A Story of Hope - India
Callie
The Church at Brook Hills has the privilege of sponsoring 12 Child Survival Programs through Compassion International. Today, a team of staff and elders from Brook Hills landed on the ground in India to visit 2 projects located in the Northeastern region of India. Each month Compassion sends us a story of one of the mothers who is receiving benefits from the Child Survival Program. By God's grace our elders will be able to visit the project mentioned in this month's story and meet Tanushree. Below is her story.
A new mother likes things to be clean. She washes her newborn’s clothes in special soap. She carefully cleans behind her baby’s tiny ears, between each tiny finger. She doles out dollops of antibacterial gel into hands eager to hold her little one. It’s all in the name of keeping that vulnerable, precious baby safe.
But for new mother Tanushree Nayak, keeping things clean is not an easy task. There is no special soap to wash her son, Pritam’s, clothes in. Just buckets of water lugged from the community tap. That same water is heated over a mud oven in a courtyard, then cooled before washing Pritam with a rough cloth. Soap is a luxury. And for Tanushree, no amount of antibacterial gel can keep away the malnutrition, diarrhea and skin diseases that plague the children in her neighborhood. She doesn’t even have a front door to keep the dust out of her home.
But despite the struggles Tanushree faces every day, there is hope for little Pritam. Because when 19-year-old Tanushree was pregnant, workers from the CSM Child Survival Program discovered her plight. At the time, the teen, just months from delivering her first child, was working as a maid to try to supplement the income of her husband, who drank much and worked little.
Workers from the center met with Tanushree and discovered the conditions of her home — the very home where her vulnerable child would soon live. They knew this family was one that could benefit from the support of the Child Survival Program. For in that home, they found a rusting roof, puddles of standing water, a piece of plywood in place of a door, and a cot on the damp ground. All next door to a garbage dump.
Tanushree began attending classes at the center and was able to go to the doctor for prenatal care, something she had not been able to afford before. She gave birth to a healthy baby, Pritam, and immediately began practicing the lessons she had learned from the Child Survival Program. “Being in CSP has helped me to learn many things that make me different from other mothers in my community,” says Tanushree. “I have learned about childcare, health, hygiene, to maintain peace in the family, to respect elders, to pray and trust in God and also to immunize my child on time.”
Today, Tanushree describes a life far different than the one she knew just a year ago. Seven-month-old Pritam is healthy and strong, and Tanushree says there is a noticeable difference between her son and other children of the same age in her community.
“I love coming to the center because I get to meet with other mothers at the center and discuss about our problems and how to take care of our babies. Through interaction we learn about each other and also the struggles each one has to face at home.”
“And,” says Tanushree, “I wish for my son a bright future. And I believe that it will be so.”
Praise God for Tanushree and Pritam. Praise God that by His grace, Brook Hills gets to be part of this story. If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion or finding out more information on the Child Survival Program visit Compassion.com.
Ways to Pray for Tanushree and our team this week:
* Pray for Tanushree and her son Pritam as they continue to go to the CSP. Pray for Pritam to grow and develop into a healthy boy.
* Pray for God to give Tanushree wisdom as she raises Pritam and loves her husband in these difficult situations. Pray for God to sustain Tanushree and for her husband to know Christ.
* Pray for our team of staff and elders who are visiting Tanushree's project this week. Pray for God to give them opportunities to share Christ and encourage the project staff and mothers.
A new mother likes things to be clean. She washes her newborn’s clothes in special soap. She carefully cleans behind her baby’s tiny ears, between each tiny finger. She doles out dollops of antibacterial gel into hands eager to hold her little one. It’s all in the name of keeping that vulnerable, precious baby safe.
But for new mother Tanushree Nayak, keeping things clean is not an easy task. There is no special soap to wash her son, Pritam’s, clothes in. Just buckets of water lugged from the community tap. That same water is heated over a mud oven in a courtyard, then cooled before washing Pritam with a rough cloth. Soap is a luxury. And for Tanushree, no amount of antibacterial gel can keep away the malnutrition, diarrhea and skin diseases that plague the children in her neighborhood. She doesn’t even have a front door to keep the dust out of her home.
But despite the struggles Tanushree faces every day, there is hope for little Pritam. Because when 19-year-old Tanushree was pregnant, workers from the CSM Child Survival Program discovered her plight. At the time, the teen, just months from delivering her first child, was working as a maid to try to supplement the income of her husband, who drank much and worked little.
Workers from the center met with Tanushree and discovered the conditions of her home — the very home where her vulnerable child would soon live. They knew this family was one that could benefit from the support of the Child Survival Program. For in that home, they found a rusting roof, puddles of standing water, a piece of plywood in place of a door, and a cot on the damp ground. All next door to a garbage dump.
Tanushree began attending classes at the center and was able to go to the doctor for prenatal care, something she had not been able to afford before. She gave birth to a healthy baby, Pritam, and immediately began practicing the lessons she had learned from the Child Survival Program. “Being in CSP has helped me to learn many things that make me different from other mothers in my community,” says Tanushree. “I have learned about childcare, health, hygiene, to maintain peace in the family, to respect elders, to pray and trust in God and also to immunize my child on time.”
Today, Tanushree describes a life far different than the one she knew just a year ago. Seven-month-old Pritam is healthy and strong, and Tanushree says there is a noticeable difference between her son and other children of the same age in her community.
“I love coming to the center because I get to meet with other mothers at the center and discuss about our problems and how to take care of our babies. Through interaction we learn about each other and also the struggles each one has to face at home.”
“And,” says Tanushree, “I wish for my son a bright future. And I believe that it will be so.”
Praise God for Tanushree and Pritam. Praise God that by His grace, Brook Hills gets to be part of this story. If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion or finding out more information on the Child Survival Program visit Compassion.com.
Ways to Pray for Tanushree and our team this week:
* Pray for Tanushree and her son Pritam as they continue to go to the CSP. Pray for Pritam to grow and develop into a healthy boy.
* Pray for God to give Tanushree wisdom as she raises Pritam and loves her husband in these difficult situations. Pray for God to sustain Tanushree and for her husband to know Christ.
* Pray for our team of staff and elders who are visiting Tanushree's project this week. Pray for God to give them opportunities to share Christ and encourage the project staff and mothers.
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