Get Involved

All of the organizations which I have visited, interviewed and written about are doing incredible work to ensure the rights that these children have, simply because they exist. To end their suffering. But they can’t do it alone. They need your help.

If you would like to make a donation to the original orphanage I visited, and go back to every year, you can do so via Paypal. Or, check out the other worthwhile causes below – each of which I have visited and wrote about in the book – and start changing children’s lives TODAY. You can also view a page of contact information for each organization. Or click here to jump to additional resources on ways you can make a difference.

Little Hearts Orphanage
Read about Little Hearts’ work in Andhra Pradesh.
To help Little Hearts, donate through Global Giving.

The Miracle Foundation
http://www.miraclefoundation.org

This is the nonprofit that first got me involved with orphans in India, and with whom I have sponsored a child and traveled three times to work in the orphanages. They are an excellent organization providing homes, food, care and education to hundreds of children. Through them you can donate, sponsor a child, volunteer or travel to India!

View their movie: One Child At A Time

Vasavya Mahila Mandali
Read my post about VMM’s work
http://www.vasavya.com/

VMM provides assistance for families living with AIDS, medical care, schooling, and HIV awareness for children in the area. I admire them because they are trying to accomplish the two-pronged approach of addressing the needs of those already affected by HIV/AIDS, while also taking a preventative approach by promoting awareness of the disease among young people.

Divine Childrens Home
www.divinechildrens.com

DCH was started with a chance encounter that changed the course of a life. In 2000, Alice Thomas lost her husband in a car accident. Devastated, Alice struggled to make ends meet and to care for her two children alone. One day her job as a teacher at the local jail took an unexpected turn when a prostitute handed her baby over to Alice. Knowing that the child had no place else to go, Alice took him in. Soon other people learned about it and began bringing other children to Alice.

Once a mother of two, Alice is now mother to 29 children. She told me about her dream of building a new home on land that DCH owns – a plan that will allow them to accommodate twice as many children as well as build a library, clinic, kitchen and prayer room.

CCD – Centre of Communication and Development
Read about the young award-winning boys who live at CCD!
http://www.ccdftcindia.org

Swapan Mukherjee runs this home for destitute boys in Kolkata, India (formerly Calcutta). Most of the boys who live here were once child laborers or had been trafficked and sold like chattel. Swapan is on a campaign to investigate child traffickers and bring them to justice; while at the same time providing a safe home for the children who were once their victims.

CHES Community Health Education Society & Home
Read my story about Dr. Manorama’s work
http://www.pbase.com/maciekda/ches_aids

Dr. P. Manorama treats HIV-positive children in Chennai – children whom no one else will care for or take in. Dr. Manorama began caring for them because there was simply no other way they could receive care. She took them in, and that was the start of CHES. Since that time, she has come a long way through trial and error of impacting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this southern state, as well as the stigma and awareness of the disease. CHES runs a care home for AIDS orphans and HIV-positive children, as well as numerous awareness and education programs for the community.

Oasis India
Read my story the railway children Oasis helped
www.oasisindia.org

Millions of children live in India’s railway stations, often begging or picking through trash for a living, with no families or real adult supervision of any kind and vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation and abuse. In March 2007 I met nine boys, ranging in age from about 9 to 16, who all live at the Kurla railway station by night, sleeping on the platforms, sometimes mere feet from where the trains race by, or on the footpaths or under bridges. But by daytime, Oasis India was trying to provide them with food, clothing, baths, recreation and learning.

Other excellent Global Organizations and resources for protecting children’s rights:

Save the Children – http://savethechildren.org/

UNICEF India – http://www.unicef.org/india/

World Vision India – WorldVisionIndia.org

One.org – http://www.one.org

Miracle Foundation’s volunteer travel website – http://miraclefoundation.org/index.php?pid=198

Voluntourism.org – http://www.voluntourism.org/

Child Slavery Action Blog – http://stopchildslavery.com/

Global March Against Child Labor – http://www.globalmarch.org/

Write to your senators and representatives and urge them to support United Nations’ and global efforts at ended child labor, trafficking and slavery:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

The Better World Shopping Guide – http://www.betterworldshopper.com/

Child Haven International – http://www.childhaven.ca/

Art Refuge – http://www.artrefugeuk.org/

Stuff Your Rucksack – http://www.stuffyourrucksack.com/