The New Kids? There are FOUR TIMES as many as originally promised

Remember how Sarah was supposed to get 10 new kids? Well, the number has jumped to 40! FORTY! She needs help more than ever now!

Let me explain about these kids. They are currently living in a nearby, huge government orphanage. They have all been abandoned or relinquished by their parents. They are all classified as "mentally retarded" (this term is still used in India). Most of them have cerebral palsy. Some are blind. Some have other disorders.

They all are very neglected, weak and sickly. Here is what Sarah said on November 15:

Went and visited them on Friday. There are 24 children in the room for kids with multiple handicaps. They all look horrible. November is the last month of the monsoon and then there's winter. This is a cold season, especially for malnourished, incontinent, immuno-compromised children in a room with no heat, lying on a stone tile floor with no diapers and very little clothing. One 8-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, "V", is wheezing deeply and they all look terribly weak.

My spirit is groaning for them.

I can't see making any of them wait longer for affection and treatment.

Did you catch the conditions under which they are living right now? Can you imagine that children in America would be allowed to be treated that way?

In India, children with disabilities are considered to be the tangible evidence of a horrible sin their parent has committed. If people see that you have a disabled child, they will "know" you have done something terrible. So the people believe. Thus, disabled children are almost always abandoned by their parents, even if the parents love them. There are also few resources for treatment and care--even Sarah has trouble finding proper wheelchairs--there just aren't any. And nothing is handicapped accessible anyway.

There is so much more I could say, but please, please, just pray for the children, the caregivers and for the innumerable needs of all these children to be met.

If you feel so led, PLEASE go to Sarah's blog and give something. The amount of equipment, diapers, bedding, Pediasure, caregivers, space --everything to bring in these new kids is astounding.

If you would like to help Sarah directly, NOW, and you do, please let me know that you have, or leave a comment for Sarah that you know me, and I will add it to my $4000 fundraising total. It seems silly to have me sit on the money until January when Sarah needs it so much now.

If you prefer to still give to my fund and have me take it in January, that is fine, too. Just click on the Chip-In above or email me at sandwichinwi at gmail dot com for an address for sending a check.

Thank you!