On the hunt again

We currently house seven wonderful and funny girls in the Home for Peace facility,. As the time grows nearer for our departure our relationships grows even stronger. These wonderful girls have really made a difference in our lives. I have had the chance go on a Sunday walk and really think about this experience here so far, I have been to able to really appreciate the opportunity that has been given to us.

This week it felt as if we were back to the good old days when were finding kids to bring to the Home for Peace. Since we have seven girls there are still 5 beds that are still open. We have been tying to figure things out before we admitted any new girls. It is getting late in the year to migrate girls from school to school because of the testing schedule so we have a little pressure. We decided it was time to hit the road; we had several references of girls who were parentless so we thought we would start there.

There were two sisters on our list; one was 12 and the other 16. The older one has been out of school for 3 years and the younger was in a poorly run orphanage near Kullu. We had the name of their uncle and the village he lived in and nothing else, so we headed out on the road. We drove for about an hour to a small village that was really hard to find and decided to just start asking people if they knew the uncle. We saw a small older lady and asked her, she said “ yeah he is right there” and pointed to a water pump where a small humble man stood, it turned out he was right there. I expected this hunt one to be a lot more difficult that it actually was. We explained to him the reason of our meeting and he invited us in to his home. We told him about the scholarship we would be willing to offer and how we have a girl who has been out of school for the past three years but we were able to get her back in to school. He was very interested and then explained their situation and how their parents had abandoned them when only small children. The uncle told us how several months ago the older girl was kidnapped by their neighbor. He took her to the Punjab border to be sold, while at the border the police stopped them and the man was arrested. Now he is in jail and the court cases are currently going on.

I can’t imagine having to face those challenges, I know there are a billion people who probably face similar challenges some in our own back yards. I can’t physically help every one. But just knowing that I can make one person’s day brighter and help give one person a brighter future makes this worth it. It was amazing how we were almost led to these girls, how thing have worked out. The girls aren’t here yet, maybe they won’t come now, but I don’t believe in accidents.

-James Baird