Heartkids-News February 08

Peace is never coming surprisingly,

It is not falling from the sky like rain,

It is coming to the ones who prepare for it.

(Native Indian lore)

Dear Heartkids- friends,

Several wonderful and eventful months have gone by. I’d like to tell you a little bit of what has happened in that time.

We had in our Hearkids home a fair and beautiful Christmas celebration which showed us strongly how little children actually need to be happy.

The celebration in the evening could probably not have been surpassed in its simplicity- and at the same time, there was an silent joy present which deeply moved me.

In the New Year many guest from Germany and Switzerland visited Heartkids e.V. in

India

. All were travelling India and were “perchance” in the area- how lucky, that our heartkids are eager to have their pictures taken.

We are happy that at least some donors of heartkids had the possibility to get an insight into the heartkids-work. Thank you for your visits!

It would be great if you could share your experience by writing a short feedback in our guestbook (Gästebuch) on our website. In this way other people can get an impression of your personal experiences on location.

With the “older ones” from the Kidcenter Tiruvannamalai (6^th-10^th grade) and with the older Heart-kids-home-children we went on a daytrip to the east coast last Saturday.

“Daytrip” means nearly 100 heartkids travelling for almost 24 hours – and they really enjoyed it. Besides a boat ride in a nature reserve area, a visit to a famous church and of course going swimming in the sea- were also a part of the programme.

The time in the Kidcenter in the Tsunami-area is slowly coming to an end. As I visited it last week I felt really melancholic as we have accompanied the people of the village since the catastrophe and have experienced the changes live and

for real.

At the same time the new building of the other organisation is nearly finished and we know that the children are in good hands. Furthermore, 5 children from the village are living with us in the heartkids home. In this way the connection will continue (in the future).

What is more, the new Irula-kidcenter is progressing very positively and since we have bought a new auto-rikshaw the children there even attend school regularly. The monthly distribution of hygiene articles linked with health education and promotion has also already shown positive effects.

One month ago the construction works for the next and probably last of the three children homes in the Heartkids home started.

A heartfelt thank you to all donators, the Karlsgymnasium Munich, Sterntal e. V. from Berlin and to my close friend Samarpan.

Here on this picture ( I tried to give you a full overview) you can see the 7000 square meter build-up area . It is bigger as it seems on this picture. The houses 1-4 already exist, the construction of houses 5-7 is in progress.

In April/May Viji, Surya and I will be in

Germany

to give some presentations. Much faster than I had anticipated we were fully booked. We are going to present Heartkids mainly in schools, yet in Hamburg on the 15^th of April and in Freiburg on the 6^th of May there will be evening events open to the public. Dates are set, details will follow in a few weeks.

This is all for today. There is always a lot to tell, yet I am afraid that too long newsletters crammed with information won’t be read- so I keep it short.

It is a big gift to be here in

India

. No matter how often I experience problems within this culture and how deeply I feel with the poorest of the poor, I am so thankful to be a part of Heartkids and to contribute my little part to changing the lives of a few unwanted, suppressed children by giving them the feeling to be wanted and loved.

Thank you for your support.

Best wishes from India,

Judith Retz

Head of Heartkids e.V.