It has been an amazing year watching our small initiatives bring life, value and opportunity to the Indian girl child spark a movement across south India.

Because of your generosity with have seen the survival rate of girl babies increase 75 to 80% in remote villages.

We have heard foster parents tell us they no longer want our monthly financial support because they believed it was their responsibility to not only love and provide care for these abandoned girls but to support them financially.

We have seen a barren plot of ground be reclaimed through drip irrigation that now provides vegetables and other produce to 85 school children, single parent families and the forgotten elderly.

Bethel School Children Singing Before Class We have watched preschool and kindergarten children sing from the depth’s of their souls as they prepared to enter their newly renovated school.

We have listened to young women weep as they share the gratitude and hope they now have as they study to become a nursing assistant which will not only increase their income by 3 fold but will give them dignity and self-worth.

We have watched fathers proudly hold their young daughters sharing they never knew a girl could bring so much joy and happiness to their families.

We have seen children from the poorest of poor Indian families excel in their school work because their teachers not only taught them well but were adequately compensated for their worth.

We have been inspired by the reaction of nearly 1,200 college students after they were confronted with the horrors of female infanticide and sex determination feticide and then bringing their very best to encourage Indian girls to hold onto their hopes and dreams.

We have partnered with an amazing company to bring joy to a group of orphan girls.

Even though my eyes, ears and heart has experienced all the good and right of our efforts, I must admit there are days that I must fight through the melancholy of the challenges that still remain ahead.

I remember sitting with a middle-aged women as she wept over her village that kills hundreds of baby girls each year and casually drops their dying bodies in the well in front of their small clinic.

I learn of an ultrasound device the size of my iPhone that is being sold to evil men in India so they can illegally tell a family the sex of their unborn for $10 and direct them to a friend’s abortion clinic where 99 out of 100 aborted fetuses are girl babies.

I sit and listen to the director of an orphanage tell a hospital they cannot take any more abandoned newborn girls this month. Even though the orphanage actually has a waiting list of Indian families wanting to adopt a girl baby they cannot take more babies because the government will not allow them to charge enough for their basic services to rescue, care and place these death-bond newborns.

So, there are times I must fight through the whys. Why am I not smarter so I can raise more money? Why am I not more convincing when I share the story so more will be inspired to give? Why is it so easy for me to be critical of others’ excesses when I have a constant personal battle discerning my over indulgent wants from my more than adequate needs?

As we approach the end of 2011 here is what I know – We know we can rescue Indian girl babies from death. We know how to begin to transform a culture so that it values their daughters as much as they do their sons. We know we have remarkable field partners and we are astounded on how much they can accomplish with so little resources.

Here is what I believe. The financial cost to bring life, value and opportunity to an Indian girl baby is $500. That’s the number. $500 allows us to change her fate from death to life. The transaction can be as simple as subsidizing the orphanage’s costs for an Indian family to adopt a baby girl to the complexities of transforming a village that is presently killing 75% of its baby girls.

$500 at times seems like a lot of money to spend. At other times I don’t think twice about it. But $500 is the cost on whether one newborn girl baby lives or dies in India in 2012. For me and my family, 2012 is a year we will learn to choose to spend our financial resources more wisely.

God bless!

One of our field partner orphanages in South India has a waiting list of Indian families that want to adopt a baby girl. Each week the orphanage is also called by infant cradles asking them if they have room for an unwanted newborn baby girl. Most times the director must tell them “at this time we can not accept anymore babies.”

How can this be and yet so many girl babies are aborted, killed or neglected in India each year?

I believe the root problem is government regulation. Think Slum Dog Millionaire – the movie about the horrific conditions in orphanages and how evil men abuse, mutilate and sell children for personal profit.

This is the reality in some orphanages in India. So, the government attempted to restrict the “financial gain” an orphanage could make from caring for an orphan child. Problem is, this has a direct impact on great orphanages all over India.

The government has limited the adoption fee to approximately $100 USD even when the adoptive parents are willing and able to pay more. The challenge. It cost an orphanage about $500 to rescue and care for a newborn child for six months. Add the costs to evaluate and educate potential adoptive Indian parents and the orphanage is loosing money on every child they adopt.

