Child Impact International
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is an
organization that gives hope
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and fosters permanent,
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positive change in the
lives of disadvantaged children
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and their communities.
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Countries include Zambia, Kenya,
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India, Nepal,
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Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, and Myanmar.
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Child Impact's investment
in the lives of more than
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3,500 children continues
to yield infinite returns.
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Outreach spans from
child rescue operations
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to providing an education
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and a home for
deaf and blind children
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and orphans.
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Above all, Child
Impact's sponsors
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give hope to the
ones who need it the most.
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Life in India is very difficult
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for those in rural regions.
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Things that we take for granted
like education and medical care
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are a luxury beyond their reach.
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This is especially true
for children with disabilities.
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A child who is born blind
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or becomes
blind from an accident
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or disease has little
hope for a positive future.
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To be brought up blind
in the village by a family
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who has to work nine or
ten hours a day means that
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the child is left on their own
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often in the house on their own,
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because they're
scared to venture out
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because they simply don't know
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where they are or
what they're doing.
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We've even found children
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who are chained or
tied inside the house.
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Not because the
parents don't like them or not
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because there's an issue.
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It's just that the parents
don't want them wandering off
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and getting into
danger or tripping or falling.
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Child Impact
International saw the need
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that these children had
and opened a school designed
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to help them reach
their full potential.
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On my first trip to
India, one of the first places
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I visited was the blind school
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and it's located in rural
India at a town called Bobbili.
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And it's out in the countryside.
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The school gives
hope to blind children
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who normally
struggle in the villages.
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The school for
the blind in Bobbili
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did not start out
as a large school.
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It started as
most great things do.
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And that is by a few good people
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doing what they can
to help where they can.
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The Adventist Church
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had been a few spots
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given some teachers,
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some training about
how to teach the blind.
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There was just
maybe four or five
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in different schools.
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And then somehow
we actually started
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with the idea
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in the Flaiz
Memorial School at Narsapur.
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There was Gloria,
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a lady who was teaching there
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and she was very
interested in the blind.
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And so, we decided that
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we would start a blind program.
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And that also started in Bobbili
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the same as our
Sunrise Orphanage.
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And the first year,
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I can't remember how
many children we had,
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but in the first year
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we had the children
living in a building
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just behind
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the Bobbili Seventh-day
Adventist day school.
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And so, the
children were living there
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and then just
coming, you know, to,
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into the classroom
area to go to school.
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And then I think
maybe we only had it
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like that for about a year.
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And then after that,
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we had them in another building
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also in Bobbili.
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The school was growing slowly,
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but surely, then the arrival
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of a special guest
changed everything.
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Garwin McNeilus was actually
coming to India for a visit.
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And I thought,
wouldn't it be nice
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if he could just hear
our blind children sing.
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That was the only thing
I actually had in my mind.
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And so we took the
blind children down.
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I think at that time
there was probably only about,
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I'm not sure
whether it was 10 or 20.
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So we took some down to
the Ibrahimpatnam School
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because Garwin
was visiting that area
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and they sang and, you know,
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he spoke to them
and it's a real blessing
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because the Adventist
school system in India
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has always been English medium.
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So, you know, you are able to
communicate with the children.
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And so, that was a
really nice program
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as the children put on there.
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And it was after that
that Garwin decided that
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he would build a
school for our blind children,
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which is what is there now,
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and which has
blessed so many children
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through the
years since we started.
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One of these children
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that has been blessed is Shankar
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who lost his
eyesight at an early age.
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When I was born, I
born like a sighted person.
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When I have three years
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that time I lose my
eyes because of eye cancer.
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That time I went to
hospital doctors told that
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you got eye cancer,
we have to take one eye,
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then there's another way
it'll not going to attack.
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That time they took one of my,
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after two years passed
again it connected to other eye.
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Again, they took
another eye also.
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Due to the case of
cancer I lose two eyes.
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When I lose one eye that
time I didn't felt any bad
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because I don't know
that time I'm a small boy.
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When they took my second
eye, that time I felt so bad
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because I know some
knowledge at that time.
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I felt so much of bad
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and I was unable to
express my badness view.
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It's hard to imagine
what Shankar went through
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losing first one eye
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and then another,
several years later.
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The realization
that any hope that
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you have for the
future is now gone,
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but things changed
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when he arrived
at the blind school.
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When I lose my
eyes from that time
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I am doing like a
sighted person only.
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I am not feeling bad
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because when I
came to this school,
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they taught me everything.
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And they taught me studies
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and how to pray and
how to be in religion
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and how to stay
in all the people.
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They taught me so many things,
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they thought us
Bible scriptures.
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And they thought
us about Jesus Christ.
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Education for
this world and the next
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is so vital to
every young person,
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but it was not always an
easy academic road for him.
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Shankar is a very good child.
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When I was teaching him
maths in sixth standard.
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The child feared for maths.
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He said, "Sir, I
feared for maths."
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And when we had given
him the very good topic
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and good inspiration
of how to learn maths,
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math is a very simple learning
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and very good
attempt to learning
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where it can be useful in life.
