Some of CNEWA’s greatest heroes are heralds of hope.
That would include Sister Lilly Chirayath, C.H.F., who runs the Holy Family Asha Niwas in New Delhi, otherwise known as the “House of Hope”:
“Our main mission is taking care of our orphanage,” Sister Lilly explains. “It’s where we help neglected and unwanted street girls 4 to 18 years of age.”
More than 25,000 families live in the slums of southwest New Delhi, where even menial work is hard to find. Many people turn to petty crime or worse. And for the homeless girls the sisters have taken in, the orphanage has been a place that has literally saved their lives.
“These girls had been wandering around railway stations, markets and streets,” Sister Lilly points out. “Some lost their parents or are abandoned. Others have been ill-treated by their drunken fathers. They were exploited by antisocial elements. Many are undernourished, both mentally and physically.”
The sisters help them in many ways — from providing shelter, food and clothing to ensuring each girl receives an education. As Sister Lilly says, “We believe they should have vocational training, health care, counseling and guidance.”
On her orphanage’s website, Sister Lilly explains even more about the hope that animates her mission:
Jesus said, “When you do something for the least of my brethren, you do it for me.”
Children are the loveliest creation of God. They are so innocent, so unblemished, so lovely, and so marvelous. They deserve everything best in the world. They deserve love, they deserve to be happy and they deserve to be well taken care of. God entrusts them to us, elders.
But what do we see in the world? For me, a child being treated cruelly is the most painful thing in the world. The most terrible poverty is loneliness and feeling of being unwanted.
Love the children; care for the children, help the children to grow up happily, and the world will be beautiful.
When one is happy, he/she spreads that happiness to others, to the society, to the whole world. So fill the hearts of children with love and make them fully active, creative and enthusiastic.
It is something Sister Lilly and her sisters happily do with boundless compassion, tenderness and joy.