The Slums

Tenali is home to a number of slum areas. People living in these slums sometimes occupy a makeshift hut or tent made from whatever trash materials they can find, or sometimes live under a simple tarp or out in the open. They are the people who collect plastic trash, sell it to the recycling centers, and buy one meal with what they have earned. They are the beggars, the very low income workers, and sometimes the rickshaw drivers. They are widows with no where else to go, and many of the slum dwellers are children. There is no running water, no toilet, no electricity, no phone. Isaac and Mary, the Indian directors at Sanctuary Home, go as often as they have extra money into these slums. They take nutritious food and see that the children are fed first. They listen to myriad pleas for help, but they are very limited in what they can do. Ideally, Isaac would like to visit the slums each week with $150 ($600 total per month) of food for the children. As of January 2011, we have donors providing $150 once per month, which is a good start.

The Abilene Empty Bowls Project awarded funds to Sanctuary Home for the purpose of distributing food in the slums in 2009 and 2010. We hope to partner with the Empty Bowls Project again in the future. If you would like to participate in the slum food distribution project in Tenali, please send your monthly donation to Sanctuary Home For Children, P.O. Box 2238, Abilene TX 79604. One hundred percent of your donation will be used to feed children in the slums of Tenali, and your donation is tax deductible. For photos of this project, click here. Please email amanda@sanctuaryhome.org for more information.