Two weeks ago, Just One began distributing meals to children in a new slum neighborhood, the Kanshiram Awas Project.  This is a government subsidized community for impoverished families.  It is a huge area.  We are now only 1 block away from the last feeding area, but the children and families from this project are all new to me. To qualify to live here, the family income must be below poverty level, which in India is a very low figure to begin with, the family is a one-parent household, or the family qualifies for one of many government assistance programs.  

This week we are joined by 12 soon-to-be nuns, mostly from South India.  They will take their vows on May 29th, but today they are here at the Just One feeding as part of their training.  We are happy to have the assistance as it is close to 100 F.  The children are eager for the feeding to begin and well over 300 are fed.  

At exatly 11 AM, children come running into the ashram with huge smiles on their faces. Recognizing us, they say hello and ask how we are. Their excitement is infectious and everything on my mind vanishes.  I suddenly remember why they are here, and invite them to sit down for our monthly feeding at Sathya Sai Maa Moksha Dham in Varanasi, India.

It is Tuesday, March 25th, one week before Navaratri, and 175 children from low income schools and slums are being served vegetables, bread, and sweetened milk with rice. 

Today’s Just One feeding is in a new district - Kanshiram Awas Project. This area is a government housing project with 5,000 people living in a very small space.   As we arrive many, many children are gathered around – much more than are usually present this early at a feeding program day.  They are watching the food preparations, playing noisily with each other and just generally entertaining themselves while staying close to the makeshift kitchen.

The families in this area are all extremely poor – many are single parent families, who earn money begging and scavenging. A few have day labor work in construction. The torn, dirty clothes and unwashed faces of most of the children reflect the poverty they live in.  But despite this they are smiling, loud, playful and boisterous.   They run eagerly to talk to us, to shake our hands and engage us in their games even before we reach them.