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Meet: Thushiyanthi Ravi

Date of Birth: July 12, 2001

“There were times when we struggled to afford even one meal a day,” said Thushiyanthi, who joined Grace Home last year.

Thushiyanthi barely knew her mother, who died from illness not long after the child was born. Her father abandoned the family, and Thushiyanthi and her older brother were raised for a time by her grandmother and a relative who owned a three-wheel taxi. The family struggled to provide daily food for the children, let alone an education, when it was recommended that the girl live at Grace Home.

“I wanted to be with the other children, and study, and play with them,” Thushiyanthi said of her wish to live at Grace.

As with many children in the northeast, Thushiyanthi’s early life did not include the basic foundations of education, health and a sense of safety. At Grace, she is able for the first time to regularly attend school, eat healthy meals and study in peace.

In spite of her modest beginnings, Thushiyanthi has big dreams, inspired by what she has seen at the Grace Care Center: “I want to become a doctor and help poor people,” she said.