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And the child had
got good inspiration.
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Now at present,
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the child has
come to 10th standard
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and he is inspired to
learn maths very well.
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And he's a very
first ranking child now.
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And the child is very
attentive in learning really
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and his studies and is doing
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very excellent work in learning.
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The great help that Shankar
has received in the classroom
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has inspired him
and guided him to know
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what job he wants to have.
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Oh, when I'll become a teacher
so that I can feed my parents
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or I can help them
when they are in old age.
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It is inspiring to see
how great aspirations like his
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are possible through
the specialized education
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that the blind school provides.
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He is being empowered to live
the live that he wants to live.
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I've seen the change
in the children's lives.
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I saw a girl that came in that
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had been chained in the basement
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of her house for many years.
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And when she first
arrived at the school,
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she wouldn't talk to anyone.
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She wouldn't
interact with anyone.
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And she sat in the corner.
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When I came back
three weeks later,
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it was just so exciting
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and just about
brought me to tears,
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to see her singing a song,
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to see her playing
with other children.
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And I not only realized
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does it give an
education to the children,
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but it gives
hope to the children.
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And it also gives
hope to the parents.
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By helping their
students scholastically
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is not the only thing
that the blind school does.
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They also help their
students to understand that
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they can have a
joyful, fulfilling life.
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And it's transformative
when you come here.
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It's such a wonderful
thing to see these children.
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And if you spend time
with them over the years,
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grow and understand that
they too can experience life.
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Their smiles,
their vision on life,
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their ability to
play musical instruments,
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enjoy life, play cricket.
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It's just a
different opportunities
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that you give these
children, you know, access to.
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I was privileged to be
present when Jaime Jorge,
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the violinist from the USA
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visited the blind school,
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and you should have seen them
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when he started
playing the violin.
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They really didn't
understand what a violin was.
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They wanted to
touch it and feel it.
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But when Jaime started playing,
they were just so excited
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because they really loved
music and they loved singing.
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And they quickly
related to the Christian tunes
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that he was playing.
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Even though they
are not able to see,
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there is still so much
life that they can experience.
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They can have
dreams that are possible.
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And it is that hope that shines
through their smiling faces.
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As sponsors, you can know that
it is your sacrificial giving
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that has put that
joy in their hearts.
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Child Impact is
very, very committed
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to the blind school.
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Even though we
face many challenges
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like getting qualified
teachers to go to the location,
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we are very committed
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to improving the
quality of education,
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to improving the
quality of long term education,
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so that these children
have a chance for a future
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and are able to get a job.
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The Child Impact
School for the blind in India
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is a key project for
Child Impact International.
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Being born blind
or partially sighted
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and coming from a
poor rural village
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can be a real challenge.
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Parents don't know
how to handle the child
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and sometimes will
chain or even tie them up
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as they're worried that
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they may wander off
and hurt themselves.
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Often they're embarrassed
or shamed in the community.
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And they're
hesitant to let their child
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go to a boarding school.
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But when they see
the change in the child
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they transition
from being embarrassed
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to being a proud parent.
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Under COVID
parents are struggling.
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And when the school opens,
we will face many challenges.
00:12:35.52\00:12:40.12
Please pray for this school.
00:12:40.16\00:12:41.66
And if you wish to
help these special children,
00:12:41.69\00:12:43.96
go to our
website, childimpact.org
00:12:43.99\00:12:46.39
That's childimpact.org
and donate to the blind, deaf
00:12:46.43\00:12:51.73
and orphans fund.
00:12:51.77\00:12:53.60
My name is Tom
Evan, CEO of Child Impact.
00:12:53.64\00:12:56.60
And I really appreciate
your prayers and your support.
00:12:56.64\00:12:59.47
Thank you.
00:12:59.51\00:13:01.18
I just got a letter from
our sponsored daughter Sheila.
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I've got to tell you,
00:13:36.08\00:13:37.41
there is nothing like
getting one of these letters.
00:13:37.45\00:13:39.78
Our family has been
able to sponsor her through
00:13:39.81\00:13:41.82
Child Impact International.
00:13:41.85\00:13:43.72
And because of that,
00:13:43.75\00:13:45.09
she's got a great place to live.
00:13:45.12\00:13:46.59
She's got good food.
00:13:46.62\00:13:47.96
She's got great clothing.
00:13:47.99\00:13:49.59
Best of all, I now
found out she's in college,
00:13:49.62\00:13:52.69
she's in nursing school.
00:13:52.73\00:13:54.56
There's nothing like
getting a letter like this.
00:13:54.60\00:13:57.73
You need to start
getting these letters too.
00:13:57.77\00:13:59.83
Listen, through Child Impact
00:13:59.87\00:14:01.47
you can make a huge difference
in the life of a child.
00:14:01.50\00:14:04.77
And I promise you,
00:14:04.81\00:14:06.17
it's gonna make
a huge difference
00:14:06.21\00:14:07.98
in your life too.
00:14:08.01\00:14:09.34