17 Years, 17 Projects, One Heartbeat of Service

“family affair” has so far undertaken fifteen projects with various orphanages. We started with two projects each in 2007 and 2008 and one in each subsequent year. The country of choice to do this project was India, as most of the family affair members are ethnic Indians. In 2013, we undertook the first project outside India – in Kathmandu, Nepal. Before a project is done, host organizations are visited and assessed for the possibility and feasibility of doing a project. When both parties are agreeable, the project commences. The project is done in May as this is the period of school holidays in India, and is the most opportune time for the 10 day, whole-day project to be done. The project is done with both the team members of family affair and representatives of the host organization, as we feel this has to be a collective, collaborative effort.

The project involves many activities and includes outings, usually a picnic in the park, with many outdoor activities and games and also to the cinema, to watch a movie chosen by the children and agreeable with the host organization. During the project, the children are treated to sumptuous meals daily and as a final gift before departing, each child is given a goodie bag (of stationery, stuffed toy etc) and a set of new clothes (most of the children are seen dressed in torn clothes or wear the same set of clothes throughout).