Shilpa & Pinakin Tanusha Saran Simba
RAYS a Curry for the Homeless is a family run project which was set up in 2019. We have been involved in several projects in India and in Brighton & Hove. There are two main pillars to the projects:
RAYS Home in Jaipur
RAYS is a Home in Jaipur that cares for children who were born with the human immuno virus (HIV).
Many of these children lost their parents or were abandonded by their families. RAYS welcomes these children into its family and gives them a home, cares for their medical needs, their education and counsels them towards a life of possibility, positivity and hope.
Our family were lucky enough to spend a week with these lovely children in 2016 and then again in 2017; they are now our family.
Our vision is to increase the happiness of the RAYS children as best we can.
Our Mission is to fundraise for RAY, to visit them every year, to raise awareness of RAYS and HIV and to spread their love to anyone else who wants to get involved.
Our Value is for every soul we encounter to be encouraged and inspired to enable every soul within the RAYS family to shine.
The HIV problem
India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world – where approximately 2.1 million people are living with the virus, and about 170,000 of those people are children under the age of 15.
Due to lack of knowledge about the disease, many of these HIV+ children either lose their parents, due to death or abandonment, or their families are simply unable to provide the necessary care.
Furthermore, government orphanages in India do not accept HIV+ children, resulting in begging, prostitution, child labour & unstable street life in order to survive.
Government schools are regularly denying admission or segregating HIV+ children in the classroom, reinforcing the already rampant fear & stigma surrounding the disease & denying these children the right to education without discrimination.
“The most common outcome is either the child watching their parents eventually develop AIDS and pass away, or the child is ostracized by their parents for having HIV and left to fend for him or herself on the streets.”
Tribe of Lambs
Brighton & Hove Homeless and Food Banks
We make Indian vegetarian curries every Sunday to feed 50-100 rough sleepers. The curries are delivered by volunteers from the Sussex Homeless Support (SHS) at the Clocktower in Brighton.
We also collect long life food for food banks which the Ladies Mile Pub, in Patcham, distribute for us to various food banks around Brighton & Hove. The scheme is currently provding weekly food packs for 60 families.
Our Vision is to help those less fortunate within our community.
Our Mission is to cook, encourage others to cook and collect and redistribute food items to those in need.
Our Value is to not allow anyone within the local community to go to sleep hungry.
The Homeless problem
In Brighton & Hove, the count took place overnight on Tuesday 12 into Wednesday 13 November 2019. The figure of 88 people was verified by independent organisation Homeless Link. This shows a rise from 64 people the year before, up by 24 people (34 per cent).
“We’re not seeing a drop in the flow of people who are facing rough sleeping in the city and who we need to help. In the 21st century, the human tragedy of street homelessness is shocking and unacceptable.”
Councillor Gill Williams, lead for housing
People who are homeless are often at risk of infectious diseases—like hepatitis A, B, and C, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS—due to compromised immune systems, poor nutrition and hygiene, and frequent overcrowding at shelters.
Providing nutritious meals satisfies one need and provididng them with toiletries another. There are, however, so may more needs which we have not yet approached to help out with; mental health, wellbeing, education, prevention, enabling them to get a job and hold this down, making accomodation more accessible and tackling drug abuse.
