Esha is a girl who resides at the LOT Home in Relli, India. She is a gentle pretty girl but her story is anything but pretty. When she was just a small child her mother abandoned the family, leaving her 3 daughters with their father. He was uneducated, working at various odd jobs to earn a living. Later the father remarried and traveled to Bangalore, in south India where there was more opportunity. He traveled 48 hours on the train. In Bangalore he was hired to hand wash dishes in the kitchen of a hotel earning between 3,000 – 5,000 Indian rupees per month.
The 2nd wife did not have the means or interest in caring for her 3 stepdaughters so she sent them to their grandfather and uncle. The grandfather loved them but he did not have money enough to support them. Consequently the girls were passed around to various people and during that time they did not receive an education.
Esha’s father had not been home for a long time so he boarded a train to make a short visit to his family. While on the train there was an accident. He either fell or was pushed off the train and was killed instantly. After that, Esha’s stepmother washed her hands of the girls, saying they were not her children or her responsibility. Finally a man said he would take Esha, care for her as his own daughter. He promised to support and educate her. It seemed that finally Esha would be cared for properly, but alas, that man was not telling the truth. He took Esha into his home and used her as a servant. She received neither wages nor education. After 2 years a Christian man heard about her plight and brought her to the LOT Home where she has lived for over 2 years. She is 13 years old and only in the fifth grade but she is extremely pleased to finally be settled in a place where she is loved and cared for.
Though Esha is grateful and happy living at the LOT Home, she silently grieves for the mother who abandoned her. Jonathan, the director of the Home, found a letter that Esha had written to her mother. It was not mailed because her location is unknown. In the letter Esha poured out her heart. She wrote, ‘Where are you Mommy?’ ‘Do you know where I am, do you think about me?’ ‘Surely if you knew where I was you would visit me.’ Esha continued by asking, ‘Will you come to my wedding when I am a woman getting married?’ My own heart grieves for this lovely child who has never know the love of her mother.
“O Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed.” Psalms 10:17, 18