HopeCompLogo (12K)

The dew of compassion is a tear.
~ Lord Byron



When compassion fills my heart,
free from all desire,
I sit quietly like the earth.
My silent cry echoes like thunder
throughout the universe.
                               - Rumi

compassion (15K)

Touch gently the Life
Of your fellow man
For the human heart
Shapes as easily
As clay upon
The potter's wheel



And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sun,
Is auctioned cheep to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like this old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine;
A game; and he travels on.
He is “going” once, “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.


Lunch with God

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer, and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave but before he had gone more than a few steps; he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." But before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

Submitted by Kathy Pinto


Therapies (86K)

Our Mission is simple 'To Touch and change Lives'.

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." Albert Einstein

home_pic (16K)Our sole purpose is to re-ignite the flame of Hope and Giving. We aim to bring hope and kindness to people in need, through selfless service, compassion and respect for those whose circumstances are such that they have difficulty coping with the simple things in life. Coming together collectively, we are determined to make a difference to the lives of those who are socially disadvantaged, in pain, disabled, or have special educational needs.

Hope and Compassion

We are working with organisations and projects where on arrival we could clearly see the lack of support available and the needless suffering taking place. We simply could not ignore the struggle that these people are facing, and furthermore we could not ignore the pain and anguish the children and families were experiencing.

Hope and Compassion started out in 2010 with a group of volunteers from the UK wanting to make a difference to the lives of children in developing countries with special needs and disabilities. It is about working together with professionals from the UK and linking them with organisations and institutions abroad, to give the resources and skills that are needed to help children with special needs and disabilities.

Children are left at temples, in dustbins and on the streets of different cities in the hope that they will be picked up and taken to an orphanage. Parents can't face their disability, in some cases they simply do not know how to look after them and how to deal with such an alienated subject. Let us not forget the children in villages where they do not get any attention, nobody knows or even recognises the fact that they are there. That there are parents who have decided to take keep their disabled children and are looking after them in the best way they know how, without any help or guidance.

Ignorance is NOT bliss in this case, where disability is still seen as a curse or sin, or children are shunned or abandoned and left in destitute circumstances. When we came here 2 years ago we saw this for ourselves and knew that something needed to be done, we were in a position to offer help to bring some hope back into their lives.

The specialist teachers, therapists and practitioners from the UK work alongside the teachers in the schools and education establishments within India to give them the skills that they are lacking. We bring what we have learnt from the UK into India and other countries and it's for the professionals to then interpret it into the Indian way and continue to help make a difference even after we have gone.

We aim to do this by offering education and future employment for the upcoming generations in the area of Special Educational Needs, spreading knowledge and opening doors in education that they did not know existed.

Hope and Compassion is a Charity with a difference - the funds we manage to raise is used to buy resources and equipment here in the UK. These are then taken by volunteers and professionals to the centres abroad, where we install, then teach and train, the resident staff and carers how to use the equipment and resources for the wellbeing, education, help and care of the children, bringing relief, joy, love and education into their lives.

Underlying principle

'Through compassion we aim to touch them deeply and bring hope into their lives.'

At the heart of Hope and Compassion is a team of experienced professionals, volunteers, teachers and carers from the UK, qualified in education and specialist therapies. The countries where we work have very few practitioners with equivalent qualifications, so we are sharing our skills and best practice to train project staff abroad. We work with local charities to train and educate their members of staff and carers, giving a lasting legacy of high quality skills to follow through and continue to train others to do the same.

Our volunteers will be expected to fund their own travel, but will be supported with meals and accommodation by the charity involved. On arrival the volunteers will liaise with the charity staff and a needs assessment will be drawn up along with a plan of action. In some cases this will have been decided prior to the volunteer's departure from the UK, particularly if the volunteer has specific skills to impart.

About

At the heart of Hope and Compassion is a team of experienced professionals from the UK, qualified in education and specialist therapies. The countries abroad where we are working have very few practitioners with equivalent qualifications, so we are sharing our skills and best practice to train project staff abroad. We work with local charities to train and educate their members of staff, giving a lasting legacy of high quality skills and experience abroad.

For their photo Gallery, Projects and Therapies etc please visit: http://www.hopecompassion.org/

SGGSAasaa (88K)

Add a Comment