and Sameer - and it was a blast.  The guys were so happy and little Bomi played hostess by serving the delicacies.  Nothing like a party to get things going.

Photos uploaded in the album alongside.

School fees....again!

Come June and parents keep running from pillar to post to rustle up the much needed money to pay their kids fees.  Thanks to the sponsors who unfailingly help each year, we are able to provide basic school fees to the little ones.  At least if one child comes through with flying colours, we would be over the moon.  We would like to help more kids, but the going is tough. Maybe next year, will be more rosy in this direction.
 

Summer Holidays

As soon as the schools close, our protégée Miss Bommi is all set to come out to Guntur with her parents and spend a couple of weeks just relaxing, eating, sleeping, checking out the shops, the road side restaurants, tuck into icecreams and snacks and whatever goodies we can give her.  The photos show her with her parents, Venkatesan and Shoba.  Do say a wee prayer that she will turn out to be a Star as she grows older! Thank you.

"Forever Trust"

Whispering Hope had the pleasure of visiting 'Forever Trust", a youth ministry run by three young ladies - Nancy, Sanjana and Keziah - in Chennai.  Free tuition is given to the street children during the school days and come summer, its time for fun and games.  Yes, and a whole week of the fun and frolic.  I visited them on a day when all the kids had to bring in their own food and share it with the others.  I missed the lunch but couldn't help clicking a photo of the empty containers which spoke a million words. Love for Jesus, love for a fellow human being, love for the whole wide world takes on a new meaning when one visits this Centre and sees the kids and the ladies interact. Photos speak volumes here.

Thank you Ladies for the lovely time and the grand lunch which I enjoyed very much.  Thank you also to Divya Vigneswaran from Chennai for the 'super love' Tshirts that never cease to amaze one; thank you to Catherine Mendonsa from Sydney for the contribution of biscuits, chocolates and soft drinks which provided the much needed nourishment for these young ones that sunny afternoon.

May God bless the work of Forever Trust and the young ladies who hold the seams together. Praise the Lord.

Birthday fun times

Any day, any time, is good enough to celebrate a birthday.  Whispering Hope invited a few kids and young ladies and had a whale of a time recently.  All the girls had a little cake with a candle on it and sang the birthday song with much gusto. Our photos speak for themselves.

Time for my boys!

Spending time with my boys in Guntur is such a delightful past time.  At the outset, I would like to thank the Mother and Daughter Team from Chennai who made this possible - Shirley and Colliet Huffton. With their generous contributions, I was able to buy some stationery for the 45 boys at this Hostel and with the generous help from Manoj and Tripta Barai from Bangalore, gave them a hearty dinner with chicken.  The boys were thrilled to bits and needless to say, my cup of joy overflowed. May God bless these little youngsters as they head home for their holidays.

A Sister Act

It takes two sisters, Sangeeta Jain and Chandu Jain, to give and two sisters, Anita Mawdsley and me, Flora, to take! Yes, Sangeeta and Chandu sponsored the hot puffs and cake for the children - girls at Carmel Convent and boys at St. Mary's High School - in the West Godavari District.  Anita and I had the pleasure of visiting these children over the weekend and spent some valuable time with them, enjoying their antics. God bless these little ones as they prepare for their exams. May He continue to guide them.

33?!?!

Yes, 33 it is!  Jesus' age at the time of his death was 33! The number of girls at the Bishop Aelen's home in Egmore Chennai was 33!! It did seem appropriate to visit these girls and give them the Super Love Tshirts from Ms Divya Vigneswaran and the buns from Jude Jayasingh.  The girls were thrilled to bits and am sure put their new Tshirts on when they went for the church service on Good Friday.  SuperLove the Tshirts said and that's what Jesus has for us. Whispering Hope has been triply blessed since then.

A Birthday to remember

When a new birthday dawns, giving one a renewed hope and energy to shed all inhibitions and start afresh, I thought I could take this one step further and celebrate in style with my boys in Guntur.  45 boys brought up with so much love and dedication at the Infant Jesus Hostel.  Sharing my joy, was Guravaiah, Surekha and their two sons - Boogie & Booni. 

Each of us had a message for the three boys who were going to appear for their final exams; a lot of encouragement was given to them.  It was also a farewell of sorts for them as they leave the hostel and venture on in life.  We will miss them dearly.

I was so surprised when three little chaps stepped forward and presented me with a car, a ball and a little fairy - see the pics.  This was all that they had and because it was my birthday, they wanted to give me a gift.  That thought of giving me their most precious possessions had me in tears.  I couldn't refuse to take it and hurt their feelings.  Instead its now my treasure and in return I gave them a gift on my actual birthday.  See their little faces glowing with pride! God bless you guys!

A little Something

There's always a little something left over from our giving sprees and after the Christmas/New Year adventures, we gathered up the bits and pieces and went along to the Carmel Convent where we dished out stuff for the little girls there and then moved onto the Heralds of Good News Seminary to hand over some toiletries to the youngsters who are studying to become priests.  Much appreciation for their work needs to be mentioned here.  The Seminary itself, tucked away in a little village, was a paradise on earth. Nestled among acres of greenery, lovely gardens, fruit trees, a vegetable garden with cattle, chickens and other birds wandering around, giving the place the look of a sprawling farm house rather than a Seminary.

