There is perhaps no word that conjures up more emotion than the word “mother.” No matter what our backgrounds or beginnings, mothers shape our destiny and forge who we will become. In a very real sense, they are our first home. We are all knitted together in our mother’s womb and pushed into this world by a force she alone can channel. For most of us, “mother” or some baby-babble equivalent is the first word we say. For good or for bad, we are tied to our mothers, even when that connection is just a distant dream. Here at the GSAM, “Mother” means many things. For orphaned children, a mother ..read more

‘Parents Day’ at an orphanage sounds like it belongs in the definition of oxymoron; it just sounds impossible… but we assure you it is a real thing. You might wonder: what type of parents would give their child to an orphanage anyhow? What type of organization would split up a family? These are legitimate questions, and ones we are more than happy to answer for you this week. Less than half of our kids have no living or known relatives, so for those who do have family we set aside special days twice a year in which they can visit, share a meal, some laughter and a whole lot of love. The p ..read more

Today was a historic day here at the mission. After more than a year of planning, design, fundraising, construction, decorating and cleaning…the Samartha Saxena Memorial Learning Resource Center was officially opened today. Under a blazing Indian sun, with hundreds of parents and students in attendance, with honored guests and longtime friends in town for the occasion, the ceremonial ribbon was cut, the doors were opened, and our beautiful new space was officially open for business. There were songs and dances, speeches and prayers, and a celebration worthy of the effort that brought this pr ..read more

Those who have been following for a while now know that we have been working for the last year on constructing the Samartha Saxena Memorial Learning Resource Center. This new building will be a huge asset to our orphanages school campus. Contained within it’s walls is the largest library in our district, a computer lab and endless possibilities for our students. We count ourselves incredibly blessed by the people who have made this building possible. We thank God for bringing each and every one into our lives, and while it would be impossible for us to list every person who ..read more

Is there a place for orphanages in today’s world? There’s been a lot of discussion about this lately in the orphan care arena, with many people advocating to close them all down. “Reunification with family” is the answer, they say. Institutions are harmful. Many orphanages are scams, just looking to separate big-hearted donors from their money. Many orphanage leaders are corrupt or abusive. These are the headlines that make the news. But as part of the team that is running the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission, a large Indian orphanage, I would like to suggest an alternate narrative. Becaus ..read more

Our Learning Resource Center is really coming along well. We have had a huge number of people donate time and energy to complete all major construction on the building. Our carpenter Ganesh is now working hard to construct all furniture before our May 19th opening. If you would like to come along for the opening of the LRC please get in contact with us. For now, enjoy these photos: The post Learning Resource Center appeared first on Indian Orphanage ..read more

As tempting as it is to create an April’s Fools post full of impossible-to-believe tales of Mission life, our actual week was incredible enough, so we’ll just stick with that. As we mentioned last week, we hosted a team from National Geographic as they presented one of their photo camps for our kids. Twenty boys and girls had the rare opportunity to learn writing and photography from some world-renowned professionals. While the words and the images they came up with were fantastic, it was the commitment and hard work they brought to the opportunity that made us the most proud. NatGeo Photo Ca ..read more

It’s been an exciting week, where the usual details of Mission life are all but overshadowed by the arrival of a National Geographic Photo Camp team. As an organization that loves great photography, it is an amazing honor to host this group of world class professionals an a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our kids (and staff) to learn from the best. The focus of the 4 day workshops is story telling, specifically through images and written word. Headlining the event is Pulitzer Prize winning writer Paul Solopek, who is currently on a 21,000 mile walk across the Earth, following t ..read more

A journey we all have been taking is the slow, cold march though winter. Of late we have seen some particularly chilly temperatures, especially in the morning. Caps and warm sweaters help, but really only the approach of summer will finally remove the foggy damp blanket that’s been covering us as of late. But we’re getting there. This week saw the return of Basant Panchami, the Indian festival celebrating the return of spring. Though it’s not officially springing just yet, it was a chance to get outside and fly kites, which is usually a holiday activity. There wasn’t a ton of wind but we did ..read more

Republic Day is a special day for India. Traditionally, it’s a time for schools to hold special programs to honor the Indian Constitution and the country, but this year, the Maxton Strong School went a step beyond. More than 700 students and staff marched the 1km into Banbasa, raising their voices and their hand-made signs, declaring their national pride. It was solid walk with nearly constant shouting, but the kids rose to the challenge. To avoid any meltdowns, the youngest children got to ride the school buses, though ..read more