OUR STORY
Julie Martin of the United States fatefully met Sister Jessy Alex, a modern day Mother Teresa, on a European train headed for Amsterdam. Sr. Jessy told Julie she is an India native who grew up in a high caste family but felt she was meant to live among the poor and help the orphaned girl children in the South India state of Tamil Nadu.
Sr. Jessy explained that because of the Hindu practice of Dowry, families in poor interior villages cannot afford to keep girls and often resort to either abandoning their girl children, selling them into prostitution, or even killing them. Jessy Alex knew she could make a difference and began an orphanage program called “Pratheeksha Illiam” (Home of Hope) by setting up a cot on a small piece of land. Today, ten years later, Pratheeksha houses over 50 children who receive food, clothing, schooling, and a warm family atmosphere with the loving care of director and founder Sr. Jessy.
After meeting such an amazing woman, Julie Martin decided that she would go to see the orphanage herself. One of the first things she noticed was how happy the children were, playing and singing together. Within 15 minutes of her arrival, more than one of the children had informed her that they were all "sisters"….which was definitely true.
The children eat, study, pray, and share life together. With principles of discipline and love, these children are required to awaken every morning at 5 a.m. for household chores and study two hours per day outside of school. Once the girls have grown and complete their schooling, Jessy Alex finds jobs and arranges their marriages just as any Indian family would do. Pratheeksha is not only a home of hope but also a family that restores broken souls. The children grow-up within a family of love and confidence to guarantee their bright future.
It was out of this chance encounter that inspired Julie Martin to go back home to the U.S. and begin the sponsorship program called "Project Hope" at her local church Horizons Community Church of Lincoln, NE. Upon seeing the need to expand to other needy villages Julie has passed off the duties of Project Hope to the new Directors Kay and Rusty Holt and is now beginning the Non-Profit WE CARE of India which will work to fund more efforts like those in Samayapuram. WE CARE is a provider of service and is not affiliated with any religious organization.
