Our Story.

Our story begins with a project aimed at providing nutrition and treatment for people living with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in the city of Hyderabad, India, in the mid 1990’s.

From this project, an opportunity arose to help the children of those suffering from this debilitating illness to live and gain an education. It was felt that education was the key to breaking the endless cycle of poverty and illness.

Funds were raised by Christadelphians in the UK to open a hostel to provide shelter, medical care and education whilst also learning about the great hope of life in the kingdom to come. The home started in a rented building with just 8 children and 1 elderly resident.

Very soon it became evident that a permanent building was needed and so in 1999 the purpose built Home was opened. With all the facilities of the new building, numbers very quickly grew and filled the home to capacity.

In the Bible, Shunem was a village where the Prophet Elisha found a warm welcome and where he regularly received food and shelter. The Christadelphian Shunem Home seemed an appropriate name for the new facility.

And so from small beginnings, Shunem now cares for more than 100 children and 20 elderly residents in 2 separate hostels.

Many of the children who arrived in those early years have now grown up and found work, some in the ever expanding IT industry, some in health and social care and others in the booming construction industry.

In early 2019, the home was inspected by the Government of Telagana and granted a permanent (5 year) registration to operate as a Child Care Institution.

Despite its growth, Shunem has maintained a very close family ethos with a strong bond of friendship and respect between the young and the not-so-young as they work, play and study together, guided by God’s Word.