Frishta is a children's home that provides shelter and education to orphaned and semi-orphaned children, as well as children from broken homes, in Punjab, India. Punjab is a very prosperous region, and because of this many immigrants come and live from the poorer regions of India. Most of the immigrants are illiterate and they don’t send their children to school, even though primary education is free. The view is, that the more children families produce, the more hands there will be able to help out. Children start working with their parents from the age of five and are therefore not sent to school because they need to earn money.
Some children come to Frishta because they don’t have any parents, and the aunts or uncles are not willing to take on the burden of another child. Other children have old and feeble grandparents who can’t look after them. There are also a few children from families with drug abuse.
It is a joy to the staff and house parents in Frishta to see that the children there are happy, so much so, that they seldom want to go and see their extended family during the six weeks of summer holidays.
Frishta is known by the local authorities for helping children in need. One example of this, is the story of the young boy below...
This young boy was brought to Frishta by the social services. He said that he has lost his parents and was found by the police under the bridge. He is so malnourished that he is in the hospital for blood transfusion at the time of writing this newsletter. They are going to call him Bubbloo, and are hoping to see him bubble with laughter during his time at Frishta. They believe he is abandoned by his migrant parents from another state, due to poverty as he speaks a different language and looks like he is from a different race to the local people.
It is believed that this boy's parents must have found out that social services in Punjab will not take a child from parents of Bihar. Therefore, they must have abandoned him to be found by the police. Frishta wants to give him loads of love and warmth which he may never have received. The staff will be praying with him for his healing from the trauma that he has suffered, please join in with these prayers for Bubbloo!
This child cannot go to school as he doesn’t have documentation, meaning that Frishta will have to educate him privately. Some other children at Frishta are not yet sponsored, and adding another child is a financial burden to the home, but the staff are trusting God to meet all the needs of the children and the home. If you would like to sponsor a child through World In Need please visit our Sponsorship Page.
Frishta is already struggling with a major expense of servicing the sewage treatment plant that serves the whole site of Frishta children's village. The home is located in a very rural, backward region where local water, toilets and sewage system is non existent. Frishta runs its own sewage system which cost £14,000 to install. The sewage treatment plant (STP) has been running for 10 years and now needs serious replacement of the machines. The STP serves all children, staff, volunteers and visitors and runs 24 hours a day. The STP typically needs servicing after 12 years of running and is a major liability at this time. While the STP is being repaired and serviced, all children and staff will need to go to fields. Frishta are hoping to raise funds before the sewage water starts travelling backwards and causing a serious situation at site.
Please pray that Frishta will be able to raise the funds needed to replace the parts. We will be sending out an update on social media, so for further information do follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn! Please also pray that children and staff will understand the situation and be helpful in their manner towards the managing trustees at this difficult time.
