Dozens of orphaned children lay neglected in torn, damp cots in a run-down hospital. With a meager staff and scant supplies, the facility couldn’t provide the children with the vital care they needed. Undernourished and suffering, these orphans were starved for love. Some had gone for days without being touched by an adult.

These precious children grew up in poverty. All came from broken or destroyed families. Some were beaten to bloodshed many times. Others were molested, sold as slaves, offered for rape, or forced to beg on the streets. Many witnessed the murderous deaths of siblings or a parent, and some were threatened with death themselves. Incredibly, most of these things happened by the hand of their own parents.