Rescue and Restore runs a wonderful preschool in the middle of the grass hut slum in Chennai.  It’s hard to believe that a slum could be in the middle of a major Indian city, but it is.

We arrived at the Chennai Street Kids Orphanage and immediately were greeted by 34 of the most wonderful kids you could ever imagine.  These kids come from a WIDE assortment of backgrounds.  Some are true orphans. One little 11-year-old girl was dropped off on the streets of Chennai (a city of 8,000,000 people!), because her mother thought she was ‘cursed’ and needed to be thrown out of the house.  Freddy and Daisy rescued her and she is now a happy little girl safely protected by “Daddy and Mommy”, the children’s name for Freddy and Daisy.

Others were orphaned, and no family was willing to take them in.  Only Freddy and Daisy were willing.  Not only were they willing, but they were also delighted to rescue these little lives.  Other children were abandoned by family who just didn’t care, or who could no longer take care of their children.  Every story is heartbreaking, and yet, every story has a happy ending.  The happy ending is that they are now loved and nurtured in this wonderful home.  The kids are getting a tremendous education and will be doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, and other professions.

Rescue & Restore Hut Slum Preschool

Rescue and Restore runs a wonderful preschool in the middle of the grass hut slum in Chennai.  It’s hard to believe that a slum could be in the middle of a major Indian city, but it is.  You drive a short distance from the center of the city to an open-air vehicle parts market and wind your way around the market to the entrance to the slum.  Chennai is a huge city, with millions of people, and in the midst of it all, a large slum where thousands live in huts, without even the barest of essentials.  We followed our guide past small grass huts and saw women cooking on open fires.  It was shocking to realize that one spark could burn down the whole slum with thousands of people in it. This happened recently when a raging fire destroyed 325 huts in this very slum.

We made our way through the slum to the little kids’ preschool.  Our Street Kids orphanage directors have started this school for the children living in the slum.  The kids get a wonderful education, prayer and worship, and a snack and noonday meal.  For many of the kids, it will be the only meal they have that day. We arrived for the final portion of the day’s teaching and then saw the delight of the kids as they washed up and prepared for lunch.  The dedicated staff prepares lunch for these kids every day. It’s a wonderful act of love.

Their Mother Planned To Kill Them

We met Maggie and Sam two and a half years ago.  They were very small for their ages, and they showed signs of extreme malnutrition.  They had been rescued for a horrifically abusive situation where their mother decided to starve them to heath to get rid of her “problem”.  Daisy rescued them from the home and took the children directly to the hospital, just to save their lives.  When I first met them, Maggie and Sam were emaciated and were just beginning the long road to restored health.  BUT, that was two and a half years ago.  Maggie and Sam are different children today.  They are bright and funny.  They’re full of life, and Wow! Can they ever eat!  All the devastating effects of a home where the mother wanted them dead are now gone. It was so fun to be with them.