Sri Ram Ashram as an Orphanage

Orphanage/fully functioning family? I am confused. This is a text that came from my beloved Lauren. Totally understandable question, I thought as I read it.  Here is my answer, with the information that I have at this time.

Sri Ram was founded as an Ashram, as a home for children who did not have one. When the founder, Hari Dass, known as Babji was young he had a friend who was an orphan. His friend told him stories of children being hit and abused, and in that moment Babji made a commitment to create a place where children would be loved, treated with respect and grow to be active contributors to society.

When Sri Ram started, Babji knew that children were taken and used as servants so he was against giving children up for adoption, so in the beginning, children who came here, joined a family in which they would live.

Ansula and I were talking one day and she shared that one of the hardest days of her life was the day she learned Babji passed.  Many of the children here, had not met Babji. Ansula and the elder children had.  I hear them share fond memories of laughing and joking with Babji spending time with him outside under the mango tree.  The other hard day she shared was July 4/5, when she had to say goodbye to her brother that she had a very special bond with. She shared that he had been adopted.

Up until that moment, I did not know that children here at the ashram were adopted.

Rajvi, has been a trustee for Sri Ram for over 25 years and he explained that in more recent years, the times have changed and so has the law.  Now, Sri Ram is required to ‘put children up for adoption.’ While the older children will not be adopted, the younger children can be. They have a specific process and rules that govern these decisions. Families go through an interview process, they have folks visit their home and they are required to submit financial statements (the income must be 3000 rupees a month- that is close to $600). Once a child has been adopted, then Rajvi and his wife Rami travel to visit the child with their family twice over the next two years.

Sri Ram, to me is a family. It is not and does not feel like an institution. Children are welcomed here as I was welcomed, with open arms. Children come to Sri Ram in three different ways, they have either been orphaned, abandoned or surrendered.  Sri Ram welcomes them all, even as young babies. The youngest baby they have welcomed was eight hours old. Not all children come here as babies, some children are much older, one child recently came and he is eight.  No matter how they arrive here, all children are a part of this family and are provided for until they are settled and established on their own and that looks different for each individual.

Since being here over the winter holiday, I had the opportunity to meet older siblings who have returned to visit for the break, some come for the weekend, one stopped by to pick up mail. Some are in school, studying dentistry or photography, living with roommates and navigating being independent moving away from the ashram to Delhi or Jaipur. Three girls left together and work together at a travel agency and work together to cook meals. They shared that living in the ashram has prepared them to live that way. One started a Cross Fit gym in Haridwar and recently bought a house.  Some are married and have families of their own.

Each individual is unique and the ashram does what it can to support and afford opportunities for all of the children to follow their passion and achieve their dreams.