Thanks to a multitude of donors, supporters and professionals, in February 2006 HHI launched our first program in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Vonda Jump, PhD of Utah State University’s Early Intervention Research Institute led 2 trainings for 40 women from around the state. Some of these women already worked in orphanages, and others were seeking training to obtain jobs. HHI hired 10 new caregivers at our partner orphanage and a full-time local HHI Trainer. Here are some pictures from that tell the story.

The children were hungry for attention and nurturing.


Each training lasted 4 days and the demand was so high we had to limit our class size.

The training included study groups for the women to discuss specific information they were learning and how they could best apply it with the children they served. The study group format was especially useful because some of the women had never been taught how to read or write.

Play is an effective learning tool – enjoyed by the women and the children!

And, of course, loving touch is vital to healthy development.