Sathyapriya wakes up slowly. It is still gray outside, and she tries to snuggle closer to her sister for a few more minutes of sleep. Just as she dozes off, her sister shakes her awake.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she whispers. Sathyapriya sighs.

"Come on," she says, taking her sister's hand and slipping out of the bed. Together the girls walk up the street toward the public bathroom. Sathyapriya keeps her sister close, warily eyeing the men who lounge on the street corners. The few blocks to the bathroom feel like miles. Sometimes the men say things to her as she walks by — things that make her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Some even step close, grabbing at her dress.

When Sathyapriya and her sister finally return home, her hands are shaking. She won't go back to sleep this morning.

Poverty's Deep Wounds

When most people think of poverty, they think of only hunger and lack of money. But Sathyapriya sees many more facets to it. She knows the fear of feeling unsafe and the low self-esteem from verbal and sometimes physical abuse in a culture that doesn't value girls as much as boys.

Abandoned by her father as an infant, Sathyapriya grew up with no one to protect her family in the crowded city of Chennai. Sathyapriya's mother often worked 12-hour days and was forced to leave her children at home alone much of the time.

Even when Sathyapriya's mother remarried, there was still little security for the family. Her stepfather often came home drunk, and the evenings were filled with angry shouts that bounced off the crumbling brick walls. Sathapriya and her sister learned to depend only on each other.

A New Love

When Sathyapriya entered the Tamil Baptist Child Development Center (IN-518), she was very shy and made little eye contact.

"I noticed Sathyapriya immediately," recalls Simonraj, project coordinator of the child development center. "She was very quiet, introverted, withdrawn. She would always sit hunched over, and at first I thought something was physically wrong with her. But then I realized she was just so very shy."

Compassion staff workers poured their energy into teaching Sathyapriya to trust them. It would take months for Sathyapriya to believe what they told her every day, and to believe what her sponsor wrote to her — that she was loved.

"I receive love from them … love I have never received from anyone else," says Sathyapriya.

Dreams Seem Possible

Sathyapriya has blossomed under that love. The child development center has become a haven for her, a place she can come when she needs help or when she simply needs a kind word. She has become a leader at the center. And this once-scared girl now has bold dreams for the future.

"I want to be a doctor so I can help poor people like me. But my mom wants me to be a software engineer. No matter what I do, I will study hard so I can do well in life."

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