It’s always a joy to hear from our sponsored young people – particularly when we learn how they’re growing and flourishing beyond the Homes. Last month we heard from Abhishek, a former sponsored child at Dr Graham’s Homes who is now being supported through a master’s in social work in Bangalore (Bengaluru). Abhishek recently travelled to a village near Bengaluru, in southern India, to help on a community development project as part of his course; DGHUK was glad to help with his costs. We asked him to tell us more about it…

What was the project, Abhishek?

It was a five-day camp in a rural village near Bengaluru City. We were there to do surveys, collect and evaluate data from the local people, and raise awareness about some important development themes. There were five key themes during the week: community development, health and hygiene, children’s rights, empowering women and young people, and sustainability and the environment.

What did your work involve?

Every day we organised rallies to mobilise the local people and encourage them to come to our cultural programme. Then we’d perform songs, acts, mimes and dance, and present short films, to explain the different themes. For the health and hygiene day, we worked with a government hospital and a doctor provided free checkups for the villagers. On the last day, we cleaned the entire village while raising awareness about how pollution affects the environment.

Were there any challenges?

There was a barrier in terms of language as we use English while the villagers there speak Kannada. But our documentation team had done some translations, which helped us collect data during the surveys. Overall, though, the camp was a great experience, and I think we made a real difference to the community. We even had our pictures in some of the Bengaluru newspapers! I’d just like to thank my sponsors at DGHUK for helping and supporting me too. It’s because of them that I’m able to study here and receive a quality education. I’m forever grateful. To learn more about supporting our pupils when they leave the Homes, please visit the Extended Sponsorship page. Or contact our Sponsorship Secretaries for more detail – they would love to hear from you!

Image: a write-up in the New Indian Express newspaper