Auntie, auntie! Are you going now? Sara, a six-year-old girl said, tugging at the sleeves of my blouse.

When will you come back . . . tomorrow? she asked in Tamil, expectantly.

No, not tomorrow. Saturday, I said, forgetting the Tamil word for Saturday .

When is that? asked Sara, furrowing her brow.

Ahhhh . . . four days from today, I said haltingly, not wanting to disappoint her. Not entirely happy with the answer, she nevertheless nods and then runs off to join the other children at the orphanage.

People come and go, and the kids have grown used to it now. But, whether one is there for a day or a month, a chorus of hellos greets you every time you step through the gates of Miracle Home.

The children of this home are a boisterous bunch, 23 boys and four girls, from age four. The oldest is 17-year-old Rebecca George, whose father runs the orphanage. The fifth former lives at the Home with her parents and two siblings.

Miracle Home came into being five years ago when Pastor George Kuppusamy, or Pastor George as he is fondly called, began accepting children whose parents were unable to care for them, into his own home in Petaling Jaya.

George runs the orphanage through funds he finds himself. Unlike the more established orphanages, Miracle Home does not have benevolent benefactors, from which guaranteed funds could flow in every month. It is a hand-to-mouth existence as far one can see.

Its a miracle that we cope every day, said the burly George. We certainly need all the help we can get. George runs the Home with the help of his wife, two children and another couple. All live at the Home, a single-storey bungalow at Jalan Damai in Ampang.

Some of the abandoned children are not from poor families. Their parents were just being irresponsible, the pastor said. They dont care for the children and would rather someone else do it for them.

On the few occasions that George has probed into the lives of families whose children are left at his doorstep he has stumbled upon shocking revelations.

You wouldnt believe it but I have seen it myself. Parents who can afford to adorn themselves with gold around their the necks, wrists and even ankles leave their children with us, he said.

Why?

Dont ask me, people are that way, he said, sounding rather miffed. And when he finds out the truth, George is not one to take things sitting down. I make sure the parents take their children back, he said. But the kids dont like to go home because they know theyll be neglected again, he explained.

There have been cases of parents coming to the orphanage in tears, desperate. But not all their stories are to be believed. His has learnt that there are many untrustworthy people out there who would abandon their own children without the slightest remorse.

Most of the children at the home have at least one living parent. Perhaps these parents are unable to care for all of their children and so send some of them away to the orphanage. There are two families of three siblings at the Home  all boys.

Keeping house

That Wednesday morning when I dropped by the Home, the older boys were sprucing up the lawn outside the house. They were digging up rocks and piling them away in a corner so that the grounds would be safe for everyone. They were excited that now they had a large area to play in.

The boys didnt stop their work until about lunch time. Then, everyone crowded into the kitchen, with plates of rice and curry, bits of pork and fried long beans. There was only so much food, but everyone got their share. They could have definitely done with more, though.

Fourteen-year-old Joshua, one of the pastors sons, took his plate to the living room. His plate had a little more food than the rest; he was going to share his meal with his older bother Joel, who is vision-impaired and disabled. Joshua hand-fed his 15-year-old brother and fed himself as well, very unlike other siblings who would normally be tearing at each others hair.

Joel is fun to talk to and full of questions. The other children adore him. The bubbly boy plays carom with them. He loves orange juice and manages to sneak-sip some from my glass.

After lunch, it is play time again and the living room is filled with chattering children, quarreling over a game of carom or a story book. But it is not always that way. The children are rather co-operative when duty calls.

The older boys would bathe the younger ones every evening. They would also help with washing the little boys shoes and ironing their clothes.

Daily routine includes washing clothes, sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, washing the dishes, cleaning the windows and mopping the floor.

Help wanted

Having just moved to this house, Miracle Home needs many things. For starters, it needs glass shutters for the living room. The fenced-off, dilapidated bungalow used to be a haunt for addicts and other miscreants and as such needs some fixing up.

The lawn is rather unkept and uneven. The older boys from the Home, between the ages of eight and 14, have taken it upon themselves to dig up the rocks and move them out to safer grounds.

The house may need a new coat of paint. The boys have attempted to paint it  with so-so results. The Home may not be able to afford new paint or to hire painters.

Provisions are always welcome. The children could do with clothes especially for the 23 boys. It will help greatly if there were sponsors to pay for the childrens upkeep, among others.

But most of all, the children need love and care. Spending time with them costs nothing but would be most appreciated.