It does not matter whether you are a for profit or non profit. You can not “keep your doors open” if you are loosing money.

This is why good and reputable orphanage – many with a waiting list for baby girl adoptions must tell the infant cradles they can not take another newborn baby girl.

Yes, the laws in India need to be modified so good is able to do more good. But in the short-term, The Rhema Project is looking into ways we can help cover the financial gap.
It also allows us to uphold one of our core principles – We must help Indians own the solution to end the genocide of baby girls in their country You see, the estimated cost to rescue, care, clothe, educate and fund a small dowry for an orphaned girl over a 20 year period is at least $15,000. For $500 we can do the same plus have her loved and cared for by an Indian adopted family.

Just think what might happen if all over America families decided that this holiday season they could be part of giving the greatest gift ever to another family 9,000 miles away!

Her mother died when she was very young. Her father was an alcoholic. His new wife did not want to raise a girl and beat Narmadha. At 5 she was abandoned far from her home and left to fend for herself.

A pastor heard about her story, rescued her and found an orphanage to give her temporary care. Better than trying to survive on the street but not ideal. Her hair was kept short which is typical for young girls living in orphanages until they start school.

Last week she was matched with a foster family where she is not only loved but has the chance to attend an English medium school. Friends from the states are helping sponsor her care and education.

She is a quiet and shy young girl. Today, she now has hope for a better tomorrow and is beginning to smile!

One of our Indian field partners that rescue unwanted girl babies from infant cradles, under bridge overpasses and literally from the garbage dumps have a waiting list from qualified Indian families that are willing to adopt and raise a girl as their very own child.

Then the director quietly shared that he receives phone calls almost everyday asking them to accept a girl baby that has been abandoned and he must tell them he can not take the child. I should learn to guard myself against the paradoxes that seem to challenge almost every issue but as I listened my mind started screaming,

“WHAT!…WHY?…YOU HAVE A HIGHER DEMAND FOR GIRL BABIES BUT YOU LIMIT THE NUMBER OF UNWANTED GIRL BABIES YOU ACCEPT WHICH MEANS THESE GIRLS WILL MOST LIKELY BE KILLED BY THEIR PARENTS WHEN THEY TAKE HER HOME!!”

My response sounded a lot like Ricky Ricardo when Lucy would mess up on the “I Love Lucy” television show from years gone by -

“Lucy, yuv got some splan’n to do!”

First – the government will only allow the adoptive family to reimburse the agency, orphanage or baby home 50 rupees ($1.00 USD) per day the girl baby stays in the home.

Second – a higher level of care is needed by the newborn girl baby (staff, healthcare, etc.) before she is healthy enough to be adopted in 4 to 6 months.

Third – there are expenses to complete home visits, adoptive family evaluations, followup visits and legal paperwork to ensure the girl child is placed in a loving home.

Consequently, the real costs to rescue and care for a girl child is actually 250 to 300 rupees ($5 to $6) per day. So, the net cost after receiving the reimbursement from the adoptive family to the baby home is about $600 to rescue, care and place a baby girl into an Indian family home.

Because the Indian families that are wanting to adopt these girls have the financial means to provide 100% of the cost to raise the child, the need for long-term (18 year) sponsorships go away for every child that is adopted at 6 months. Now, do the math. $35 to $40 per month for 18 years to raise a girl child in an orphanage = $9,000+ versus a one time gift of $600 that would allow this one baby home to give a wanting and loving Indian family a little girl.

The director sadly shared he was on a strict budget and simply did not have the funds to take in more abandoned girl babies. He must be fiscally responsible to the organization.

I realize this is not the panacea in solving the entire problem of female infanticide and gender identification feticide in India. But my challenge to the director was how many more girl babies each year could you realistically rescue and and place in a loving Indian home each year – 5, 10, 25, 50 if the funds were there? In the next week I will hear back.

My question to you and me – are we willing to hear the answer and how will we respond?