Our Kotdwara and Bijnor team of teachers during a training day in late September.
Mother Teresa said...
“the task is not to do big things but to do small things with great love.”
It was a great encouragement to read this and to be reminded that little things are significant when love is found at the centre of it all. I guess this is one of the reasons why we love to use the hashtag #smallstepsbigpurpose - time and time again, we see how a little goes a long, long way.
For those who have been following our recent trip to India, thank you for your interest and support. In a few short weeks we managed to see a lot, achieve a lot and explore ideas, make plans and develop an exciting vision for the year ahead.
While we (Doug and Rowena) were in India we:
purchased quite a lot of valuable teaching resources for our centres.
purchased a fabulous brand new laptop for our office
directed some urgent funds to trade in our jeep (which will be of little value in 24 months because the state government bans all diesel vehicles once they our 10 years old)
blessed each one of our staff with some greatly appreciated gifts
we provided further funds to some families who completely lost everything they owned in the recent monsoon floods
assessed learning needs for our students
We are also thrilled to be able to commence paying our five teachers, director and administrative officer in Punjab with a small monthly salary (up to this present time, they have kindly volunteered their time and energy).
Next we hope to purchase:
further stationary and workbooks for our students
school backpacks for our 600 students to give as a Christmas gift
an electric sewing machine for our Women’s Centre in Kotdwara
And in 2024 we hope to:
provide daily meals for the students in the five Punjab Centres
start a Community Centre (with a focus on tailoring) in one of the jungle villages
start a Technology Centre in another of the jungle villages
start a Disability Centre in Punjab
explore how we can develop and deliver a drug awareness program for our students in Punjab
explore the possibility of a pop-up medical clinic to support our centres in Punjab.
Each one of the things that I have mentioned above, while small steps in themselves, definitely come wrapped in great love. We are confident that these things will have a significant impact in the lives of the children, their families and community.
We are so grateful to our supporters whose kindness, compassion and generosity make all of this possible. Thank you again for helping us to bring love, hope and purpose to some very special people.