Alex Papp, who served as a YAV (2006) in Kottayam, Kerala, shares with us the lives of the boys at Bala Bhavan.

Bala means boy and bhavan means home, which makes sense because it’s a Boy’s Home. It’s something like a dormitory for young boys whose parents can’t afford to keep them at home. They are provided with a place to stay, food, and education. It’s not luxurious by any means, probably wouldn’t even be legal in the U.S. There are no beds and only two adults for the 60 plus boys. I went to Bala Bhavan every Saturday. It was by far my favorite part of the week. We played games, sang songs, taught each other magic tricks, laughed a lot. The home is located in a small village, surrounded by paddy fields and rubber trees. We would spend each Saturday afternoon wandering through the many footpaths that connect the small homes, pointing to things teaching each other the words for each object. And during those walks I never stopped eating.

There was always at least one boy up in the tree picking me a mango or a papaya or almonds or oranges as large as my head or some other fruit I’d never heard of. Of the many people I met, the Bala Bhavan boys were some of the most important to me. Somehow they are courageous amidst hopelessness, joyful in suffering, and even find a way to be generous despite their poverty. This video can give you a little insight into their personalities, their quirks and nervousness. You will see that despite their situation, they are just typical boys. You will probably see your own children in some of their responses. Keep in mind that these boys lead a life our children can’t imagine. They wash their own clothes in a bucket, eat the same meal three times a day, and sleep on the hard floor far away from their families just to have the opportunity to go to school.