Clockwise from top: Paul Wilkes with the sisters at Maradiyur during his November trip.
The exterior of the first orphanage built for Reena and her friends. Wilkes lays cornerstone
at Secunderabad.
in the past seven years. Wilmington Downtown Inc. and Wilmington East Rotary
clubs have procured grants for solar powered water purification units. Those purifiers
and others from a South Brunswick Rotary grant will provide clean water for 30
Salesian sites in South India.
Through our “Used Books, New Lives” initiative, more than 300,000 books have
been donated and shipped to India, either starting or enhancing 18 libraries. The
books we sell on Amazon have paid for buses and diesel generators so that children
from outlying areas can go to school. Once the generators get there, India’s notorious
power cuts won’t interrupt the day.
When Dr. Albert Tuttle, a Wilmington dentist, closed his practice and donated
his entire office — X-ray machines, power drills, instruments and a compressor —
we packed up everything and Coastal Beverages trucked seven pallets to the Port of
Charleston. Today, we have a first-class, three-chair dental clinic in Bangalore that
serves our children, the sisters and poor villagers.
am constantly struck by the basic goodness of people: Wilmington Yoga
Center travels to India every year for a service retreat; IndoJax surfers are
in their fourth year of going to India to take girls surfing, providing an
adventure that instills confidence in a unique way.
More than 200 people have gone to India as HopeCorps Volunteers
I
— our version of the Peace Corps — to work alongside the sisters, teach English,
music and art, but most of all to be present to girls who yearn for someone who cares.
Wilmington professors from UNCW, elementary school teachers, mothers and sons,
and families have traveled more than 10,000 miles to share their talents, but even
more, their love for our girls.
52
WBM may 2013
oƒ Hope
HOW TO HELP
Homeosƒ Hope
$300 supports a child’s expenses
for one year.
$3,000 helps build an orphanage,
or pledge to raise enough for a
room in the new orphanage.
Donate goods and services from
your business or organization and
sponsor a benefit/fundraiser.
Donate surplus resources like
medical or dental supplies, vitamins
and books.
Volunteer unique talents.
Host a birthday party for your
child for Homes of Hope instead
of donating gifts.
Encourage friends and family to tap
into their passions and share them
with the girls of Homes of Hope.
Refer grant program and other
philanthropies to Homes of Hope.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PAUL WILKES PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PAUL WILKES
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PAUL WILKES