Power in a Small Smile: Our Pop-Up Dental Clinic for Kotdwara’s Children

Smiles all round led by our awesome Director, Mr Amit Samuel.

When a community gathers with a shared purpose, even the smallest act can ripple outward, brightening futures. Project Help India answered a quiet, urgent need in Kotdwara: a pop-up dental clinic for the children who attend our Slum Education Centre. What began as a simple examination became a beacon of care, learning, and hope for families facing daily challenges - and the kids enjoyed the moment, even if some were nervous at first, especially for those who had never been to the dentist before.

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Nikita Singh and her team, whose compassion and expertise turned a routine check into trust and care. They listened to each child, explained what they saw, and identified 12 children needing follow-up treatment. The plan now includes free follow-up appointments at Dr. Singh’s clinic, ensuring timely care to prevent pain and longer-term health issues.

This camp was about more than dental care. It’s a celebration of dignity, encouragement, and practical support that builds lifelong healthy habits. The team gifted notebooks, pencils, stationery, toothpaste, biscuits, fruits, and medicines - tools that empower learning, nourishment, and well-being.

The smiles you see in the photos were more than gratitude; they were a promise that we will not turn away from the vulnerable and that small acts can lay the groundwork for lasting change. This story shows that it really does take a community to care ...and a powerful demonstration of love in action.

How you can help now

• Support paediatric health initiatives with a donation to fund follow-up care, education, and supplies.

• Share this positive news story to raise awareness about some of the most vulnerable children on the planet.

• Partner with us: If your organisation is looking to sponsor community health projects, we’d love to explore collaboration that scales impact.

If earlier this year you didn't see our story about our Pop Up Medical Clinic you might like to check it out HERE.

With thanks for your interest, love and support. We could not do what we do without you.

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Nikita Singh and her team for your generous support and help.

After the floods, now for the smell of it all!

The floodwaters may have redeeded, but the crisis for many of Punjab’s remote and isolated communities is far from over.

Since our relief work began, we’ve been delivering monthly essential supplies to those hardest hit. See YouTube News clip HERE.

Today, with hearts full of gratitude for your recent generosity, we share a new, urgent need to protect health and restore hope for families trying to rebuild.

A new and urgent health challenge has taken root: stagnant water is producing a foul and strong odour, and the unfortunate deaths of many animals have contaminated the environment. Now coupled with daily temperatures exceeding 35 degrees, these conditions have heightened the risk of outbreaks of waterborne and vector-borne diseases, threatening the well-being of families already struggling to move forward. In response, we’re launching two focused initiatives to safeguard communities and prevent a broader health crisis:

We are Organising Pop-Up Medical Camps

We will provide urgent, compassionate healthcare with on-site doctor consultations, essential medicines, simple diagnostics, and referrals for follow-up care. This helps with early detection and treatment, eases the burden on local clinics, and speeds recovery for the vulnerable who are unable who need it most, and who cannot afford medical expenses. Our target to do this - INR 1,00,000 ($2000AUD): Organising medical camps, including doctors’ fees, medicines, transportation, and related expenses.

We hope to conduct Fogging and Spraying Operations

If we raise the funds, we will prevent disease outbreaks by tackling mosquitoes and other vectors and by spraying and disinfecting affected areas. We will deploy fogging machines, apply disinfectants safely, and work with health authorities to maximise impact. We will help families feel safer as they return to their homes and livelihoods. Our target to do this - INR 50,000 ($1000AUD): Purchase of two fogging machines to reach affected areas efficiently.

Why your support matters

Every contribution directly fuels life-saving health interventions at a moment when timely care can mean the difference between a manageable setback, reduced exposure to both high risk infectious deadly diseases and a lifelong health burden. By funding medical camps and disease-control operations, you’re not just addressing immediate needs - we are helping to prevent outbreaks, protect families, especially children and the elderly, and restore dignity and hope to those who have lost so much, and who are particularly at risk due to malnutrition and poor immune resistance.

How you can help now

• Donate today to fund these two critical programs.

• Share this appeal with your networks to amplify impact.

