Food for Life Vrindavan: Official site

Suparna is the person in charge of the FFLV orphanage and she is the one whom all the kids call “Mom”.

She has been there for the past 5 years, dedicating her life to her very extended family, where she looks happy to be able to be a mom for the children and someone that not only takes care of them, but accompanies them through the journey of life in the best way she can. There are currently 23 children under her care, varying from the ages 5 to 16.

It isn’t easy, yet she always has a smile on her face and looks happy. Every day Suparna wakes up at 5am, gets ready, then helps the other kids to get ready for school. Even during holidays, they go to the extracurricular activities at SMS. The rest of the day, she’s attending and looking after the babies and also welcoming the visitors or volunteers that come by.

In the afternoon, the bigger kids that go to school, come back home and spend their time doing homework, playing or helping out Suparna or Mina, who has been assisting Suparna for the past 7 months. The other children also help with the household chores, helping the smaller kids with homework, as well as with the babies, changing diapers, feeding them, etc. The days go by in a mode of peacefulness and tranquility,  yet they are full of love, energy, dedication and the hard work in which it consists.

In the past month or two, 5 new members have arrived to the family. They all are baby girls whose families have rejected them, because they are female, for the next couple of moths they will be under the care of Suparna. Kamala, Muskhan, Gaurangi, Subhangi and Krishnangi, are not only very adorable babies, but very lucky too.  They’ve all found foster families that will take care of them and give them the opportunity to have a bright future. In about 2 months, they all will be taken to their respective families.

The children under her care and everyone at FFLV are very grateful to Suparna for all her love and devotion.

While on one hand where the heat is raging here in Vrindavan, slowing down everything, Food for Life’s Social Development team is defeating the summers with their firm determination to make a difference!

On May 1^st, 2012, Food for Life Vrindavan started a new training course for about 50 adolescent girls in basic sewing skills. 25 of the girls are from Sandipani Muni School and other 25 are from different parts of Vrindavan. The training takes place from 9 am to 11 am every working day (Monday-Saturday) and will go on for the coming 3 months. After the successful completion of this training, these girls will be given a certificate from the Uttar Pradesh Government.

Tattva Darshini, the supervisor of the training and embroidery centre at Food for Life Vrindavan, seemed very excited about this new project. She mentioned that there is no other centre in the whole of Mathura-Vrindavan where women are trained in sewing and embroidery as this profession is mainly male dominated. She also said that they would be starting with the embroidery camp soon too.

When asked about the scope of learning this, Tattva said, “Whoever wants to learn, we will teach you, this will help you in the future, you can go anywhere in the world after learning and the skill will go with you. “

Tattva Darshini has been working for Food for Life Vrindavan for the past 11 years in this field. She also goes weekly to the surrounding villages to encourage people in the area to become a part of the self-help groups. Currently she is running about 7 self-help groups.