as published in the May 2019 editing of èBella Magazine
Michelle Stephens started The Mahaan Aasha Foundation to better the lives of children in India
by Jaynie Tice
Michelle Stephens and her husband Ryan were walking around the busy streets of Mumbai on their wedding anniversary when they turned a corner and experienced something that would forever change their lives. Children lined the busy, polluted street, solemn and barefoot — some without any clothes at all.
“With every step that we took, my heart was just breaking more and more,” Stephens said, “to the point that I told my husband, ‘I can’t take one more step, until we turn back and do something for these kids.’”
Stephens and her husband found a stand to buy ice cream, samosas and snacks to bring to the children. With her generosity, the children’s faces turned to grateful smiles. They waved as she and her husband left them to enjoy the treats.
“I didn’t change their situation in life that day, but I think that through my gift of humanity, I instilled some bit of joy in a world where they are forgotten,” she said.