Newsletter | February 2010
administrator | February 28, 2010
Happy Home goes to Happy Land and thank you to Patrick from all of us for making our trip possible !!!
Our friends Jimmy and Lara Brannigan with their three children Niamh, Patrick and Ben, have made a short half term visit to see their old friends at Happy Home. Our children were delighted to see them BUT their biggest surprise was that Patrick alias Patch had said NO to Birthday presents but YES to donations for Wheel of Hope so all our children can go to Happy Land. This year with the increase in numbers from 25 to 50 children we knew we could not afford to take them especially as we have the new school year looming ahead which means new school uniforms. But Patch enabled us to provide a day of fun for our children.
From no presents to the best present ever!!!




Apart from the sheer joy of giving to those who have nothing, Patrick received something very special from our children both as a memento of his kindness and of our very special day … a leather elephant. Elephants never forget and we will never forget Patrick …

…and the sheep becomes a prince!!
Jimmy makes a documentary about the Fishing village and how Wheel of Hope helps the poor
As well as wanting to see the children at happy Home Jimmy wanted to make a documentary for his company about how failing conditions have increased the terrible plight of the poor and this has increased the burden on Wheel of Hope. The extreme poverty we experience is sadly not diminishing but increasing and children of the poor have no chance other than to work at the harbour.

These two boys aged 12 and 13 are waiting for work on the boats like the young lad standing in this fishing boat. They have never been to school and it is impossible for our charity to help boys like these. All we can do is maintain children at school and prevent them from having to work.

This is where they will spend the rest of their lives seven days a week except for a break to go to Mass on Sunday if they are from the Catholic side of the village or the Mosque on Friday if they are Moslems.
A DVD of this documentary will be available and can be ordered through writing to David at davidmco@yahoo.co.uk
Some of you may remember the lavatory we built for the family who lived by the open sewer. This was made possible through the money we received from Archdeacon Bob for his new reversible cope which was made by our sewing project at Happy Home. Well Jimmy wanted to visit the family and see how they managed and here are the pictures.






These pictures paint a sad story of their lowly little abode backing onto the rat infested sewer. It is impossible to believe that people still live like this at the beginning of the 21st century.
The relatively picturesque scene to the left cannot convey the horror of the foul smell of human excrement and waste. The communal well outside their house is filthy but in constant use. The people haven’t the money to clean it.
Jimmy visits the home of Vinitha.


This was something very special for Jimmy because last year he gave us the money for a computer. You may remember the terrible story of Vinitha’s mother burning herself to death because of the abuse by her husband and this left her daughter in the care of her ageing grandparents. The church was building houses for the poor and we were told they had run out of funds when it came to the house of the grandparents. But this was not the case. They had to contribute 50,000 rupees towards the construction. This was not possible for them so Wheel of Hope had to foot the bill and had to use the money Jimmy gave us for the computer. Suresh gave the children his old computer so we had the best of both worlds!
This is their little breeze block house, we cannot afford to have the inside rendered and painted but it is home to one of our very special members of Happy Home and we are proud to have been able to give them a place of their own. When funds are available we will finish the job.


Jimmy talks to Suresh about the condition of the public well adjacent to Vinitha’s home. It is in desperate need of cleaning just like the one outside Shyju’s but the people just cannot afford to do it even though it would cost just a few rupees each from the several hundred people who use it. On average, depending on the size, depth and condition it costs in the region of £200.
The people constantly use the well and suffer the consequences if they do not adequately boil the water before using.
We visit the poor village school we help through part of our Wheel of Hope outreach programme.


This is actually the small local primary school in Kovalam that Suresh attended. It is run by LMS the London Missionary Society which is affiliated to the Church of South India and as with most educational institutions takes children of all faiths.
As part of our outreach programme we sponsor books and newspapers as all these children are from very poor homes and need as much help as they can
Our return to England
Pamela and I return to England on the 4th March and we are looking forward to seeing our friends and neighbours whom we have greatly missed over the past months. We have much work to do planning exciting new schemes that could possibly be a mutual help scheme for deprived children in the UK. We are greatly looking forward to meeting Bishop Cyril our Patron and also our dear friends and supporters at the Minster. We are also looking forward to giving talks to the Mothers’ Union in Rotherham and Sheffield and Meeting Bishop James of Knaresborough when we deliver his new cope.
We are also very much looking forward to reporting back to all the schools and churches that support us as well as making new contacts and exploring new ways of fund raising.
We will greatly miss Suresh, all his family and helpers and of course the children at Happy Home. But we will be in contact through news letters and internet.
The future for Wheel of Hope looks good but we are always in need of new supporters.
We extend our grateful thanks to Patrick and all of you who, through sponsorship or in any other way, have helped to further the benefit of our children at Happy Home.
Thank You











































































will enable those who live and learn here to know that they and their families have the security they need for their child to achieve his or her full potential.
Your children living in the hostel will liberate you from the day to day burden of financial responsibility. But you still have the moral obligation to help and support the Trust in its efforts to provide the best for your child.
numbers and also our ability to create other homes such as this. It is intended to be a place of love and security where your life will be enriched not just by the material things in life such as the security of knowing you have food and clothing, a good place to sleep and also many of the fun things of life such as games and TV but also and most important of all, the ethos of love.
The Great Mortuary Temples
The cost of flights and hotel varies



































will enable those who live and learn here to know that they and their families have the security they need for their child to achieve his or her full potential.
Your children living in the hostel will liberate you from the day to day burden of financial responsibility. But you still have the moral obligation to help and support the Trust in its efforts to provide the best for your child.
numbers and also our ability to create other homes such as this. It is intended to be a place of love and security where your life will be enriched not just by the material things in life such as the security of knowing you have food and clothing, a good place to sleep and also many of the fun things of life such as games and TV but also and most important of all, the ethos of love.






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