Naranja School and Siddartha, Sujata Village

In the two years since Cedric was last here, the growth and expansion of this school and orphanage is absolutely remarkable. The orphanage has expanded from 8 boys to 67 boys and girls. There are 16 boys right now, the balance of the boys and the girls move in by the end of the month when the new building is completed. The current school has 4 classrooms for 350 children, the new school, that will be occupied by the end of the month, has 4 stories of rooms, including a new dormitory for the boys. Currently, the boys dormitory is a classroom during the day. The students sit on the orphans beds to do their studies. (a “bed” is a wooden platform with a blanket).

Siddartha is the visionary behind this project. He is a young (30 something) Indian man who has a heavy heart for the pain in his country, and mostly for these children. Two years ago the new school and computers and a jeep was a distant dream. Today he has it all. His next greatest challenge will be opening the girls orphanage wing. He explained how boys are easy and can be put anywhere, but the girls that are coming are in much more dire need of services. They have almost entirely experienced numerous rapes, child bearing, still births (induced), beatings and abuse.

Some of the children here are support directly by Siddartha. His pay as school director is very small, and so he is leaving for 3 months to go earn “real money” in Japan so that he can come back and continue his work here. He does not want to leave.

The rooms of the school they are now in are small and cramped. A ten foot square room has 19 students stacked in it. The larger classroom (30x10) has over 50 of the smaller children stacked in side by side. The school runs in shifts to accommodate all the students. The secondary students are 7-9 a.m. the middle age students are 10-1 and the youngest students are 1:15-3:30. The new school will feel like a mansion!

Siddartha asks me to return next year to work with his girls. He also asks if I have any friends or family who would like to come spend time here with the children. Any takers?