Government asks orphanage to shut down:
Vision in Social Arena aka VISA is an orphanage for approximately 40 children aged 6-18 situated in Mira Road north of Mumbai. It was started in 2000 by John Abraham who was moved by compassion for abandoned street children. Now the government has served him a notice asking him to shut down the organization, leaving the children crying and refusing to eat food, and John running from pillar to post to save the kids future.
Figure 1 The plight of abandoned street children in India
The kids call him Daddy, and he treats them like his own children. They get the love of a father, food, clothing and shelter.
Now all of that is threatened.
Why does the Government make it so hard for someone who wants to do some good work like this?
It turns out that you need to have a license to take care of street kids, and despite his best efforts John Abraham has not been granted a license yet. There are over 15 requirements that have to be fulfilled, including a Two Lakh Rupees Bank Guarantee. In fact, John Abraham has himself stated that the biggest bottleneck that prevents him from serving more children are Government regulations.
But no license is needed to dump your kids anywhere at all, abandoned to the wild world outside!?
How many kids are there on the streets today? No one knows exactly, but John Abraham himself has admitted that what he is doing is but a drop in the bucket.
What can you do to help?
Here are his contact details:
Vision in Social Arena visa97@rediffmail.com
You can see a video of VISA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REdu7lU7IT0
Hope this moves you to consider the plight of street children. God bless you.
John’s motivation has been this verse from the book of James in the Bible: A religion that is pure and stainless according to God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows who are suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
(James 1:27)
Love, power and a sound mind 