PENNE ORPHANAGE INDIA MINISTRIES POIM

 

The orphange was established  in 2007 through the initiative of  Dileep Raaja.

 

He was an actor ( he has  acted in 20 films and directed  60  films for television)  and was asked to direct a Christian telefilm  for a American association called “ Gospel to the Unreached Millions”.

 

Suddenly his life was transformed: and he returned to his Christian origins.  With open eyes he looked at his country after years in the world of cinema.  He was deeply moved at number of children abandoned on the roads and began to take  them in from tram stops, stations and from near the churches where they are begging .   Soon he finds himself with 60 kids on his hands.  He stopped working for the cinema and decided to continue his profession as a director serving only Christian missions.  His salary dropped from 20,000 dollars to only 5,000 dollars per film.  Using his savings he rented large  premises where he housed the children and started to look after them.   

Soon afterwards he needed to move some of the children to other centres because his financial position didn’t allow him to take proper care of  more than 30 small children.

 

His wife, who at first supported him in this  , finally couldn’t  cope with this new ‘family’ and in 2003 she filed for a divorce.  Since then he has carried on alone, looking after the children with the help of volunteers.  All the little ones, aged from 4 to 13, are schooled, cared for and loved.

 

In December 2008, after a serious illness, he got married again.  His wife’s name is Prabhavathi.   He says he didn’t want to leave the orphanage without a leader  in case he fell ill again.

 

At the moment the orphanage cares for 24 full time children and about 10 ‘floaters’ who belong to families who take them back  for periods which vary  according to the need of work in the fields.

 

Since the non-profit making  Association ‘Renata di Francia’  (Renée of France)  took to heart this situation, the life of the children has improved considerably ;  there is now a teacher who lives in and teaches all the primary school age  children.  Some of the children are orphans.   But most have one living parent , usually  a widowed mother who can’t provide for  her family alone. For the last two years, according to available space, the orphanage has housed children from very poor families who normally  wouldn’t receive schooling.   This children  would otherwise be sent to work at the age of 5 or 6.

 

The 4 oldest boys, aged 14 to 16, attend professional schools and are housed apart from the rest.   The girls, unfortunately, are given in marriage  by their families when they are about 13 years old -  and by family it’s meant any relation, close or not, who claims relation ties.

 

Our work is therefore concerned mostly with the girls.  We try to persuade the families to let them attend school until they are 16.

 

Every year, volunteers of the ‘Renata di Francia’ Association visit the orphanage  which is in Vemuru  (Tenali)  in the State of Andhra Pradesh, to check on the situation  and  provide help.  In January  200 sq. metres  of land was bought,  enough to build a large house to accommodate the orphanage.  This decision was made because of continuous and exhausting moves the orphanage has had to make.  The desire is to develop an Evangelical Christian Centre which would permanently house the orphanage.

 

Thanks to the generous contribution of many friends, the foundations have been completed before the monsoon season ( June )  we are now collecting funds for another step forward.

 

The ‘Renata di Francia’ Association is an arm of the Evangelical Church of Ferrara which meets in via Briosi 82.   There is also an office in Rovigo, via Livello 14.

 

For more information telephone 0425 404136

 

 Post Office Current Account no. 89867048.