Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows
in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.                    - James 1:27

The New Vehicle

In June 2009, we finally raised enough money to wire $17,000 to India and purchase a vehicle for Sanctuary Home. We did have to borrow some additional money, and are now working to pay off the loan of $6k as soon as possible. This vehicle, a new Toyota Innova, will serve many functions at Sanctuary Home. Every school day, the vehicle will make two round trips both morning and evening to transport our 25 high school girls to and from school. Before, the girls were walking a considerable distance, and were at risk from harassment along the way. This is not unusual - it's called Eve Teasing in India - but we want to protect the girls as much as we can and keep them safe. Second, the vehicle will be used to transport the large amounts of food purchased on a regular basis. Have you thought about how many bags of rice - HUGE bags - are consumed by 85 Indian children? Before, we were paying for a rental vehicle on grocery day, or paying to have the foods delivered.

Finally, the vehicle is already being used as an ambulance. When a child gets seriously ill, particularly if it happens during the night, the vehicle makes it possible to get that child medical treatment as soon as possible. Before, the staff members would attempt to convince a sleeping autorickshaw driver to come at once - not always with success or speed - or try to perch the ill child on the back of a motorcycle, the only other vehicle available at SH. Very shortly after the new vehicle was delivered, one of the young SH boys was having great difficulty breathing in the wee hours of the morning. The director simply loaded him into the vehicle, rushed him to the hospital, and he was treated immediately. He is breathing better now, and will soon be taken to Guntur for testing - another benefit of the vehicle. Total medical costs are low, but before we had to pay to rent a vehicle for the day anytime a child had to be taken to another town for treatment. In the director's opinion, the new vehicle has already resulted in a life being saved. It's already been worth the cost.

To see all of the vehicle photos, click here.