March, 2014

Voice of Hope
Newsletter of the Hope House
Hope Houses new building

Special points of interest:

Hope House girls have decided to observe the year of 2014 as the Year of learning about career choices This is the first year (April, 2014) when 12th grade students pass out of the Hope House. Hope House has completed one year of working with GiveIndiaa premiere fundraising platform of India, and we have been renewed for one more year . Weve been able to reach out to more number of needy children through this help.

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Swimming sensation of
Canada and Para-Olympian Ms. Katrina Roxon visited the Hope House along with her parents and her older sister on December 29th, 2013.

August 4th, 2013 was a defining day in the history of the Hope House. Children have a place of their own which includes many modern amenities including individual bunk beds & attached bathroom for each of their rooms, dining tables, study desks, internet, television, and subscription to two daily newspapers & career magazines etc. They also have a large play area which is obviously what they like the most. Children have a spacious library with different varieties of books. Courtyard is designed in such a way that it can be converted from a cozy and a private facility into a spacious conference hall (to host about 75 people) at a short notice. Rooms are designed in such a way that as the girls grow

older, they are assigned fewer to each room. This is a Lauri-Baker model buildingcost effective and environmentally friendly. Most important features of the building include un-plastered walls (cavity walls or rat-trap bond walls), filler slab roof and a courtyard opening. This building is being fitted with 1.5 KW solar power plant to be environmentally friendly and to become financially self sustaining. This building is made possible by the faithfulness of many of our supporters over the past eight years that has enabled us to save a little each year to come to this point. As we were running our operations from a rented building from the beginning, we faced many challenges

but now, when we look back, it all appears as though God almighty intended it this way for us to become trusting on His mercies. Last March, we were approved by the Betenbough Ministries of Lubbock, TX, USA for another building to exclusively cater to the needs of special needs children. We couldnt believe how God understands the desires of the heart to provide for his children. Well be starting the construction of the second unit soon. We want to take this opportunity to thank God and each and every supporter who stood by us to build this facility. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the entire organization of Betenbough Ministries for their continued faithfulness.

Hope House has completed

one year of being listed by GiveIndia and it has been renewed for one more year. GiveIndia has very strict compliance standards and we are proud to say that we met them all.

Our web site address has

changed. New address is www.indiahopehouse.org

Community Outreach Program (COP) of the Hope House is expanding to include children rescued from Child labor.

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Girls were given a route map (Chennai to New Delhi on a map) with different railway station names and their arrival/ departure times for the girls to learn geography (states, capitals and cities). They had so much fun in checking out stations that they learnt the intended matter like a breeze.

Voice of Hope

Educational tour to New Delhi

Hope House girls in front of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan

Like every year, we went on an educational tour to New Delhi in the last week of September 2013 for seven days in total with 12 girls and four adults. Among the four adults, we had a German volunteer (Ms. Anne Dreyer) who travelled with us during our trip. The objective of this tour was for education and recreation. So we divided the 10 attractions that we intended to visit among the girls to search and do a write up before hand. They were asked to write the chronological history, visitation hours and entry fee, location and accessibility etc. Girls were so excited that they completed their assignments way ahead of time. We ensured that the girls safety was never compromised, so we practiced innumerable number of mock drills and had long interactive sessions to help them to understand the issue deeply. We gave live updates (apart from daily reports and photo sharing) to our supporters throughout the journey using social media. Thanks to Father Vergheese of Sacred Hearts College of Tirupattur who had arranged for a safe place for us at Okhla, New Delhi. The entire trip details can be read at this link: https:// sites.google.com/site/ vellorehopehouse/latest-news

Hope House was given an opportunity to display messages pertaining to child rights through setting up a booth at a recently held VIT universitys annual event called Reviera2014 and we were able to reach out to many interested students & faculty and we say thank you to the entire VIT community.

Awareness camp at VIT, Vellore

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Voice of Hope

Chinthamani wins national merit scholarship

It is supporters like you who make these achievements possible. It is our pleasure to report such stories of impact. Chinthamani is a very simple young lady with a steely resolve to achieve whatever she sets her mind on. She has been living at the Hope House along with her older sister since 2005. They live here due to difficult family dynamics. Chinthamani hails from a small village near Vellore which doesnt even have a bus service. One has to walk three kilometers (or take a taxi) from the nearest bus
Specia l people a nd specia l moments

point to reach the village. In 8th grade, she scored class first and won Rs. 1000/- as a gift given by a local philanthropist. Noticing her talent, school encouraged her to write National Means cum Merit Scholarship exam conducted by the Government of India. We just got a confirmation that she passed the exam and will receive Rs. 6,000/- every year till she completes 12th grade. Chinthanmanis achievement has

already began to make an impact on the other Hope House girls. Roja (currently in 8th grade) has been chosen by her school to write this exam and she has completed it on February 22nd, 2014. We are proud of Chinthamani and You can read more details of this story at this link: http:// indiahopehouse.blogspot.in/2014/01/ chinthamani-winsscholarship.html

Katarinas visit to the Hope House taught all of us an important lesson and that resilient children are not born but made. Connect with us in in the digital world: Facebook: facebook.com/ indiahopehouse Twitter twitter.com/ ndiahopehouse Blog:

Inside Story Headline

Swimming sensation of Canada and a Para-Olympian Ms. Katatrina Roxon visited the Hope House on the 29th of December, 2013 along with her family. She flew in immediately after participating in world swimming cham-

pionships and brought all her medals to show to the girls which made a world of difference to them. She also showed the recording of her event on her mobile phone. So, of all the places in the world, why did

Katarina choose to visit the Hope House? Read more at this link: http:// indiahopehouse.blogspot.in/2014/01/aspecial-guest-and-specialmoments-at.html

indiahopehouse.blogsp ot.com Web site: indiahopehouse.org

India Tax Saving Challenge 2014

You can choose to support the Hope House during this India Tax Saving Challenge2014 for its merits. Here they are: 1. It is a GiveIndia listed organization since 2012 2. It is an accredited organization (by Credibility Alliance) since 2013 3. It is an IT exempt organization

Click here to visit the site now

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The Hope House - a tax exempt entity recognized by the Department of Income Tax under section 80 G of Indias tax code, is partnering with GiveIndiaa premiere fundraising platform of India, to participate in India Tax Saving Challege2014 . This is how it works: If youre looking to save on your taxes, you can donate to a recognized public charity of your choice and can write off 50% of contribution from your taxes.

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