Matribhumi Sewa Mission – M.S.M

The MSM is a spiritually inspired volunteer service organization that works with the youth in the city of Kurukshetra. Currently, there are approximately 80 million children in India who are forced to live in misery and hatred due to the lack of fundamental necessities including education, health, government support, etc. The goal of MSM is to provide “education, etiquette, and social protection to all these helpless and homeless children.” It also tries to promote spirituality, psychological health, intelligence, and physical development to make the children self-dependent as well as self-respected.

My family and I decided to volunteer at this orphanage where approximately 55 boys reside (no girls), provide them with a meal of their choice, and candy as dessert! It’s nice to know children everywhere LOVE candy. We played with the children, talked to them, helped them with their studies (not that they needed our help). One student in particular, named Rishikas (at the age of 5) knew his times tables up to 20 and was helping a 7 year old student memorize the 19-times-table, he quickly became my mom’s favorite. How many American children can do this???? It’s safe to say we were all very impressed.

The Children of Matribhumi Sewa Mission (MSM)

In addition to be amazing students, all of the boys work together to make their breakfast, lunch, and dinners. They also are assigned chores that must be completed efficiently and thoroughly. The purpose being to teach them how to be self-sufficient and gain the skills necessary to be able to live life on their own.

The younger children stay at MSM for their schooling and are taught by 3 hired teachers. In addition, the older children go into the city for their schooling. Furthermore, the government can pay the school fees for the children, but the founder of MSM has decided not to accept this offer because he does not want the children to feel inferior to their peers. Therefore, he funds their education via donations, community sponsorships, and his personal financial means.

While I was spending time at MSM, I couldn’t help feel extremely happy and sad. I felt happy because these kids were in a loving environment and being offered a chance to make something of themselves. But sad because there are so many children in India that are in worse situations and have nothing of this sort to equip them with the resources to become productive citizens. However, there was a common thread amongst these children: not a single child thought he was poor. They loved being at MSM and loved their brothers. They inspired me to appreciate what I have in life and I hope to go back to Kurukshetra in a few years to see the progress of these amazing children.