• If you’re a business or a partner, perhaps you could sponsor one of the medical camps or a fogging session

Together, we can transform a challenging post-flood landscape into a pathway to health and resilience. Your generosity is a lifeline for families facing these dire circumstances.

Thank you for standing with us in this next phase of Love in Action. Please let me know directly if you are able to donate.

With love and thanks for your ongoing kindness, compassion, interest, and support.

This is what love in action looks like

This is what an awesome team looks like …our gratitude and thanks go to each and every one who volunteered to help. May God bless you all!

During the fear and devastation that followed a constant week of flooding, a simple truth shone through: when people respond with urgency, every act of love and compassion becomes a thread weaving us back into one powerful fabric of hope, comfort and a message that says ‘you are not alone’. Within 24 hours of our urgent appeal, we reached our fundraising goal -just over $2000ASU -and the momentum carried us forward. Within another 24 hours, we were able to send funds to our team to purchase essential ration packs. And in the next 24 hours, local volunteers and the team activated, pushing through obstructed roads, wading through receding waters, and delivering relief where it was most needed.

We borrowed a tractor to cross the swollen rivers and navigate the floodwaters and ensure the safe distribution of supplies to more than 50 needy but incredibly grateful families. The gratitude in their eyes, the thanks they voiced, and the quiet resilience of a community facing loss reminded us all why we come together: not to change the world overnight, but to change the lives of those who need us now.

As the waters continue to recede, we stay vigilant, aware that these communities, mostly subsistence farmers and daily wage earners, have lost income for months. We know from experience that serious health and hygiene risks impact communities after flooding, and we have already commenced our planning for how we can continue to help.

Your generosity this week demonstrates that relief can arrive quickly, and that hope can spread just as fast when we act as one. This is a wonderful example of a small charity (NGO) directing 100% of funds directly to the need, ensuring every dollar works where it matters most.

If you’re reading this, know that you are part of something enduring: a lived belief that we are all connected, that love grows when we move toward others in need, and that each of us becomes a better person because we choose to respond. We would elevate humanity worldwide if more of us embraced this truth and if more of us acted on it - making small sacrifices that have significant impact to those who are very much in need.

Our only request: please share this story with others.

Let it be a message of hope and impact, inspiring generosity and reminding everyone that love, once in motion, endures far longer than any challenge we face.

Each kit containing 10 kg of flour, 5 kg of rice, cooking oil, 1 kg of ghee, 3-4 kg of various pulses, sugar, tea leaves, dry milk, and spices like salt, chilli, turmeric. We've also included soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and other essentials. Additionally, we've provided water bottles to each family.

A heartfelt message of thanks from our Punjab Director - Mr Saleem Masih

If you would like to donate to our next phase of help and provision, please click the DONATE tab at the top of this page

Urgent appeal from Punjab: Stand with families facing devastating floods

Today, I write to you with a heavy heart and an urgent plea on behalf of families affected by the floods in Punjab. The situation is worsening by the hour. Rain continues, with predictions for at least another week, and flood levels are rising across a vast expanse of land. We have grave fears for the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable and marginalised people, including many of the children who rely on our Project Help India Education Centres.

The devastation has been overwhelming. Entire villages are submerged, homes have been destroyed, and families are left stranded with nothing but the clothes on their backs. In Village Gatti Rajo Ke, where one of our centres stands at the border, the situation is especially dire. People who once had safe homes are now forced to live by the roadside, exposed to rain and hardship, without food, clean drinking water, or shelter.

Our immediate concern is ensuring that the families connected to Project Help India through our Education Centres receive the help they need. This way the children who attend our centres will be assured that we are standing by them. We want you to know that we stand alongside these families, easing their suffering and misery at this difficult time.

You must see these images to believe the extent of the flooding…

Right now, 50 families are in desperate need. To bring them relief, we aim to provide each family with a ration kit worth ₹2,500, containing groceries, sanitary pads, bottled water, dried milk, and other essentials to sustain them through these critical days. The total required is ₹1,25,000 (approx. AUD 2,180).

