Women in Travel (WiT), the travel retail networking group, has unveiled its new fund-raising project for 2013 following the successful inauguration of a school in India for needy children.
The Janet Sheed Roberts Residential School for Special Needs Children opened in Ramnagar towards the end of 2012 following a two-year fund-raising push by WiT members.
Their new fund-raising project for 2013 will be A Drop of Life, a charity that brings water to remote villages in China (see details below).
Sarah Branquinho, who spearheaded the Ramnagar fund-raising project, has updated WiT members on the progress of the new school.
Here is her latest report:
“It is two months since I went to the opening of the school for which we raised funds in 2011 and 2012, and last week John Hunt, CEO of Lotus Flower Trust was back there to see how everything is progressing.
“This is now home to more than 70 children and two more arrived while John was there. He arrived during classes and was delighted to see that many of our children are fully integrated into the main school for lessons, wearing the same school uniform as their classmates and have truly been taken under their wing.
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Children race around the playground like mini Paralympians |
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Pupils proudly show off their Nike tops and shorts donated by Travellersshop and Nike |
“The teachers told him that they are making excellent progress.
“The classrooms in the residential school have huge bright wallcharts and two rooms in the Residential School have been set aside for therapy for all the children at 2pm each day.
“John took with him the Nike tops and shorts kindly donated by Travellersshop and Nike, and they had great fun racing around the playground – children with some severe physical disabilities were incredibly fleet of foot! They have been invited to the National Sports Coaching Camp, organised by Bharat, at the Taj Mahal in Agra so our mini Paralympians will be splendidly clad for the event.
“They will be travelling in a Maruti van donated by the parents of the children in the main school, many of who live in real poverty and will have made a huge effort to get the funds together for the van.
“You will remember that two of the original children had cleft palates and/or lips. I am delighted to say that we had immediate offers of help from The Smile Train charity through Martin Moodie, and Operation Smile through Pancho Motta. The first two children will have life-changing surgery with The Smile Train, and as there are several more children locally with similar impediments, we hope that between The Smile Train and Operation Smile we will create some really big beautiful smiles over the next months.
“Lotus Flower Trust is trying to raise £900 for heaters for the Residential School, as the nights can be very cold and the school has been built for the hot weather that dominates most of the year, and a further £2,500 for six wheelchairs, sports equipment, teaching aids and specialised learning toys.
“We know many of you have taken this school and these children to your hearts and once in a while we will let you know how the children are doing.”
WiT’s new 2013 project
Branquinho continued: “Tina Tam of La Prairie has nominated this year’s project where we will be raising funds for A Drop of Life (http://www.llcs.org.hk), which brings water to remote villages in China. Northwest China is one of the driest regions in the world. Annual rainfall is only about 300mm yet the annual evaporation rate is as high as 1,500-2,000mm, so clean water is precious.
“To gain a better understanding of the harsh life in rural China and how the projects are organised by LLCS, Tina participated in one of its experience trips – five days and four nights in the northern part of China at the end of November where she visited households and one school where children’s attendance has improved since a water cellar (an underground water storage tank) was built at the school. Previously they were frequently absent from school so that they could carry water to their families instead.
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Children will be travelling to the National Sports Coaching Camp in a van donated by parents of children in the main school |
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Children hard at work in class at the residential school |
“Tina has several moving stories to tell: here is just one of them which illustrates why this project deserves all our support:
“A young woman became blind when she was four years old after an infection from dirty water. Abandoned by her mother, she was living with her grandfather. Every day, she (blind) and her grandfather (very old) used to walk down the hill three times a day (30 minutes per trip) to fetch water for the family. The grandfather guided her along the path and she carried the water back.
“At last, she was helped by LLCS. A water cellar was built for her family, so that she could move to town and study some practical skills in the school for the blind. She met her husband, who has physical disabilities, at work (a massage centre performed by blind and disabled people). They married two years ago and she gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby boy.
“Our aim is to raise money to build water cellars (providing water for one or two households) or contribute to a water dam (sufficient to supply a village of 30 households). Each water cellar costs €300, and the full cost of a water dam is €40,000.
“We look forward to seeing you all at many of the industry’s events over the next few months. Do contact any of us for more information (see contact details below).”
Sarah Branquinho: sarah.branquinho@wdfg.com
Gerry Munday: gerry.munday@furla.com
Catherine Bonelli: cbonelli@devanlay.fr
Tina Tam: tina.tam@laprairiegroup.ch
Amanda Felix: amanda.felix@dfnionline.com
Lois Pasternak: parsnip5@aol.com
Rowena Holland: row@essentialcommunications.org
Marissa Phanivong: m.phanivong@tfwa.com
