Hornbeam House in Kalimpong

 

Our second children’s home, Hornbeam House opened in December 2007 and ten children were adopted into a safe, loving and secure environment under the Kalimpong Village Aid Association in a 5 five-roomed house near the centre of Kalimpong village. 

 

A live-in family couple, Arjun and Betty whom themselves have one son, have been employed as the house father and mother and their skills and qualifications and approach will mean that the new children will be well looked after.

 

The expertise and experience built up over the last few years in the Hope Centre in Kathmandu is has been utilized in Hornbeam House. Tilak, the General Manager at the Hope Centre, spent an initial week before the new home opened sharing his knowledge on how to set u and administer the business side of the venture. The ongoing contact between Tilak, Arjun and Betty will provide both homes with a vital support network in the coming years.

   

                               

 

There is no shortage of needy children. The youngest at three years old was suffering from malnutrition, his parents killed in a bus accident. Two brothers (10 and 12) were orphaned when their parents died in a landslide, both worked as shepherds working and sleeping with the animals to survive. So from the start the early months were spent in the process of settling the children into their new family home.  

 

All the children have settled well into the new home. They have formed strong friendships and help each other in all sorts of ways. Recently they celebrated a special ceremony together called Rakhi in which brothers and sisters tie a sacred thread around each others wrist and become firm family members. Betty and Arjun, the house managers, have given a warm family feel to the home.

 

Following their admission to the home all the children received a health check and some specialist advice was sought for those with specific problems. For example Gopal now has glasses to correct his nystagmus and has received vitamin A to correct his night blindness.

 

The children are very happy to be attending school, some of them for the first time, with others having had a break from schooling due to their individual circumstances. Bishal, aged 13, who had to stop school when his parents died, cried as he put his new school uniform on, declaring he was so happy as he thought he would never get the chance

to go to school again.

 

Like the Hope Centre, providing long term care for ten such needy children is a huge and costly commitment. We need more sponsors urgently to take care of their education, health and general welfare until they are old enough to care for themselves.