Tamil Nadu, India - November 29 - December 6, 2008
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India is an exotic destination that has fascinated adventurers for centuries with its ancient culture and unique traditions. This December an intrepid group of breast cancer survivors will travel to this mystical land to spend one week changing the lives of some of the poorest children in the world.

Our group will travel to Madurai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, to spend one week building cottages for orphaned and abandoned babies at a local orphanage. Tamil Nadu was the Indian state worst hit by the Asian Tsunami in 2004, and is also the center of India’s AIDs crisis. The orphanage we support has received a flood of new children who are tsunami or AIDs orphans and are desperately needing shelter.

Before the trip each volunteer will raise a minimum of $1500 to pay for building materials, and to support breast cancer projects around the world. Participants pay for their own travel to India and a minimal registration and accommodation fee.

Beyond the incredible value of this project, the women will also meet with local breast cancer survivors to exchange experiences of dealing with the disease, and the importance of peer support.

The Project

The cottages will be built as an extension of Puthuvasantham, or New Life Girls Village, a residential complex for 75 girls who are orphaned or abandoned, run by local Indian charity, St Joseph’s Development Trust. Last year over 300 children were referred to the center and could not be accommodated due to lack of space.

St Joseph ’s Development Trust was established in 1974. Since then, and particularly in the last 10 years, it has expanded its activities into a multi-faceted rural village development program, targeting the poorest and most in need.

The philosophy of SJDT is not to foster a traditional hand-out development mentality, but to empower villagers to create their own solutions, and maximise their own resources.

The children of Girls Village come from the Dalit or Untouchable caste in India, the poorest and most disadvantaged group in India. Some are orphans, some have been abandoned by their families who are unwilling to support them or pay a future dowry, and some come from loving families who are so desperately poor they are unable to feed or educate their children at home.

Girls Village is built as a series of cottages with a house mother and are raised as a family. All of the children receive an education at the local school. In recent years Girls Village has received an increasing number of AIDS orphans, and also tragically babies who are survivors of female infanticide attempts. The babies have different needs to the older children, and we are aiming to build a purpose designed cottage for their care. Since the tragedy of the Asian tsunami, Girls Village has also taken in a number of male babies who desperately need shelter.

During the construction project the group will also have the opportunity to meet with local breast cancer survivors and share their experiences, as well as micro-finance projects for poor rural women and other local development projects.

Arul Prasahd is a one month old boy who was brought to Puthuvasanatham in June, 2006. His village was devastated by the Asian tsunami and his mother is terminally ill with mouth cancer. His father is a labourer who earns less than 50c a day, and cannot afford to feed, educate or care for Prasahd or his 4 brothers and sisters. Prasahd is pictured below with some of the other young children we will build a cottage for, along with their house mother. He will be cared for and loved at Puthuvasanatham until his family is able to support him and he can return home.

Darvi is a survivor of a female infanticide attempt. Her parents, unwilling to support her, threw her into a fire where she was rescued by another villager. She was taken to a local hospital and an elderly woman who was also a patient was so moved by her situation she took her home and adopted her. Sadly, the woman became too old and ill to care for her, so she brought her to Puthuvasanatham to be cared for.

Amazon Heart adventure events give women the opportunity to come together and share their experiences, gain support and strength to deal with the changes that breast cancer has brought to their lives, while challenging themselves physically, mentally and emotionally with a life changing adventure.

All Amazon Heart events aim to have a social impact by empowering our participants to engage in breast cancer support or social change initiatives in their home communities or through our events themselves.