I went to India for the trip of a lifetime back in 2017. My mom, brother, and I went to stay with my godparents in Mumbai. This trip changed me forever. I had unforgettable experiences and learned a lot of hard lessons about the inequality of the world.
The moment I got there, I was shocked at how differently the people lived. Right outside the window of my godparents’ apartment in a very expensive area of the city, I saw people living on top of each other in the slums: hungry, sad, and sick. They were living on dirt floors with blue tarps for roofs and cardboard and plywood walls. There was no plumbing, and they used open fires in these ramshackle boxes to cook their food.
The look in the eyes of the people on the street was so heartbreaking; they looked hurt and broken. I wanted to give each of them money, food, love...everything I had. I have had so many more opportunities in life simply because of where I was born and my skin color. It just felt so unfair that by being born in one country, you have so many options for your future, and simply by being born in a different place, your whole world is so limited.
Many of the people there truly believed that because I was white, I had good fortune, so they handed me their babies so that hopefully, some of my good fortune would rub off on them. After only a week-long trip, I was humbled and impacted for the rest of my life, witnessing firsthand this unbelievable level of poverty.
I thought things were bad when I was there, but I can’t even imagine how awful it is now. The tragic fallout of India’s second wave of COVID-19 is claiming nearly 4,000 lives a day, and many young children have lost one or both parents to the disease, leaving them to face an uncertain future. These COVID orphans witness the only world they know being shattered by the loss of their parents. Some children will forever bear the scars of watching their parents die. Some will have to fend for themselves at ages we can’t even dream of…because both of their parents were lost. They are now part of the invisible children of India.
A country with nearly 30 million orphans, India is now staring at a whole new wave of orphans. The intended outcome of this fundraiser is to provide immediate assistance to all COVID orphans. The funds raised here will help support these children: providing them with food, housing, and educational expenses and, whenever possible, uniting them with extended family so that they can be cared for by their own relatives.
Please donate as generously as you are able. 100% of your funds will be given directly to Save the Children®: India’s COVID-19 Crisis Children’s Relief Fund. Save the Children® has a 4/4 star charity rating on Charity Navigator and is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity. If you donate, please also set your tip amount to 0% to maximize your contribution's benefit to the charity!
Close your eyes and think of your own children. Give as if you were giving to them…because these are all someone’s children. And each of them is facing this terrifying reality all alone.
