Ananya is one of 6 siblings. Her father is a drug addict. For many years he has regularly threatened his wife and children, taking any money earned and leaving the family nearly destitute. He would send his wife and children to obtain money from the neighbors for drugs.  In fear, the children would sometimes hide with neighbors until their mother returned from work.

One day Ananya’s mother refused to give money to her husband.  

On July 21st, 2015, the Just One team and volunteers went to the slum area of Chowkha Ghat to offer a Just One Hunger Initiative program. Located next to the train tracks, the sounds of the horns and engines of the trains could be heard every five minutes while I was there. This only seemed to be a nuisance for me.  The children seemed perfectly at ease.

On July 13, 2015, the Sai Maa Vishnu Shakti Trust visited a village in Parmandapur, near the city of Varanasi, India to conduct its Just One program. In total, 234 children were fed a meal of vegetable curry, bread, and bananas. 

When I arrived, the first round of children were already seated and looked up at me with curiosity. There were about 100 children in this first group, who sat in near silence as volunteers served them their meal. 

It is 11.30am and the sound of many small feet running echoes through the ashram, filling the air with joy and anticipation.   The monthly feeding program at the Sai Maa Moksha Dham is scheduled to start now, and the children from the surrounding areas are eager to receive their food.  It has been more than a month since the last program here due to the extremely hot summer weather, so the children are very excited.

Today, July 3rd, the cooks are a little late, and are still calmly and steadily preparing the puri (bread) dough when the children run noisily in.