Synopsis

Living Among Them > Telling Their Stories

Narrated by Grammy Award winner Rebecca St. James, MOTHER INDIA is a compelling documentary capturing the life and stories of 25 abandoned and orphaned children living along the railway in southern India.

With over 31 million orphans in India, David Trotter and Shawn Scheinoha showed up hoping to find kids who would be willing to trust them enough to show them life through their eyes. Filmed over the course of two weeks in early 2012, Mother India gives a glimpse into the life of unaccompanied children as they seek to survive on a daily basis. While the film follows David and Shawn as they develop relationships with the entire group, in-depth interviews with seven of the kids provide insight into the magnitude of their individual pain and struggle. While other documentaries may focus on broad statistics, Mother India seeks to understand life through the eyes of the orphan…

• The challenge of begging to simply survive.
• The discomfort of sleeping on the streets.
• The danger and tragedies of train-hopping.
• The devastating results of addiction and sexual abuse.
• The joy found in the simplest things of life
• The interdependance of relationships.
• The hope of a second chance.

As David and Shawn developed relationships with each of the kids, they were inspired to do more than just tell their stories. They saw the need, and they had to take action. Without hesitation, Suresh Kumar and Harvest India opened their arms to a ‘family’ of children that most seek to avoid. What transpires is both inspiring and heart-breaking.

Millions of Unaccompanied Kids

During an initial trip to India in December of 2004, David and Shawn were immediately drawn in by the striking eyes of unaccompanied children living in urban slums and remote villages. These eyes see and experience a life that is radically different than our own. Since that day, they’ve continued to invest their time and financial resources to give these children a future beyond life on the streets. With the release of the documentary, their deepest desire is that thousands of people will experience life through the eyes of the orphan. Specifically, Mother India seeks to

• Draw attention to the plight of abandoned and orphaned children in India.
• Inspire individuals and families to take compassionate action on behalf of children in need.

India has about three times the American population living in one third of the space. Introduce intense poverty, famine, drought, natural disasters, AIDS, and malaria, and you have a recipe for tragedy and, most significantly, unaccompanied children. Frankly, the statistics are hard to nail down, but UNICEF’s current estimate is 31 million orphans in India (source).

Can you imagine your child…

• Digging through the trash to find food?
• Begging for change just to survive?
• Bathing in water where animals are washed?
• Sleeping by themselves?
• Sold into slavery?