Home for C.H.I.L.D

gert and his wife johanna have always had a heart for children. they sponsored a couple of their own for many years and even came to india to visit them. but their sponsoring organization would not let them become involved as they wanted to be. samson and lalitha also have a special place in their hearts for little ones. they began and ran the school & orphanage for 25 years. but the board was being too restrictive, they cared little for the daily needs of the children. somehow, the paths of the two couples crossed and C.H.I.L.D. was formed. 36 sponsors support these children for just $39 a month. and you thought raising kids was expensive. 100% of the funds go to the care and needs of the children. the main focus of C.H.I.L.D. is to educate children in the villages who want an education, though destined to live an illiterate life.

the list of children waiting is long…the sponsors few, the space is full. eMi2 cannot bring the sponsors, but we can help with the space. the vision was to create living facilities for 200 children and a school to hold 500. there was to be a home for the managers as well as a dining and gathering hall. it is a big dream, but one not too far out of reach.

we visited the site early monday morning. we wanted to beat the heat of the south, but i really don’t think that’s possible. as we pulled up to the four-acre site, the car quieted [much unheard of for our group] the usually dry site was completely covered with three feet of water. let’s just say when they purchased the plot, they had no idea. it was a steal of a deal at $8,000…now we know why. the canal that runs along the road carrying the discharge-gray water spills right onto the property. no wonder the rice wouldn’t grow. not only would the canal have to be better developed to allow the waste water to run by, but the entire site would need to be raised five feet. the price tag? an estimated $80,000…now we really know why. however, samson and gert wished to proceed as planned. such a large quantity of fill is typical for these parts and the location rendered the effort worth it. we took our notes and walked around as much as we could. a small crowd of 20 had gathered to see what the white people were up to and no doubt, our visit was the news of the week in the small village.

joel and pat spent the next day surveying as gretchen, judy, and i removed the mattress of the bed to create our workspace. we divided and conquered the large program; thankfully communication came easily. we spent several hours talking with gert, samson and lalitha about the running of the facility. we also pulled lalitha aside to hear her voice more fully, knowing she would be overseeing most of the day-to-day activities. as we moved into final production mode, we enlisted pat to trace our design drawings for presentation and joel was put to work on the model. [engineers can be quite precise…i think i should have hired their help in school] just as any other project, we finished just before it was time to present. i swear architects don’t procrastinate, we just take as much time as we are given to make it that much better…or work best under pressure…or use whatever excuse we can come up with to justify the last minute madness.

a celebration was planned for our last night there. the children would prepare a program, we would present our work, and gifts would be exchanged. the board members were also in attendance, but the most important in the audience were the children. they were the reason we were here in the first place. we set up our drawings in their room, their trunks creating the base and the slat the presentation board. i was voted to present, though i had no idea how i would go about it…at least until i stood up. i tried to paint for the children a picture of a day in their new home. we talked about their preparation for school and the walk they would have across the campus. as they sat in class, the sea breezes from the south would be able to blow through both sides of their classes and keep them cool while the hot sun was shaded by the walkway. while still maintaining as much south exposure as possible and cutting down on the east and west, the building would be slightly askew to create a gathering space for the classrooms to spill out to a cricket field and paving to play games. the boys faces unforgettably lit up as i mentioned the word cricket.

dinner would be served in the dining hall located between the school and the dormitory. there, they could enjoy their meals outside or in, unlike the rocks they sit upon now. there would even be a place inside for dishes to be washed and be stored. the cooks would have enough space to accommodate the large demands of food and there would be storage for all the goods.

in our minds, we walked from the dining room, beside ‘mommy and daddy’s’ house, beside the playground and into their new home, the girls to the south, the boys on the north. there would be a large community space as they first entered their front door, good for meetings and playing. two wings from the center held 16-person rooms with adequate space for their own beds instead of the floor mats they have now. all of the rooms spill out to another, more intimate gathering space, perfect for studying and for hanging their clothes to dry. the jali wall along the north and west sides will allow the breezes in and diffuse the light. at the end of each corridor, the bathrooms. no longer will outdoor toilets and showers be used, a real bathroom they will have. it’s the little things in life that make the difference.

they looked up at me expectantly…all was mentioned…but the tv room. where would it go? was their only question. i smiled. of course it wasn’t asked for, it was a want not a need. but, if perhaps their simple wish is granted, we had made a space for it. their smiles held a feeling of satisfaction and anticipation. though ‘family’ seemed a relative term, home no longer would be.