Child Impact International
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is an organization giving hope,
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previously called Asian Aid.
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Child Impact
International is an organization
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fostering
permanent positive change
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in the lives of
disadvantaged children
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and their communities.
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Child Impact is
committed to making a difference
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in the lives of children
and those who are in need.
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Serving communities in India,
Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
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Myanmar, and will soon
expand to other countries.
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For the last 50 years,
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Child Impact has invested
in the futures of people
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and their investment
has proven infinite returns.
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Driven by the dedication
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to helping those
who have the least,
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Child Impact is an organization
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focused on the
welfare of children,
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implementing
diverse development projects
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and sponsoring
thousands of children.
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Their outreach spans
from child rescue operations
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to providing an education
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for orphans, deaf,
and the blind children,
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giving them a
sense of place, a home.
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But above all, Child Impact
is an organization giving hope,
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giving hope to children,
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giving hope to community,
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giving hope to the
ones who needed the most.
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This is Hope In Motion.
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Situated amidst a
lush green paddy fields
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of Bobbili, in
Andhra Pradesh, India
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is an institution that is home
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to some of the most
disadvantaged children
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in the society.
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This is the school for the blind
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run by Child
Impact International.
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In a world where
blindness is considered a curse
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and blind
children are abandoned,
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this campus is a
refuge for children
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seeking care and comfort.
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There are various circumstances
that have contributed
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to these children
losing their sight.
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Some of them are
victims of accidents,
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some due to vitamin deficiency
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factored by lack
of nutritious food,
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but most of
them were born blind.
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Okay, let it.
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Akhila Macha is a seventh
grade student at the school.
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She comes from a
small tribal community
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not far from the
school in Bobbili.
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Akhila is the second
girl child in the family.
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When Akhila was born blind,
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her father wouldn't accept her
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and wanted to abandon
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and leave her at the hospital.
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In a patriarchal society,
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where a girl child is
often considered a burden,
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Akhila's father did not
want another girl child,
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that too a girl child
with visual impairment.
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You know, there are
people who are poor,
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who are really
struggling to bring up,
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to look after their
family and bring up their kids,
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and then what happens if
you're a girl in the family,
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you know, where do
you sit in the hierarchy,
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how are you accepted in society.
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But the boy is given
education above the girl,
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so straight away the girls
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really have an
extra challenge here.
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And imagine if that
girl has a disability,
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where does that person sit?
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So the need to
provide special support
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for all children
but especially for girls
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who have disabilities
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is an amazing
opportunity to help them,
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because there is very
little that can be done.
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And if they are in
their family environment
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they can't really contribute,
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they can't work and
contribute to their family,
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so they are real
burden to their family.
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So we can
transform not just the child,
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but the family as well
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by creating a whole new world
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for this child
and for the family.
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Cultural issues
are hard to understand.
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It may even seem
bizarre and cruel at times.
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It's difficult to
change people's perceptions
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that are rooted deep.
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While rural traditions and
socio-economic difficulties
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dictate life in rural India,
their children pay the price.
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In rural villages
where being handicapped
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is considered a curse,
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blind children face
an uncertain future.
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For blind children like Akhila,
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the school for
the blind in Bobbili
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is a place of refuge.
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Every year we go for campaign
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to find visual impact children.
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That's how we found
Akhila in our village,
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and we saw her,
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and she was so in
depleted condition.
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And we talked to their parents.
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Mother was not convinced
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to send her to
hostel or to our school
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because she was afraid
something would happen,
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or something
would do for the child.
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So she was not
convinced for one year.
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Again we went for next year
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and she sent some people
to check how the school is
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and what are the
activities going on.
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And then later on,
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she was fully
convinced and she felt happy
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that this is a place where
Akhila should go and study.
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So that's how we picked her
up from there to our school.
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For all its
traditions and practices,
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the fact remains
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that all parents
love their children
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and want the best for them.
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For someone like Akhila
who comes from a tribal area,
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the change for Akhila
and her parents is huge.
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Akhila would not have
had any chance of education
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without the blind
school that she goes to.
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Her parents were very
cautious in letting her go.
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But when they know that
she is getting an education,
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they moved from
cautious and scared
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not knowing what to
do with a blind child
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to having hope to being proud.
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And so, Akhila is an
example of the change
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that is made by taking
a child from a community
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where there is no hope for them,
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and giving them an
education and giving them hope.
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Child Impact sponsors
the majority of children
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living and
studying at the school.
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Without sponsorship,
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these children would
not have the opportunity
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for a new chance in life.
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The school for the blind
is not just an institution
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that provides food
and shelter for the blind,
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but it's an
institution that prepares them
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for the world outside.
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We are not preparing
them only for a place to live,
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and eat, and grow up.
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We're preparing
them for the opportunity
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to prepare for a career
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where they can be
self-sustaining adults
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throughout their life.
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It's not just a temporary fix
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and then we kick them out.
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Are they good to
survive on their own,
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they then can leave the school
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and go out and fill a need
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that the government will assist
them with, provide them for,
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where they become productive
in society on their own.
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The exciting thing in
India is that the government
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has made jobs
available for these children.
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So we're equipping them
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for roles that
they can step into.
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We're giving them,
probably their only chance
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of any training
in this particular,
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very rural, very tribal,
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very poor community.
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So we're not only
giving them education,
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we're giving them a
critical stepping stone
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for the roles that are available
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for them in the community.
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These children may not
have the ability to see,
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but this disability
does not deprive them
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of the ability to learn.
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They are perfectly
capable of acquiring skills
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needed for employment.
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In fact, the Indian government
refers to them not as disabled
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but differently abled.
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And the school for the blind
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provides them an ideal place
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for these
differently abled children
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to acquire skills.
