HOME OF HOPE

INDIA TRIP IN PHOTOS

We had a wonderful time in India, despite being sick while there. We are back and doing well.

We've been swamped with school, playing catch up, and dealing with the jet lag. We still haven't made any phone calls besides phoning our parents to let them know how everything went.

The time we had with the children was great. There is so much that we could attempt to say about what they mean to us, but rather we will show you our trip in pictures. We hope the photos convey the beauty of the our experiences and interactions with the children. Keep in mind that in most of these pictures there are tons of children gathered around us, but we have cropped them out for their protection.

 

Chalk drawing

Birthday cake for Jarrett!

Henna with the older girls at the home. Sage was completely in their hands!

Visiting the land meant to hold the future home.

Jarrett dancing in a horse costume!

Sage is once again in the hands of the older girls. This time they are playing dress up. (Sage had no idea how to put her sari on.)

Paint drying after a watercolor painting class has ended for the day.

Sage and Jarrett celebrating their 2nd anniversary. Here they are each opening a gift from the children.

Anniversary cake!

Collographs created by the children and to be used to create prints for a future art auction fundraiser.

Thanks for viewing our photos and supporting our efforts! As you know, the work doesn't stop here. We will continue to fundraise for the home and promote awareness of human trafficking. Periodically we will post project updates at this blog and when the time is right to hold the next art auction fundraiser we will post the details here. Until then, we express our deepest thanks to each of you.

Hey, I'm back sooner than I thought.

Jarrett and I are doing well.There has been flooding in India and Pakistan but we have been unaffected. Actually, the rain here is very similar to how much it rains in Missouri during the spring. We don't mind.

Today, Jarrett and I are both spending a couple hours catching up on work that we need to finish from home. Jarrett is completing his essay for his medical school application and I am setting up my online art history class which I am teaching this fall. We get back the day before the fall term begins, so we are trying to get everything completed before there is more work to be done on the 23rd.

*I will be referring to the director of the home as Uncle, rather than using his full name.*

We presented your donation to Uncle a few days ago and he was very grateful and said the money would be going towards building the new home on the land. This will include the wall and the main house itself. We are planning a trip to see the land before we leave.

There are always difficulties happening for the home. Let me share just a couple that have happened since we arrived. Uncle shifted many of the older girls to a rented home. We spent an evening with these girls last week. The plumbing broke this week and the owner of the building is being difficult and Uncle is currently trying to reason with him. In India, often the owner of the rental property expects the tenant to pay for repairs....you get the picture...

That is all for now. Thanks for your thoughts and reading these stories.

We Made It!

Here we are!

Internet is limited where we are, so I will be brief. We just wanted to update and let you know that we made it here safely. We had no problems traveling and as of today we have adjusted to the time change.

We have been helping with the daycare program in the mornings and also teaching painting classes. Jarrett is also designing two brochures for the home, one for a printing press which they are starting to help raise money for the home. Also, we are updating files and seeing if we can't help repair some files that are not working on their computer system.

We are just so happy to be here with the children. They are so much fun to be with and hold.

We will be here two more weeks. I'm off to get some more done!

UPDATES

1. August 1st, the day we leave for India, is quickly approaching. We are finishing up with the last of our Typhoid pills and about to start malaria medicine.

2. Our mailman is AMAZING & donated to our summer project. What an encouraging day!

3. You still have time to donate before we leave. Scroll to down to the last post to see our donate button.

If you want to give after we leave, we will Western Union all donations to the home when we return in late August. We are always collecting money for the home, so anytime in the future you can contact us and we will take care of delivering your donation directly to the home.

4. Want to educate yourself on human trafficking? I felt the film TRADE was pretty good. Keep in mind it is just a film, but still, lots of good things to take from it. It stars Kevin Kline and premiered at Sundance.

 

WE HIT $6000!

With 16 days until we leave, we have just hit $6000 raised for the home! You can still give if you would like. See our button below.

Use this button to donate via Paypal now (or don't, no pressure :) ):

Thanks!

HIT $5000!!!

I'm in disbelief! Today we received another big donation which just push us over $5000 for the children! I don't have the words to express just how exciting and encouraging this is to us! But more important than how it makes us feel....it means that more headway can be made on building the new home.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We just can't say it enough.

$4000 RAISED AND CLIMBING!

SERIOUSLY, DID YOU GUYS JUST UP THE DONATION $1000 IN UNDER 24 HOURS! OH GOODNESS YOU ARE GENEROUS! 

Use this button to donate via Paypal now (or don't, no pressure :) ):

Thanks!

$3000 & GOING HIGHER!

Today we celebrate having raised, together with you, over $3000 for the donation towards building the new home!

Way to go! You guys are awesome!

Now, let's see if we can hit $4000 by August! 

WOOT!

Source

WE RAISED $993!

The auction was a huge success and we raised $993 after subtracting out cost of materials to put the event together! At the end of the night just one piece was left...meaning we sold 13 pieces. 

Besides auctioning, we also sold a number of freshly printed unframed prints and cards and got to meet a lot of enthusiastic people. Stacey Schmitz, director of IMAGO, was awesome to work with and even took a few pictures of the event. Thank you to our friends and family who helped us make this happen and kept us company at the event.

This brings the total donation to nearly $2500 and we still have a couple months of fund-raising to go.  

 

(Here's me looking befuddled.)

6 FRAMES DOWN, 8 TO GO!

Sage here! I've partially destroyed my studio in the process of framing up the children's pieces for the silent auction this Friday. I don't mind though...I'm a framing machine.

We've got generous help from Sarah Mueller and Shanon Wille with the reception food ...and still I'm hoping to add to it once I get myself in KC town! 

Also very notable news....we finished fund-raising for trip costs to get to the home in India...which means all donations from here on out are being piled up to help build the new home! What started as a casual conversation (over a late breakfast) to help the home, has turned into something much bigger than ourselves. We are at $1500 for that...plus whatever is raised at the auction Friday and additional donations coming in during the next three months from friends and family. I'm hoping we can get to $3000.

And now, at this moment, I'm reflecting on the meaningfulness of this experience and thinking of my future post in August when I can share that we presented the donation. That will be a great day.