“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus

No one can deny that our world has been deeply plunged into the “depth of winter”, so to speak. A winter of sickness, death, fear and suffering. Yet, in the middle of this chaos we find our hearts brimming with “an invincible summer” at Sri Arunodayam. Our joy emanates from forgetting about ourselves and serving others worse off than we are. As our outreach work continues, we are slowly transforming the lives of the less fortunate around us – one person, and one community at a time. We are deeply indebted to generous partners who make such outreach possible. May they be blessed many times over!

By the grace of God, our little ones remain safe! All care is taken to keep them scrupulously clean and healthy. We are incredibly grateful to our faithful staff for putting duty above all else. Ritual hand-washing before and after meals and throughout the day, regular baths, healthy hydration with fresh fruit juices and herbs, yoga and exercise, regular fun activities, and a nutritious diet are all contributing to a high quality of life for these little ones. We are also grateful to the Chennai Corporation for periodically conducting health checks and providing advice.

Our Vocational Center, Prayatna, hums with activity as our youngsters weave colorful rugs and wire baskets, prepare brightly painted diyas for the upcoming festival of Diwali, and stitch beautiful face masks, mugurtha bags, sling bags and all type of bags on order. A combination of structure and self-discipline ensure that they are never idle but remain productive at their own pace. They are most excited when visitors buy their products and appreciate their work!

Hardly a few months old when her mother died, Nithya was surrendered to an orphanage by her father as she has a mild form of intellectual disability. The journey from home to home had upset her and she was considered a “problematic” teenager when we received her three years ago. Too old to study and too young to work, she fit well into Prayatna, our vocational training center where she developed unique skills. Her penchant for troublemaking soon disappeared and she blossomed into a caring young lady. Nithya is 17 years old and has taken it upon herself to help the little ones at our home. You can see her in action in the pictures above.

Loving our children helps them love themselves and others, and as Nithya learns to love herself, she’s becoming an inspiration to others, making her own unique mark in the world today.

We’ve been distributing dry ration kits to starving families across Chennai and surrounding Districts since the beginning of the lockdown in March this year. Hundreds of kits continue to be distributed to poor families and to those with disabled children, with the help of kind sponsors. In September, an additional 85 tribal families in and around Thirutheni were supported with dry rations.

There is great need among the poor today, yet most people don’t really know who to trust. You can contribute towards these programs by partnering with us. Reports on all activities will be made available with photographic evidence on our website. For more details on how to become a partner, please call our office at the numbers below.

HDFC Bank recognized the outstanding outreach work spearheaded by our Founder and Managing Trustee – Iyyappan Subramaniyan, during these difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership, Sri Arunodayam had sought out difficult to reach tribal families, daily wage earners/slum dwellers, and families with disabled children even while preparing and distributing hot meals to starving migrants and their families each day since May 2020.

Please take a moment to give us feedback and visit our website for the latest news and sponsorship options.

Sri Arunodayam is a secular organization with zero tolerance for discrimination against children regardless of religion, caste, race, ethnicity, disability or gender.