Meet my friend Jennifer

This is Jennifer.  She is now 8 years old.  Her story is amazing and inspiring.
Jennifer is the oldest of 3 children.  India encourages parents to have one child but they don't enforce any policy for limiting the size of a family.  When a couple marries, they move into the husbands parents house and the new bride becomes the cook and housekeeper.  The mother-in-law is the authority for everyone.  The bride's dowry becomes the mother-in-laws possessions and the bride now lives a life of servitude.  Women really don't have any rights until a son gets married then they wield power with a vengeance.  A daughter is a huge liability and even more - a daughter with leprosy is of no value.  Jennifer contracted leprosy as an infant. 

  Her mother gave her poison but Jennifer survived.  She was treated for leprosy and is now cured. Then the grandmother/mother-in-law told the couple they had too many children and they had to get rid of Jennifer.  So one day her mother put 3 year old Jennifer into a dumpster then her father, mother, sister and brother moved from their small village to the city of Chingelput.   The next day Jennifer's maternal grandmother found her crying and hungry.  She took Jennifer home, cleaned her up and fed her.  They lived in a colony that the medical team from Rising Star goes to every 2 weeks.  On the medical teams next visit this grandmother approached our doctor and asked if Rising Star would take Jennifer.  
Now Jennifer is a kind, beautiful girl who excels in school.  She is clean, sleeps in a clean, safe place and eats 3 meals a day.  She talks about her past openly and remembers all of it.  She also tells people she hates her mother.  When asked what she wants to do when she grows up her immediate and confident answer is "be ä doctor."