“It was a dark and stormy night. . .”
So goes the familiar opening to scary stories.
Many of us enjoy a dose of something spooky at this time of year—like a movie night watching vampires, zombies, or aliens. For an hour or two, we enjoy feeling frightened. We gasp. We yell advice to the characters on the screen. Most of all, we root for the hero or heroine to triumph over the monster.
But here’s a plot twist: YOU can send a monster packing.
Dangers are haunting some homes, and you can help.
For children in some of our orphanages, any night can be frightening. That is why several homes are asking us to provide them with more security.
Annai Scholastica, located in Tamil Nadu south India, is home to over 50 girls. It sits on the edge of a dense forest. For some buildings, the branches grow so close that they nearly brush against the outer walls. A little beyond the forest, a rocky hill looms like a wave above the trees. Though a few walls extend out past Annai Scholastica’s buildings, they offer little protection, especially when the sun sets.
Without a wall to protect them, sounds in the darkness cause hearts to race. Are they from monkeys or other wild animals exploring the campus at night? Or are they from strangers who mean to scare or harm the girls as they sleep?
Are you afraid of the dark? They are.
Sister Stella, who oversees the girls at Annai Scholastica, shares her girls’ fears:
“Due to the absence of compound wall the children feel un-safety. The snakes and other poisonous insects are coming freely inside the campus.”
A wall around the children’s home would do more than keep out the creepy-crawlies. It would also keep out the CREEPS.
Though Annai Scholastica is on the outskirts of a city, its location is rather undeveloped and rural. Without a wall, the home is vulnerable to troublemakers—many of whom come under cover of darkness.
“Night time thief is a major problem for us,” Sister Stella explains. “They disturb the girls during their night study and sleeping time. Sometimes they enter the girls’ bedroom cunningly. Here we have no watchman. One month before night time thief killed our barking dog.”
The only thing that Annai Scholastica girls put on their wish list this year is…
Protect them with a wall.
Do you have sleepless nights? Boys at Balavikasita Orphanage do.
Sadly, racing heartbeats and frightened children aren’t confined to Annai Scholastica. When the dogs at Balavikasita growl, Uttam, the orphanage administrator, worries about the boys in his care. He writes,
“The boys home is located . . . in a scantily inhabited location. Though we have two dogs to safe guard the children from anti-social elements and thieves during the nights, we have witnessed a few things that needed immediate attention to safe guard the children even further.”
You’d think two loyal watchdogs would be enough of a deterrent for all but the most foolish of intruders. Sadly, no.
Uttam recalls a night when “a gang of youth started calling names to our boys and pelting stones at the dogs. The dogs were quite agitated and were barking loudly trying to protect our children. Luckily, though these youth tried to enter inside the compound, they could not as the dogs were present as well as the warden, and other staff intervened. We were quite disturbed with this incident and have been having sleepless nights ever since.”
We can help these boys spend more time on schoolwork and less time being scared.
To keep his boys safe, Uttam submitted a proposal to beef up security at Balavikasita. Installing secure steel doors can keep unwelcome guests out of the compound once night falls.
Will you help Uttam protect his boys against these night phantoms? Are you with him (and his faithful watchdogs)?
These homes need our help. You can relieve their fearful nights, drive away the creepy crawlies AND THE CREEPS.
All undesignated project donations we receive from now until November 10, 2017 will go for protection and security.
Frazzled nerves at Nambikkai Illam
Nights at Nambikkai Illam leave caretakers like Sister Stella with frazzled nerves. The home is in desperate need of a nighttime security guard, and has requested funds to build a watchman’s room this year.
Why a watchman?
“Boys come inside and set fire to the trees and even once set fire to the house build with wood.” Can you imagine worrying about arsonists every night?
Although Sister Stella and her helpers are “every year improving security systems in the campus to provide very peaceful and healthy atmosphere for the little children,” much work remains to be done. Help bring peace and quiet to Nambikkai Illam’s nights.
