It is truly a beautiful thing in seeing how much hope you can find in precious suffering lives. Hope is powerful and vitally needed in all our lives. It is like a river of joy that flows back to us from the heart of God. We simply cannot live without hope – let alone flourish. So I want to share with you a story about a teenage boy who seemingly had no hope of a future – but God had a different idea.
Manikanta was born as a HIV infected child, taking medicine from a Government Hospital. Only a few years after his birth, both his father and mother died from their AIDS/HIV infection. He had an older sister who was married, but because of his sickness, even his relatives kept him aside as an untouchable child.
So he didn’t have anyone to take care of him.
Mani was barely surviving in a very dire and seemingly hopeless situation. But an UPHOLD (a Christian organisation) field coordinator, who works with leprosy and HIV infected people brought this boy to an UPHOLD child care centre.
In 2010, he was taken into the Victory Home and was granted admission into 8th Class.
Amazingly, in 2014 he passed 10th Standard.
As mentioned, Manikanta had a sister but she sadly was not being cared for by her husband and was living alone. So Mani had it in his heart to look after his sister, being her only brother.
Since his father had been a driver, Mani also had a passion to pick up the same trade for a responsible livelihood. He expressed to the staff of UPHOLD his interest in becoming a driver, so as to provide a stable and sustainable income for his sister and himself.
He was enrolled in a driving school where he learned good skills and got his license on 6/6/2015.
In order to give him experience and immediate employment, UPHOLD gave him the job of being one of their driver’s with a vehicle entrusted to him.
Now he is a well versed driver settled in his ambition, earning a livelihood, and spreading hope to his sister – the same hope that flowed from the love and support his Little Sisters sponsor gave him.