Just another day of trying to refine the process. Wait, what now? We do a lot of improvising on the day of the FOCI gathering. As For One Child of India grows, we are faced with challenges. There are a lot of kids and parents to fit in Chinnapan's back yard. The camera crew has sometimes never even touched a camera before, and wait, shall we do the photos first or help with the 'thank you" letters to sponsors? We are missing two kids, can someone go find those families? Sometimes people sneak in to the gathering to see if we can maybe take just one more child.... their child.....
It's a lot of challenge! But nothing compares to the challenges these Tamil families face on a daily basis. Money saved for school tuition suddenly has to be re-purposed to pay for a hospital bill. A good crop of rice gets wiped out by months of unrelenting sun and no rain. The family's cow gets sick. BAM. Money gone. Return to go, do not collect $200, start again..... not funny when it's not the monopoly game.
FOCI is working hard to change all that. We are helping children find opportunities and overcome obstacles.
and I bet in future years, I won't look so confused.