The Sign of the Rainbow
WCF donations support nutrition and education and scholarships at Rainbow Home - a small project for 90 orphan girls who live in a school cum hostel deep in the labyrinthine warren that is the old city of Hyderabad. Their address is Begum Bazaar and finding their entrance gate is a challenge worthy of contestants on a TV show. It is in the very heart of the maze of ancient city alleyways; a tall double gate set into a high wall just beyond one of the few remaining arches from the era of the Nizams who ruled this state for centuries. This street would have been a desirable residential area, near the Osmania Hospital which was a state of the art facility 115 years ago, close by the banks of the mighty Musi river that flows through the city. Now it is in a traffic choked, garbage littered back alley with crumbling walls, a broken unpaved road and a stench from the filthy narrow waterway that is the silted up Musi. In this unpromising location sparkles the shining gem that is Rainbow Home.
The three story structure itself is pretty basic; sketchy paintwork, filthy dust, crumbling concrete, bare cheerless classrooms. But that is just a backdrop soon forgotten as you focus on the faces of the girls and hear their stories and listen to their voices, full of hope and plans and determination. It is a wonderful place and the funds from WCF are used to the very best advantage. We sit at the front of a classroom and listen as girls talk articulately about their studies, their free time in the evening, their safeguarding care for each other, their academic and sporting achievements. It is not hyperbole to say these girls are inspirational. How would you and I do faced with such a life? Rescued from the streets, now travelling to school standing in the back of an open truck. The whole of your childhood and early adulthood spent in one small, treeless, dusty concrete compound. That’s what you and I see but they know it as a sanctuary with safety, food, shelter, education, hope.
We sit and talk with the teachers and home administrators and feel confident that their welcome is genuine. We have arrived here sometimes unannounced so no fancy preparation can be made and the day to day care and commitment is always evident. The office walls are covered with handwritten posters listing activities, schedules, timings, classes and online events. There are a staggering 40 separate administration folders for the children at Rainbow Home. The bureaucracy threatens to overwhelm them and they'll be found in a few years time buried under a sea of reports and foolscap binders trying to claw their way to the surface. But the girls will have risen above, shining and flourishing after their incredible start. WCF funds support projects like this that aim to reach out to the most vulnerable and needy as our God has asked of us. Here at Rainbow Home I thought of this verse, “Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink”, Psalm 69:14. The rainbow in Genesis was given as a sign of God’s unfailing promises for this earth and this home with this name is absolutely full of that promise, as far above the mire as could be.