Magnificent colors such as blue, red, green and purple clothe India's people. But look into many of their warm brown eyes and you will see utter despair. Shanty towns made from cardboard and tattered material line the chaotic streets. Then there are thousands of children like Pawan, Srinivas and Srinivas Reddy who survive on the streets of Hyderabad and Secunderabad by begging for food and money or by taking up odd jobs like rag picking, or running errands. Some of them are even commercial sex workers.

Operation Blessing is committed to helping the sick and poverty-stricken people living in India's urban slums, tribal belts, rural villages, and on the streets through the following ways:

1. Tending The Sick -- Mobile medical clinics are conducted each month treating hundreds of sick children and adults who do not have access to or the ability to pay for basic health care. Patients may choose to see a dentist, optometrist, or doctor, receive prescription or reading glasses, undergo simple lab tests and get a prescription filled. Patients are also given HIV/AIDS awareness materials.
   
   
   
2. Equipping for Life -- We not only help people with emergency needs in times of crisis but we also help them overcome the forces that keep them in the vicious cycle of poverty.
   
   a. Vidya Jyothi (Child Literacy): Giving basic education and after school tutoring to underprivileged children are the goals of this program. The first priority of many boys and girls is to help support their families; getting an education comes in a distant second. This is why we started afternoon schools near family work sites. Now children can learn under the watchful eyes of their parents.
   
   b. Living Water: Most Indian villages face acute clean water shortages. Villagers are forced to drink from open wells, ponds and rivers. Living Waters identifies and drills wells in areas that do not have a tap connection directly to any type of well or water tank. Once clean water is flowing, water-born epidemics dramatically decline.
   
   c. Back-To-School: Depending on the need, we prepare boys and girls for school by giving them tuition fee scholarships, school supplies, back packs, uniforms and shoes.
   
   d. Street Kids: The first step in transforming the lives of street children is to gain their trust. Our ultimate goal is to place them in loving and safe environments so they can develop into healthy productive adults. We start by inviting them to leave their dangerous "homes" and come to a free street kids outreach. During these 1-day events, hundreds of filthy boys and girls, ages 1-years-old up through older teens receive a bath, a haircut, a new set of clothes and shoes, a nutritious meal, and toiletries. Loving volunteers and staff also play games with them.
   
   By the end of the day, some of the youngsters make the brave decision to leave their life on the street and are placed in orphanages or group homes where they can receive ongoing love, education and care.
   
   e. Community Development Center: We provide free life and job skills training to women and children trapped in the commercial sex trade so they can make a decent living in a different profession.

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