The Orphanage at Chinmayaranyam
The orphanage is located in a small village "Chinamyaranyam", about 30 miles from Tirupati, India. Chinmayaranyam is registered with the Government of India as a charitable, not for profit organization.
As the name indicates the orphanage is in real wilderness. The orphanage has close to 70 orphan children and in dire need of monetary support. The orphanage is located in the premises of an ashram (monastery). The ashram is affiliated with Chinmaya Mission and was initiated by Swamini Sarada Priyananda, and is currently managed by Swamini Sheelananda. She is a selfless, highly dedicated, principled, and disciplined person leading the monastery.
The children are cared for by the brahmacharis and brahmacharinies who are at the monastery for religious training. The children go to regular school, which is managed by the monastery. The school houses up to 10th grade and follows the State Government sponsored curriculum. There is a small hospital (funded by AAPI) to cater the health care needs of the children.
The children are housed in separate residential halls for the boys and girls. The children are fed three meals in monastery dining hall. The ashram has cultivatable land and grows vegetables and other staples, thus are partly self sufficient. The school is housed in several huts with partially raised walls, and requires monetary support to convert into enclosed rooms.
The Foundation invites any donor going to India to visit the orphanage and provide your feedback to the Foundation. Please call 732-679-8497 for exact directions from Tirupati to Chinmayaranyam.
July 2013 Update
Mr. K. Ramasubba Reddy, a child who has been supported by us in Chinmayaranyam Ashram since 1994 when HELP Foundation was started. We are very happy to inform you all that he has pursued college education supported by generous donation from the well wishers of HELP. He completed the 3rd year B. Tech last year and will be entering the final year now at NIRMA Institute of Science and Technology at Ongole. His third year expenses were provided by Mr. M. Shankar who has been an ardent supporter of HELP foundation since 1994. For his final year B. Tech program also Ramasubba Reddy needed $300.
Mrs. Usha Elleswarapu has been diligently monitoring the progress of college going children previously supported by HELP Foundation. When she approached Mr. M. Shankar this year for the support of second year B. Tech expenses or Ramasubba Reddy, Mr. M. Shankar without any hesitation agreed to support him thus reinforcing our belief that HELP should not just stop when the child leaves high school but also extend our nurturing hand to the children attending colleges as well.