Volunteers are welcomed to the Lighthouse Children’s Home to help children affected by HIV and those from economically deprived backgrounds. Assistance with administration is also needed. The overall cost for one month would be approximately £2000, for three months £2500.The overall costs include a full support package covering air fares, insurance, visa, health and CRB checks, preparation course, travel to and from Goa airport, accommodation and meals, and a donation to Christians Abroad towards administrative costs. It does not include spending money for tourism etc.

Run by Graham and Tricia Phillips-Clarke, the Lighthouse Children’s Home is supported by Lighthouse International Ministries UK. There have been a number of individual volunteers and also teams going out from the UK. The minimum stay for working with the children is one month, whilst the administrative placement is a minimum of four months.

Those volunteers helping with the children work at the weekends and have days off in the week, whereas admin staff work a regular week and have the weekends off.

The work with the children requires love, flexibility and patience. An example of the activities is given by this former volunteer: “I ran a programme of activities for the children that included games, sport, art and craft, dance. I helped with evening devotions and on one trip ran the Sunday school at church with my husband. I helped on day trips out with the children; these were swimming, to the beach, the local market.”

Another volunteer enjoyed doing “creative activities with the children – drawing, painting, origami; singing, reading; playing, we painted height charts on the walls at both the boys' and girls' houses and played cricket, football and basketball.”

The two houses and grounds are very well maintained, clean and secure, and there is a modern, well-equipped hospital a short bus ride away. Anti-malarial medication is necessary on this placement.

Another volunteer summed up her visit like this: “I visited the Lighthouse Project as a single mature volunteer and for me it was a moving and heart-warming experience.  Over the month I was at the Project I was involved in lots of activities with the children, and to see the joy on their faces by someone taking time to listen and play with them was so rewarding.  There is no question that Tricia and Graham are 100% dedicated to the welfare and upbringing of the children. They are two very special people and it was an honour and pleasure to spend one month with them.”