Hey,
 |
All this little girl wanted was
cuddles. She lives on the street
in Kolkata. |
I came back from Kolkata early Saturday morning which has given me a little bit of time to reflect on this incredible experience. After injuring my knee and realising that I wasn't going to be able to play for the bones of a year I wanted to try and do something with my time but I didn't know what. John had been to Kolkata twice already with the HOPE Foundation and after he told me a small bit about it I was really eager to go! First of all I was about 2 months late applying and didn't think I had a chance of it but due to perseverance and kindness on HOPE's side I was lucky enough to get this opportunity. Our group consisted of 96 students and 10 leaders.
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| Full of smiles. |
To be honest I wasn't at all sure what to expect from the trip and I didn't even fully understand how I could be of any help by going but I was still looking forward to it. Due to this I found my own fundraising quite difficult because I didn't really know what to say to people. Thankfully though I had my family, colleagues and friends who so kindly donated to this very worthy cause.
 |
Our visit to the HOPE Hospital.
This little boy is being
treated for leukaemia. |
We set off on Thursday the 18th and arrived late Friday the 19th (knee as stiff as a poker) which meant that our first day of visiting homes was Saturday! My first experience of Kolkata was one of chaos, people everywhere, cars beeping for fun, traffic rules seemed non-existent and a sense of rushing everywhere. The drive from the airport to the hotel was fascinating, a mix of wealth and poverty to be seen, people living in homemade shacks or on the street with little or nothing followed by beautiful, well kept hotels, fancy cars and very well dressed people. That alone was very eye-opening to me. The poverty was extreme, but so was the wealth. Elections are taking place in India at the moment so there is a lot of work going on to try and hide the extent of the poverty that there is.
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A little girl in SICW which
is a home for children
with special needs. |
 |
Our visit to Bhagar Créche
which caters for 70
slum children. |
Over the duration of six days we went to visit on average two HOPE homes a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, often accompanied by a trip to Life Skills at lunch time (a place for these kids to learn important skills such as culinary and computer skills), we went to Mother Theresa's convent and dawn mass on Easter Sunday and we also got to visit the HOPE Hospital and to go on a Night Round with the HOPE Ambulance. I got up early morning to get my gym work/running out of the way! The homes were nothing short of incredible and each time we were greeted by beautiful smiles. These kids were proud to show us around their homes and to give us a demonstration of their dance skills and show us the artwork and jewellery that they had made. The happiness of these kids to see visitors was heartwarming. Despite the language barrier in some of these homes their ability to communicate through games and dance was special to experience. We brought bubbles, stickers, balloons and the likes and had such fun watching and playing with them. Some of these kids were abandoned as small children, some were taken to be cared for after substance abuse, others are in protection from difficult situations, children with special needs were dumped and left to die and thanks to the work that HOPE are doing now have the opportunity to live a better life.
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This is where this family lives.
They invited us into their home during our
Night Round with the HOPE Ambulance. |
 |
After giving this family
clothes for their children. |
The night ride was an experience that will stay with me forever. We went to visit families who live under flyovers and have nothing. All the kids wanted was affection, to be held and to play games. I spoke with one mother and she was holding a very small baby who owned nothing but one t-shirt. We gave her baby and her children some clothes and it was like Christmas for them, they put the clothes on straight away and the smiles on their faces showed their appreciation. These families have nothing at all, they sleep on a blanket on concrete yet their gratitude for something as small as a jumper or a pair of shorts is special. A family brought us in to see their 'home' which again was under a fly over and consisted of a homemade fire, cooking pots, food and a blanket on the floor as lanes of traffic whizzed by just inches away on either side. Their appreciation for so little has taught me a lot!
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Students of Bhagar school -
One of HOPE's Projects |
We also got to experience Indian culture with the food (too spicy couldn't be dealing), Sari night (which was great fun) and Indian dancing (also good fun), we taught them an Irish dance in return ha! :)
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| All the leaders during Sari Night |
This trip was incredible and I would recommend it to anybody, I'll definitely be going back! It's taught me how happy the smallest things can make people and how much we often take things for granted, a little goes a long way. I'm already looking at sponsoring a child in India for the year! Personally, it has shown me that with disappointment and adversity brings opportunities and it is up to you to make the most of it and to keep your positive side out!
If anyone wants to know more about the HOPE Foundation and the work that they do here's the link!
https://www.hopefoundation.ie
Naomi
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