This page is an excerpt from Chapter 15 of A Thousand Suns. Half of the royalties of this book go directly to the children of Calcutta.

« At the back of a hovel where several families lived crowded together, James Stevens had noticed a boy of about ten, dressed in rags. He was living with his mother, a poor widow who had no fingers and whose face had been eaten away by leprosy. He already had a few lesions on his skin. The Englishman gave the wretched woman to understand that he wanted to take care of her son and treat him. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say: "He'll never stay with you!"

Stevens learned from neighbors that the child was a proper little savage who would sometimes disappear for months on end. To everyone's surprise, he agreed to go off with the Englishman and so became the first occupant of the "Resurrection" home. His name was Budi Ram. In a matter of months he learned to read and write, and became one of the most gifted pupils in the car mechanic workshop.

	Read more about James Stevens: • Udayan Resurrection Home • A Former Businessman Saves Thousands of Children from Leprosy • An Orphan Child with Leprosy Finds a Home