Campus tours, epic mountain views and an emotional meeting with some of our sponsored children... Last month, Joint Sponsorship Secretaries Ian and Anji Russell reported on their very first visit to Dr Graham’s Homes – a story you can catch up on in the first part of Anji’s “Kalimpong Diary”.

After an action-filled few days at the school, they packed their bags for the 400-mile journey back to Kolkata. But that wasn’t the end of their journey. Their next assignment was to meet some of the 40+ students who are being sponsored through training and further education by DGHUK donations. Here, Anji describes how they got on…

Wednesday

All too soon we have to leave and say goodbye to Kalimpong (and Kanchenjunga!) and make our way down the long, long road to Siliguri, in the Himalayan foothills, to board our plane to Kolkata. Our ‘appointment’ with all things DGH doesn’t stop here though. On arriving at our hotel, we are approached by a young concierge who recognises the school driver as he drops us off. “Are you from Dr Graham’s Homes?” he asks enthusiastically. It turns out he’d been a pupil at the Homes himself, and is on a work placement from the International Institute of Hotel Management. He’s so pleased to meet us that he takes special care of us while we’re there. As we said before, DGH links are everywhere!! Imagine our surprise again though when, on entering our room, we realise that a large picture in a black frame on the bedroom wall is a photo print of the Katherine Graham Memorial Chapel at the Homes (an Indian heritage site).

Saturday

An important task as our first morning in Kolkata begins. We join members of the Homes’ Board of Management to help them carry out interviews with children who are hoping to join DGH as sponsored children for the next academic year – starting February 2023. It’s an extremely difficult job because we know the choices we make will mean that some children have greater opportunities in the future, but those not chosen may not.

Sunday

Today, we are able to meet most of the 44 students who are studying in or near Kolkata. One student travels four hours by train just to attend. We have a wonderful lunch with them all at the Kolkata DGH student hostel and plenty of opportunities to chat about everything! We are also able to pray with some of them – a real privilege. It’s great to put faces to the names that have become so familiar to us due to the almost daily WhatsApp calls and messages we have with them all!

Monday

Our final day in India has yet another DGH surprise! (This is becoming a habit!) One of the managers at the hotel where we’re staying finds out we are working for the Homes (he is from Darjeeling – a town near Kalimpong). He comes to our table and thanks us many times for what we do for the children at the Homes (we do explain that we don’t personally sponsor all the children). He brings us a plate of complimentary, and rather delicious, desserts. It isn’t the free desserts that impress us, of course, but rather the high regard with which DGH is held. What a special end to a special visit!

Thoughts upon our return…

Meeting the children and the students, and being privileged to see first-hand the “outcomes” of lives well-lived at DGH, really encouraged us. Especially as many of these lives were lived whilst coping with two years of Covid away from the school and with an education online, usually via just a small phone.

These children and students, despite their challenging backgrounds, are resilient, showing a strong zest for life, a desire to better themselves and a true love and appreciation for all that has been given to them at DGH and beyond. We feel so privileged to have spent some time with them in person, and to see the amazing changes that our charity is able to bring about in the lives of our young people.

A longer version of Anji’s article will also appear in the next DGH Annual Report, due out in May.