Thank You!

A big Thank You goes out to all the volunteers who helped make our programs rock! May God bless you and the family.

In Guntur - Mr. Suresh, Deena Kumari, Automan Nageswara Rao and Driver Javed and his son.

In Chennai - Nalini Mohan, Anita Mawdsley, Judy and Shoba.

And the Winners are...!

Sangeetha Sakariya and family from America

Divya Vigneswaran, Sangeeta Veena, Anita & Kevin Mawdsley, Aunty Hermie and their families, and the staff of GMMCO, Engine Transportation Business from Chennai

Julie John from Chirala

Preeti from Guntur

Biju & Sudha Damodaran from Muscat

Maria & Savio D'mello, Mary & David Roberts, Mahalakshmi & Lakshminarayan, Balu & Eswar and their families from Mumbai

Anil & Niveditha from Sharjah

Maureen & Cedric Pinto, and Helen & Ashley Bakes from Sydney

Beliz & Cuneyt Meran from Turkey

Let's give them a big hand for their generosity and all time support rendered to Whispering Hope. May God bless each of them and their families.

 

It's a New Year!

Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!!

What's a better way to celebrate the beginning of the year instead of the usual rigmarole? 

Whispering Hope invited six teenagers and gave them their first lunch of 2016 in the all time favourite Hotel Blue Diamond on Poonamallee High Road.  The teens have never entered a hotel in their lives! They live close to this hotel, but didn't imagine that they would one day step in and have a feast.  Feast their bellies they did with a fabulous spread. 

Thank you Maureen and Cedric Pinto from Sydney Australia, for making a dream come true.

The little things

Even if its just a little thing, it matters a lot and is considered a real big thing by some folks like us.  Whispering Hope firmly believes in this and never hesitates to do the little things that warms the cockles of our hearts.

From health drinks to blankets, from medicines to chocolates, from pocket money to linen, from soaps to towels, from slippers to clothes, from a coffee to a hearty breakfast, from biscuits to a sumptuous meal, from kind words to kind deeds - Whispering Hope has done it all.

Loads of biscuits, toys, and toiletries were given to two orphanages and a home for the aged.

The happy look on the faces of the people who receive these small things, makes us feel so blessed and we are just happy to keep doing the little things in a big way!

May God bless the sponsors and their families who contributed generously to spread miles and miles of smiles.

Strange but True!

People say 'God's ways are strange'.  This came to pass on the Sunday after Christmas.  I had given a hamper to a family - The Connors - on Christmas Eve.  On the Sunday, I thought I would give them a call and check if they had a good Christmas.  They said that they did and when I asked if there was anything they needed for their home, Mr. Connors said he would let me know.  When wishing the wife, I asked her the same thing and she mentioned that they couldn't think right as the kitchen ceiling had collapsed just a while ago, narrowly missing her daughter and herself.  They had just seconds before moved away from the kitchen.  They were in despair. 

I said I would see what I could do.  Called a contractor and he said he was available to repair the ceiling immediately.  In no time, he got his act together and arranged for the masonry work to be done and the Connors could only thank God for helping them out in time of their need.

I needn't have called them; the contractor doesn't work on Sunday, neither do the labourers, but they were there; the contractor was in the same vicinity as the Connors and could go across immediately; I withdrew money from the ATM on the Sunday even though I had originally planned to do so only on the Monday, so had the cash to pay upfront.

Strange but true!

The Childrens Ward, Cancer Institute, Adyar

On the 22nd Dec, we had a date at the Adyar Cancer Institute, Children's Ward.  A very disappointing experience and one not to be repeated due to the red tape involved.  Mrs. Nalini Mohan and Mrs. Anita Mawdsley joined me on this trip.  Goodies for the kiddos were packed and imagine our disappointment when the bags couldn't be handed over by us to the children or their attendants.  Mr. Manohar, the Adminstrator, informed us that we could not do so and he would take the responsibility of handing them over.  Was this done? No idea!  In spite of all the reassurances on the phone, we went all the way only to be stumped.

Felt extremely sad, when one little girl kept following us and asked us 'when will you give my gift', 'did you bring me a doll'.  Heart rending and pitiful that we had to say 'it will come to you later'.

Gods grace was such, that all the other stuff remained in the car, and as soon as we were given a firm refusal, I called another orphanage and delivered the rest of the goodies there.  Amazing - and a silver lining to the cloud that surrounded us.

And off to Chennai, we went!!

After an amazing time in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, Whispering Hope packed its bags and boxes, bundled up in a taxi and down the road we went to Charming Chennai. 

Chennai, the throbbing place we call home, was as scintillating as ever, in spite of the recent rains and floods.  Though the people's morale was low, it picked up momentum just before Christmas and as the day dawned, the joy of the Christmas season spread its warmth on all of us.

Whispering Hope took this one step further and distributed food hampers to about 20 families.  A helping hand was given wherever it was needed.  Our photos speak for themselves.