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notes from the field
Asian Aid March 2013 // Issue 1
Stories and Photos by Joshua Moses Š 2013 Asian Aid Australia.
Welcome to India www.asianaid.org.au
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A Fresh Perspective 2013
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It’s a late start to the year indeed! Landing in Bangalore, India, Tammy and I (Asian Aid Field Staff) were surprisingly met with a dry heat we associated with Indian summertime, and it was only February. Apparently the hot season has come far too early and is far less humid than usual. Mornings have been met with intense smog and smoke from burning rubbish and commuter’s rushing to work. This year as Asian Aid field staff we have new responsibilities and initiatives to tackle and look forward to sharing some of our experiences with you. We will briefly be visiting Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal this year, but our work as field staff will be based mostly in India as we help plan for Asian Aid’s future growth and presence and place a focus on strengthening our current projects for the long-haul.
So welcome to India! For those readers who have not had the opportunity to travel here, we hope you’ll get a picture of India you’ve not seen before. We hope to show you something new and fresh. This year, alongside highlighting the work of Asian Aid, we’d love for you to get acquainted with the locally based partners we work with and the challenges of development here. So we’ve introduced Partner Profiles for the first half of the year, hoping to give you a bit of history and background to the various organisations and some of the people working within them. Also within our Asian Aid communications department we have some exciting new avenues of media that will filter through as the year progresses, so be sure to watch this space. We’d love for you to have as clear a picture as possible of what we do, nearly as much as we’d love for you to get involved in what we do! And for those of you who maintain sponsoring beautiful children, we will have some special challenges for you as the year goes on.
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Staff Names from left to right: Beulah, Sonja (Asian Aid Australia), Rebecca (Asian Aid Australia), Pearl, David, Rajendra, Tammy (Asian Aid Australia), Solomon, Jim (Asian Aid USA), Livingston, Leah, Prasad, Kasairam , Muthu, T. Ravi, Ravi D., Sunil, Neyayathipathy, & Quentin (Asian Aid Australia).
Helping Hands Welfare Society (HHWS) is Asian Aid’s partner in India for sponsorship implementation. From sourcing where the children come from to accepting sponsorship funds to helping place graduating children in their desired tertiary institutions, HHWS has been essential in providing disadvantaged children a secure and hopeful future. The work of instilling dignity and hope is not a quick and easy task, especially in a nation of 1.2 billion people. Helen Eager helped bring the partnership between HHWS and Asian Aid together in the early 1980’s when she visited Sunshine Orphanage – located just north of Bangalore. Back then the orphanage enjoyed
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acreage for children to play on, no pollution, and a low population density. Now Sunshine Orphanage is located within what is considered the city-limits of Bangalore – a city of around 13 million people, and continues the amazing work of supporting and empowering children. This city, along with the rest of India is growing not only in population, but in wealth as well. With India now being one of the fastest growing economies, one would think that the disadvantages that held many back were lessening; Instead, the disparities that exist between the wealthy and the impoverished continues to increase. While wages for professionals in India are rising, as is the cost of living, the humble wages received by
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David Keeler, Director of HHWS, comes from Lismore, NSW, Australia and has been working here in Bangalore for just over a year. Though he retired from full time work a couple of years back, he believes his previous career life and experience has prepared him for the skills required here in India. Though language barriers exist, he says the challenge excites him. In his free time he enjoys playing the cello and dabbles in photography.
the dedicated staff of HHWS don’t deter them from pushing forward and working for a common reason – the children. From the 1980’s until now sponsorship numbers have continued to increase and now there are nearly 7000 sponsored children in the HHWS database as of 2013. That’s 7000 children’s profile’s, reports, and letters being managed and processed by 22 staff. For the staff, their satisfaction comes when the many young people that have been supported through the sponsorship program pause to thank and praise the staff for what they do.
Helping Hands Welfare Society Bangalore, Karnataka State, India
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Balu & Kempu Though most Indian Bollywood love stories are glitz and glamour, this love story had humble beginnings. Rajendra Prasad, or Balu as everyone calls him, started life as an orphan, though living with his uncle and aunty. His parents had split and though custody was given to the father, he could not care for Balu and his brother appropriately. Balu worked for his aunty and uncle, maintaining their house and babysitting their daughter. His elder brother moved in with his grandmother elsewhere and their paths split From that point until now Balu has not seen his older brother. Balu, simply meaning ‘bear’ in Hindi, was then given the opportunity to attend and board at Elim Orphanage and School, just outside of Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh. It was here at Elim Home, as it is colloquially known, where he met his future wife, Kempu, also a sponsored orphan. Her parents both passed away and her grandparents raised her, but they could not afford a good education either. It was ten years from the time they met until the time they were wedded, in 2007. He proudly states their marriage was based on love, not arranged. The
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simple questioning about the character of his wife brings an enlivened mood and many smiles out of him; he’s of the passionate kind of man. Kempu is being sponsored to complete her Masters in Science, in the field of Nursing, and hopes to work as a lecturer in a university when she’s done. Kempu and Balu have a two-year-old son named Kyle and any time you stumble on any member of this family, chances are they are smiling. Balu and Kempu now live in Bangalore and Balu currently is the Transport and Postage Officer for Asian Aid’s partner HHWS. He is the go-to guy for our Asian Aid Australia staff when we need to find out how to get somewhere, what transport is best, what time of year to avoid certain areas and what an honest price for something is. This story, like many others we have stumbled on throughout our travels, makes us wonder what their situations would be like at present time, if years ago they had not been given the gift of sponsorship, education, and a comfortable place to stay. To know that love, the continuing of another generation, and employment was found through sponsorship sounds like a better movie script than most Bollywood films (just without all the dancing, needless drama, and excessively large moustaches!). Balu has been employed with HHWS for eight years in total. While not expected, it is indeed something special, when a former sponsor child wants to continue working within the sponsorship and development realm. He doesn’t have a specific plan for his son, Kyle, he wants him to choose his own path, but Balu hopes that he will choose in some capacity to work in the service of those in need.
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if your in the area, join us for the....
Seasons of Hope book launch March 23, 2013 6:00-6:30pm Joanne Felk Gallery (underneath Chan Shun Auditorium) Avondale College, 582 Freemans Drive Cooranbong NSW You will be able to purchase copies of the book after the launch program. $25 (launch evening special price) This is a public event and is free to attend; light refreshments will be served.
val Creative Arts Festi
This is an Asian Aid initiative supported by Manifest Creative Arts Festival www.facebook.com/asianaid
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Seasons of Hope is a stunning collection of photographs that reveal beauty, community spirit, optimism, and determination in Asia. Proceeds from the sale of the book will support the Anti-Human Trafficking Program in India.
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“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.� - Ernest Hemingway
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2013 | issue 1