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For Akhila's parents
who are daily laborers,
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knowing their blind
child is attending school
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is a satisfying feeling.
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Without sponsorship,
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Akhila would not
be at the school.
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Today, because of Child
Impact sponsorship program
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and individual
supporting its program,
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hundreds of differently
abled students like Akhila
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can receive an education,
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an education that will help
them to lead a dignified life.
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If people like,
children like Akhila,
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if they don't
come to our school,
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they would have
stayed at the home,
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their condition become worst,
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and people don't really love her
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or they don't take
her in this family.
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So it is must
for us to go forward
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and find children
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and sponsorship for them
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especially is
very much mean to them,
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because people like Akhila
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who are visually impaired
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needs to have
this kind of education
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in this part of Andhra Pradesh.
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The child is the
center of Child Impact's work,
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whether one is
able to contribute
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in a small way or in a big way,
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sponsorship endows
these children's future,
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giving them the
life they deserve.
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Child Impact's work
with these special needs
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children also has a much
bigger impact in the community.
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Our special schools
have a special impact,
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and the reality
is that many people
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at all levels of
society are becoming now at work
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through these
special homes and schools.
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So they are impacting the child,
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the family, and the community
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with what Christianity
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and Seventh-day
Adventist are all about.
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Special needs
ministries is an area in which
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we are very, very interested
and very proactively working,
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helping the world
feel to understand
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that there are many people
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in various areas and
sectors of the population
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that have not been touched.
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Special needs
ministries and Child Impact
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is also extremely
helpful to God's church,
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because those who
are physically impaired,
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those who are visually impaired,
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or perhaps hearing impaired,
they are the individuals
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that are being
wonderfully serviced
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through Child Impact in India,
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in other places,
six different countries
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that Child Impact is active in.
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You know, the Lord
really wants us to attract,
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and be friendly to, and help
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those who are
the least of these,
00:11:03.16\00:11:06.09
and they in
turn will then become
00:11:06.13\00:11:08.56
great missionaries for
the Lord within their sector
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and people group.
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Thanks to the generous
support of Child Impact
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and its sponsors,
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blind children like
Akhila not only have a place
00:11:17.51\00:11:20.31
where they can acquire life
skills for the world outside,
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but they have a place
where they can prepare
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their souls for
the world to come.
00:11:25.11\00:11:26.65
A key mission
school in Bangladesh,
00:11:32.75\00:11:35.26
where Child Impact has
many sponsored children
00:11:35.29\00:11:38.69
has an urgent need for
a multipurpose building.
00:11:38.73\00:11:41.90
The current building,
which you can see here,
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is over 20 years old
and was poorly constructed.
00:11:44.63\00:11:48.74
It is extremely dangerous.
00:11:48.77\00:11:51.84
I'm Jim Rennie,
00:11:51.87\00:11:53.21
CEO of Child
Impact International.
00:11:53.24\00:11:56.04
And recently I
visited the school
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and I was able to
confirm with an engineer
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that traveled with me,
00:12:01.65\00:12:03.12
the critical
state of the building.
00:12:03.15\00:12:05.72
The school Kellogg-Mookerjee
Memorial Seminary
00:12:05.75\00:12:09.76
has over 450
students, including, as I said,
00:12:09.79\00:12:14.23
many sponsored by Child Impact.
00:12:14.26\00:12:16.60
The school is a
key mission outreach
00:12:16.63\00:12:19.23
and serves a
very poor community.
00:12:19.27\00:12:22.24
Simply put, this
building is dangerous.
00:12:22.27\00:12:25.47
We need to build a new
three storied building.
00:12:25.51\00:12:28.41
And in this building,
00:12:28.44\00:12:29.78
it will house
over eight classrooms,
00:12:29.81\00:12:32.98
a science
laboratory, a school library,
00:12:33.01\00:12:36.55
school administration offices,
00:12:36.58\00:12:38.92
but more important a
new English medium school
00:12:38.95\00:12:42.49
right at the
front adjoining the road
00:12:42.52\00:12:45.03
where we have multi
level English training school.
00:12:45.06\00:12:48.83
This will attract
fee paying day students
00:12:48.86\00:12:52.23
and will drive urgently
needed revenue for the school.
00:12:52.27\00:12:57.34
The total cost
including the fed out,
00:12:57.37\00:12:59.71
library, science lab,
and English training school
00:12:59.74\00:13:03.38
is about $520,000.
00:13:03.41\00:13:06.05
And to date, Child
Impact has reached $350,000.
00:13:06.08\00:13:11.25
Right now we're
asking you to help us,
00:13:11.29\00:13:14.26
any amount would be great.
00:13:14.29\00:13:16.22
But the exciting thing is
that we have a generous donor
00:13:16.26\00:13:20.06
who will match $1 for $1.
00:13:20.10\00:13:22.46
So each $1 you give
will be turned into $2.
00:13:22.50\00:13:26.74
If you give $1,000 he
will match it with $1,000.
00:13:26.77\00:13:31.04
It includes large
or small donations.
00:13:31.07\00:13:34.21
We are able to
double your giving.
00:13:34.24\00:13:36.44
This is a very special school
that serves a poor community
00:13:36.48\00:13:40.55
and has over 50 orphans.
00:13:40.58\00:13:42.98
The need for the
classrooms, library,
00:13:43.02\00:13:45.79
science lab is critical
to the children graduating.
00:13:45.82\00:13:50.03
The English training school
00:13:50.06\00:13:51.99
will be critical
revenue for the school.
00:13:52.03\00:13:54.73
Realistically the
current building is dangerous
00:13:54.76\00:13:57.70
and must be replaced.
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Please help us with
a special Bangladesh
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Building Appeal.
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You can go to our website
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and donate to the
Bangladesh Building Appeal
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or you can ring our office.
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Thank you.
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