If we reach our target quickly, we will mobilise immediate relief—food that fills stomachs, hygiene items that protect dignity, and essentials that shield families from further hardship. Your timely support can mean the difference between hunger and nourishment, despair and hope. Every contribution—big or small—will go directly toward saving lives and restoring dignity to those who have lost everything.

In moments like these, compassion becomes the strongest form of action. Please extend your hand of kindness and stand with us in bringing relief to these suffering families. If you can, donate today and share this appeal with friends, colleagues, and networks across the world.

Together, we can be the reason someone sleeps with food tonight and wakes up with hope tomorrow. Please make your tax deductible donation by using the DONATE button at the top of this page.

With gratitude,

Saleem Masih

Director Project Help India, Punjab

A Beautiful Lesson from the Hindu Faith: Celebrating Raksha Bandhan

Last week across India, people of the Hindu faith celebrated Raksha Bandhan — a joyful and deeply meaningful festival honouring the bond between brothers and sisters. Raksha Bandhan means ‘safety promise.’ On this day, sisters tie a colourful thread, called a rakhi, on their brothers’ wrists as a symbol that their brother will protect them in every circumstance and not let harm come their way. Brothers, in turn, often give gifts to their sisters as a gesture of love and appreciation. If separated by distance, sisters will send their rakhis by mail, a tradition that continues no matter where life takes them.

This festival is more than a ritual. It is a heartfelt reminder of the unbreakable love between siblings — a love that protects, nurtures, and endures.

At our Project Help India centres, we embraced this celebration with our own students. Children learned about the tradition and then created their own “safety promise” bands by hand. They tied them to their siblings or friends, making heartfelt promises to look out for and care for one another. The classrooms were filled with joy, laughter, and an unmistakable sense of love and family bonding. It was a very special day.

For me, this experience was a powerful reminder that, when we choose to be open, we can learn so much from faiths and cultures different to our own. These moments can deepen our respect and empathy for one another as we share this world together.

The lesson of Raksha Bandhan is simple yet profound: love protects, promises matter, and family, in whatever form it takes, is worth cherishing and defending. Let us take what we have learned from this beautiful tradition and use it as an opportunity to reach out to our own brothers and sisters. May we choose to resolve conflict, heal old wounds, live in gratitude and remember the importance of family and the bonds that keep us together.

The smiles on the children's faces demonstrate their pride and happiness in having this opportunity to celebrate their brothers and sisters. At Project Help India, we think it's beautiful!​

Powerful Impact: Noisy Learning, and the Sound of Joy

Students at our Centre at Village Kadarganj - a traditional Islamic Village. Here the houses are mostly built of bamboo with thatched roofs, walls and floor of the village houses are painted by a mixture of dirt, grass and cow manure. Here there are no indoor toilets, and no electricity connected to the grid.

If you've ever heard the laughter of children as they sing and dance, you’ll know that music does more than entertain. It inspires, unites, and heals. In our 13 Project Help India education centres, where resources are few and life in extreme poverty is harsh, music is one of the most powerful tools we have.

For many of the children in our slum and jungle communities, music is the first learning “technology” they experience. It’s through simple speakers, YouTube clips and the like, that they learn songs, build confidence, and come alive, performing in class and on stage during cultural events. It’s how they learn, celebrate, and importantly for kids, they laugh and have loads of fun. .

Five years ago, thanks to the generosity of Australian donors, we equipped all our centres with music and PA systems. These brought joy and new opportunities to literally thousands of children. But after years of constant use in tough conditions, most of these systems are now broken or unreliable. With Indian Independence Day celebrations approaching on August 10, our staff and students are desperate to bring the music back.

We need to purchase 8 new good-quality music systems, each costing around ₹12,000 ($210AUD), for a total of ₹96,000 ($1,700AUD).

Your donation will go directly to:

• Replacing broken music equipment in 8 of our centres

• Supporting cultural education through dance, drama and song

• Giving children a voice - literally and figuratively

Our call for help isn’t just about sound systems. It’s about dignity, hope, celebration, and giving every child the chance to shine on stage and off.

If you’re in a position to help—even with a small gift—please consider supporting this appeal today. Let’s bring music, movement, and meaning back into these children's lives.

