From left to right – meet Khushi, Navraj, Preet, Tamanna, Khushi, and Harpreet.
Each of these children have an inspiring story and they are resilient despite the adversity and challenges that they face in their daily life.
Nine year old Navraj and his sister Raman (not pictured) both attend our centre. Sadly their father is an addict and spends the family income on drugs. We are told that the family is so poor they “could not afford a pencil “.
For Tamanna and her brother Preet, two years ago they lost their father due to drugs. Their mother Ritu, works as a ‘house servant’ and barely makes enough for the family to survive.
Khushi’s parents say that she has “been transformed into a new child” since attending our centre. It took some time for them to be convinced about sending their daughter to school and they now speak openly to others about the importance of education.
Harpreet is 11 and attends Grade 3 - she is excelling in her studies and especially loves sport and drawing. Due to a visual impairment she was not permitted to attend school until this year receiving the opportunity to attend one of our new centres in Punjab.
These five children have never had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas because this is the first year that Project Help India has worked in their village in Punjab. For many of them, this too is their first year of being able to attend school - where they are not only well educated but they are known, loved and kept safe. Project Help India is committed to working towards the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) that every primary aged child has a right to receive a free education.
…it’s true that all of their Christmases have come at once!
As well as receiving an education, this year all of our 600 students (who attend our 14 centres in three states of India) will celebrate with a Christmas party where they will present a special performance of the Christmas story for their parents, they will have a yummy Christmas feast and receive a Christmas present (which is a school backpack) - all made possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
The kids are grateful.
Our staff are all very grateful.