Caroline Boudreaux at an orphanage.
Caroline Boudreaux at an orphanage.
We’ve all been at that precipice where disillusionment settles like an unshakeable cloak over the psyche. Ordinary tasks become gargantuan mountains to climb. And hope seems illusive. Yet, there are some that have the gumption to extricate themselves from all self doubt, and see the nadir as a point where they can rise up from, and make something beautiful out of. It’s responsible living, and Caroline Boudreaux, founder of the Miracle Foundation and the winner of the United Nations Humanitarian Award 2017 is a proponent of such change. Among the fortunate few who found her life’s calling at the height of professional success — a handsomely paying job, where Caroline found herself discontented, unfulfilled and looking for meaning. A visit to India, a hapless child she met at Odisha and the decrepit state of Indian orphanages and parentless children shocked her, and Caroline started Miracle Foundation. “The day was auspicious — it was Mother’s Day. I decided I had to do something to help children. I simply could not go on with my life as if they didn’t exist. I couldn’t un-see what I had seen. The idea for the Miracle Foundation was born that day. Every child, every miracle deserves the foundation of a family.
Since then — miraculously — people of all ages, all walks of life, and all socio-economic backgrounds have joined us. Together, we’re giving a loving family and personalised care to thousands of orphaned children,” enthuses Boudreaux. The warmth in her demeanour as she mingles with children, goes about her day’s work is apparent, and the conviction that children are the future is what eggs this kindhearted soul who was categorised among the most impactful non-profit leaders in the US and India. Of the moniker, she enthuses, “We’re categorised as one of the most impactful non-profits as we have a proven methodology that works. We show donors that their investments are going into the minds, mouths and stomachs of the children we serve, and our earnest work has paid off. Bill Gates said it best, ‘All lives, no matter where lived, are of equal value.’ Miracle Foundation isn’t working in India because India has a bigger problem. It works in India because this is where we started. All children deserve the love of a family. We’re working with organisations all over the world to make sure children have a family, not an orphanage and not a state to look after them. They need families, no matter where they live. My favourite change about India is her youth. They get it. They know and want to change the plight of the poor.”
Interacting with children