Donate now by clicking the DONATE button at the top of this page and help us make some beautiful noise for all the right reasons.

Our Lead photo is taken at Village Kadarganj is a traditional Islamic Village. Here the houses are mostly built of bamboo with thatched roofs, walls and floor of the village houses are painted by a mixture of dirt, grass and cow manure. Before and after rain, these houses need a maintenance every time. Most of the people who live in this village use to rear 2 or 3 cattle like cows or buffaloes for their milk and milk products, collectively they get 3 to 5 litres of milk every day. They travel 8 kms to the nearby towns to sell them in the market and get a fist full amount of money to buy some food. Selling milk is the only source of income for these people. One of the struggles these people face during monsoon is when it rains heavily they can’t reach to the town due to the flooded rivers that surround the village. There is no healthy water supply. River water, a well and a hand pump are the main source of water. There are no indoor toilets, and no electricity.

The educational status of the people in this village was not so good at all. ‘Project Help’ is the first organisation to think of their education and future. But now when we are running our child friendly education centre in this area, the kids are getting quality education and we have admitted them to government schools. As with the other villages, the government schools are 5 to 8 kms away and it is particularly dangerous for the girls to walk to school. Approximately 40 children attend this centre on a daily basis.

When the School Said No, Love Said Yes

16 Surgeries., and not giving up. Raghav attends the Project Help India Disability Centre with joy and enthusiasm every day. Here, he has face a place to belong. We love him and he makes our world and lives all the better for knowing him.

Twelve-year-old Raghav lives with his family in a slum community in Gadi Ghat, Kotdwar. Born with a severe physical disability -his legs joined together, he has endured 16 unsuccessful surgeries and is still unable to walk or be mobile without assistance.

His family lives in extreme poverty. His father, Rajeev, works as a casual labourer and cook at local weddings when work is available. His mother, Pooja, stays at home to care for Raghav and his two siblings. Life is incredibly difficult, and there are few resources to support a child with a disability.

Despite his desire to learn, Raghav was denied enrolment at the government school because of his condition. This discrimination is heartbreaking—and all too common, leaving many children like Raghav isolated and without hope.

Thanks to generous donors like you, Project Help India intervened. Today, Raghav attends our Disability Education Centre, where he is welcomed with open arms. He receives a free, inclusive education in a place where he is safe, valued, and supported.

Education brings hope and possibility for this little boy’s future -something his parents thought might never be possible.

This opportunity has transformed not only his life but the lives of his whole family.

Thank you for making stories like Raghav’s possible.

The Time Is Now

Over the past few months, we have shared some deeply moving stories from the heart of Northern India—stories of real people whose lives are being transformed through the work of Project Help India.

You’ve met the women empowered through our Sewing Centre…
The children walking barefoot for miles just to learn in our jungle classrooms…
The families receiving life-saving treatment at our pop-up medical clinics…
And entire communities being reminded that they are seen, known, and loved.

Alongside these powerful stories, we must now share a pressing reality. We’ve come to a critical moment, and we need to speak openly about where things stand.

While our impact is real and growing, our funding is not keeping pace. At current levels, we only have enough money to continue our programs for another 9 months.

To keep going strong for the next year, we need to raise a minimum of $25,000, which we are hoping to do by the end of the Australian financial year (30 June). This amount covers approximately three months of our operating costs, and with your help, we can move forward with confidence, knowing that we can continue to show up for the people who are depending on us.

So we’re asking:
If you’ve been touched by any of the stories we’ve shared—please act.
If your heart has been stirred—please give.

👉 [Donate Now] using the DONATE button at the top of this page

• Every donation over $2 is tax-deductible in Australia.

• $50 supports a week of school for a child.

• $100 provides training and supplies for a woman at our Sewing Centre.

• $500 can deliver medical care to a remote village.

If your organisation or business would like to partner with us or make a significant donation, please reach out to us directly. I would love to speak with you about how you can make a lasting impact.

Your generosity today will help us continue this essential work—not just for the next 9 months, but for the long haul. Let’s keep the hope alive.

With our heartfelt thanks,