Quick Facts about India
- Second most populous country (1.3 billion)
- 1 in 3 children are malnourished
- 68.8% live on less than $2 a day
- Of India’s poor:
45% are illiterate
94% lack access to tap water
St. Thomas Orphanage
The orphanages house 160 children and the school educates up to 600 students in kindergarten to tenth standard (or tenth grade) each year. The school year begins June and ends in April.
While many of those who live at St. Thomas and St. Theresa Orphanages have parents who are still living, they come from very poor families that cannot afford to care for them. If they lived at home, many of the children would be forced to work alongside their parents on farms and in factories doing hard manual labor to earn enough money to survive. Some would be left alone on the streets to beg, living in constant danger of being maltreated.
Living at the orphanages provides students with the basic necessities they need to focus on their education. Instead of worrying where their next meal will come from, the children can focus on learning and growing. Instead of working in dangerous conditions, the children can enjoy their childhood. By striving to excel for service, the children can envision a bright future for themselves and for their community.
The children who live in the orphanage, along with other local children, attend school at Mary Rose Buds School. The state-of-the-art school building contains classrooms, offices, a library, a science lab and a computer lab. Subjects include Math, Reading, English, Computer, Library, Religion, Science and Lab.
Mary Rose Buds School teachers and administrators are from The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo. The presence and the involvement of the sisters in the school have a great impact on the children and the lay staff. Their self-sacrificing spirit and dedication for the cause of the poor bears witness to the beauty of the Catholic faith to Christians and non-Christians alike.
The classes within the school are taught in English, with Hindi and Telegu as secondary languages. The school has become a model of education within the community. Bishop Gali Bali reports, “We are taking every care to maintain good standards of education with moral and spiritual values and discipline of conduct. There is a general appreciation of the entire people for the school.”
Day in the Life of a St. Thomas/St. Theresa Boarder Child
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5:00 am | Wake up, Bathe |
| 6:00 am | Mass and Morning Prayers |
| 8:30 am | Classes |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch |
| 1:30 pm | Classes |
| 4:15 pm | Assembly, games, and snack |
| 6:00 pm | Study |
| 7:00 pm | Dinner |
| 8:00 pm | Study |
| 9:00 pm | Lights out |
Join Abode for Children to help children rise from poverty through a community, faith-based approach that helps to provide for the essential needs of the children including nutritious food, clean clothing, housing and a moral education.