An Essay on the organisation of New Ark Mission: Home of Hope
(By Sahnya Mehra; March 2018)
On the 17th of March, 2018, I, along with the members of Muse Creations charity organisation visited the New Ark Mission charity home.
Founded by T. Raja in 1997, New Ark Mission: Home of Hope has been taking in poor and destitute people off the streets of Bangalore – nursing them back to health, and giving them a home to stay in. ‘Auto’ Raja, as he’s affectionately known as, was a man who once led a similar life. As a youth, he took to stealing, drinking and gambling, and lived on the streets for two years before getting his life together.
As of today, New Ark is a successful organisation that infinitely benefits society. There are a total of 170 residents staying in the home. There are three distinct living facilities – the female, male and children’s wings. Additionally, there is a separate area for kitchens and a pantry located within the premises. The children’s wings has an attached play area – which includes a swing set, basketball hoops, and several other amenities for the children to learn, and grow.
We first went to their main office on campus, and were shown a short documentary on how the home started, and the work that they do. There have been several success stories, and it’s evident that New Ark has been doing immense good for the community, as a whole. With the help of the Bangalore police, and the 108 Ambulance service, they have been able to save and provide help to so many poor and destitute citizens of the city. As many as 1,500 people have even been integrated back into their families.
After the documentary, we were taken to the children’s wing, where the members of Muse Creations had brought different types of games and equipment for the children to play with.
The members split into small teams, each to handle a different play area. Some showed the children how to play a fishing game where the kids could pick up drawings of fish with a magnet at the end of a rope. Some of the men played football with the children, while others kept the children entertained with toys and playhouses. I, along with two other members, helped the children with drawing and colouring. The atmosphere was lively and cheerful, and the air was filled with sounds of upbeat music, and the ecstatic cries of children.
After a while, we gave out biscuits and bottles of pro-biotic drink to the children, while asking them for their feedback. Many suggested that we bring more sports – related games, the next time we visited.
We ended up staying for about two hours, and at the end, Miho gave the organisation a donation on behalf of Muse Creations.
As someone who has studied Psychology, and worked closely with under-privileged children, the experience wasn’t a jarring one. But it was impactful, nonetheless. I’m grateful and humbled to be able to call myself privileged, and wish to continue to give back to society in order to help those who need it.