Rotary Club of Leeds Elmete and Moparru Orphanage, Andhra Pradesh, Southern India.

Recently the club donated £725 to the Moparru Orphanage, Past President, Ken Garrett’s sister and family – husband and two grown up children who have volunteered there, for up to a month, several times.

Moparru is a tiny, poor, rural village of 500 people. The land for the orphanage was donated by an elderly, local Hindu lady and opened in 2012 with a handful of children. 70 children are now well cared for as part of one big family. 

Most of the cooking is done outside on an open fire. The children eat well: mainly vegetables and rice, with chicken as a very occasional treat. The accommodation is basic, with bucket showering for the children, but there is clean water, with large separate rooms for the boys and girls. The children attend the village primary school, high school and to then onto college. Education is valued highly by the children and their daily routine starts around 5.30 am with prayers and finishing homework. Many children at Moparru are orphans, others may have one parent who are sick and the family cannot look after them. Local pastors also find children living in dreadful conditions on the streets and bring them to Moparru.

Work on the additional accommodation to provide some more rooms and a kitchen, as well as a large space for eating and worship has begun. The outer structure, flooring, window grilles and concrete shelving for storage are almost finished.  The generous donation will ensure the doors and windows will be completed to ensure it is weatherproof. There is more to do to put in electrics and equip the kitchen.

It has been a difficult year for the orphanage. Some of the people who support children through a regular monthly sponsorship of £15 were unable to continue because of pressures of Covid 19. Sponsors are desperately needed as this is the only regular income Raju receives to provide for the children. If this is something members may be interested in, please contact Maggie Waller: maggieeducation@aol.com

We received a heartfelt thank you from the Waller family and Raju they are delighted that our donation will make a positive difference to the lives of the children whose smiles say it all! 

Lavanya cooking                                                      Hello from the children!