Anugraha Girls' Home

In 2026, mum and I were invited to an amazing place called Anugraha in Sumanahalli, Bangalore, to see the inspirational work the team there are doing to support girls whose lives have been affected by leprosy, AIDS, and social disadvantage.

By providing medication, treatment plans, care and education, it enables the girls who live there to do something that might otherwise be really hard in India - something that shouldn't be hard, but still is - to enter society and make a meaningful, happy contribution to the world they live in.

Every bag of The Blesséd Brew coffee you buy helps support this and other community and environmental projects across India and the UK, so thank you!

Anugraha Girls' Home: A Joyful Place

The Anugraha Children's Home was one of the most joyful places I've been to, which may come as a slight surprise, as the girls living there are children of parents whose lives have been affected by leprosy, AIDS, or poverty, or are leprosy or AIDS patients themselves. Many are also the children of migrant workers, who travel from across India to work in construction, and have no family or friends in the area, no connections - being miles from home - and very little money. These families end up living in tents near their work sites - definitely not suitable accommodation for any family, least of all for young girls, who miss out on a stable, safe environment, and can't attend school in any regular or meaningful way.

Anugraha changes all that. It offers a caring, safe place for these girls to live whilst they go through schooling. Their home, food, and education, all taken care of by the charity.

A Safe Space Where the Children Can Thrive

What's more, it provides an environment where they can thrive! It's a place which enables and empowers them to have the belief that they can grow up to be citizens of the world who can go on to achieve anything - and this they do.

Here's Karuna's Full-Circle Story:

Karuna came to the Anugraha Girls' Home at the age of 13. Given a safe, caring, and stable environment, she went on to thrive, studying Arts at college as well as Teaching. Following a few years working as a teacher in school, she returned to look after the next generation of girls and inspire new lives to go on and achieve amazing things, just as she's done. Thank you Karuna for sharing your beautiful story with us!

You can watch her story by clicking on her photo below.

The Role of the Montfort Fathers

As you might know, some of the Montfort Fathers manage our coffee estate for us and give the coffee their special blessing. Others are in charge of Anugraha. Here are Fathers Sebastian and Jerome to tell us a bit more about this very special children's home. (video coming soon)

The Girls at Anugraha

Before the start of my visit, I was told that one of the girls was a leprosy patient. Naturally, I wasn't told which one - why should it matter? And to be honest, it wasn't something I even thought about. I had forgotten all about that after about 2 minutes of meeting the girls. They went from shy and formal - "who is this stranger with the funny accent?" - to warm, funny, and sweet within a few minutes of knowing them - a testimony to how much confidence a place like this can bring to their lives which could otherwise have been so fragile.

They showed me their canteen, study room, and dormitory. They shared their dreams with me and even plaited my hair in the latest style.

World Anti-Leprosy Day

I then had the honour to speak on behalf of The Blesséd Brew (a share of the profits made from the sale of our coffee goes to helping charities like this). Being there was an inspiration, and it was great to be able to speak to Father George, the Director of Sumanahalli Village, who was able to tell me more about the true impact that leprosy had, and shockingly, still continues to have in India.

You can watch the full interview here (coming soon).