I often write about HHI and what HHI is doing and how many we have served. What is becoming clearer and clearer is that what we have accomplished is not only impressive in numbers of lives changed, but in the profound ways in which HHI changes lives – orphans not constantly being admitted to hospitals, gaining weight rapidly, more responsive to caregivers… women are bonding with and pouring affection on these children, they are opening savings accounts for their own daughters, they are reaching out to others in the communities… and the list goes on.

We have just reached our 1st year anniversary of launching our program and our impact has been HUGE! So, I’m proud to report that in this short time HHI has:

• Led 21 Trainings – in India and Russia
• Trained 285 low-income or unemployed women
• And these women are directly improving the health and development of over 1,470 of our world’s most vulnerable children

But, what does this all look like, on a day to day basis in the lives of those we touch? For that I will share these pictures from an HHI training at an Indian orphanage this week.

This is Sujatha, an HHI Certified Trainer in Chennai, India. This last week she trained 7 orphanage caregivers, who are serving 17 children.

What I find most striking about these images is really rather simple, yet it is dramatic in this setting. Orphanages do the best they can, but often times fall far short of anything remotely resembling nurturing or consistent care. What is happening in the pictures above is that the caregivers and the children are interacting, they are learning a traditional Tamil song, with dance, and many of them are smiling! HHI teaches all about child development, bonding, brain development, and hygiene. We do this with lecture, demonstration, songs, dance, and play, but the most basic thing that sticks is humanity, compassion and connection. The women and the children begin to interact, play, and give to each other… and sometimes for the first time in their lives, the children giggle, laugh, dance, make eye contact and they have love.

This is how the world changes.