New Sneakers New Goals

Thanks DK Studio for a gym workout in India

This is a quick word of "thanks" to all the members of my gym 'DK Studio' in Coogee, who throw their used and unwanted sneakers into the box at the studio. I have just returned from India and I must share with you the story of your shoes.

Your old sneakers have put a huge smile of the face of many kids and teenagers! These kids have absolutely nothing. The poverty they endure is heartbreaking. They live in the local slums and remote jungle villages where life is incredibly tough. Many of these kids do not have shoes to wear, let alone comfy sneakers. After lugging two huge bags full of sneakers to India (via Africa) I was able to personally deliver them to some kids. I wish you had have been there to see the look of surprise, delight and happiness on their faces.

Aman (pictured) is a young man who we have supported for a couple of years. He started life with a sad story that now has a very happy ending. He was born with a condition called .... which basically means he had an external bladder. His trousers were always wet, he could not control his bladder. He was teased and in a poor way with constant infections and bad skin conditions. Last year he had surgery, and we supported the payment of his ongoing treatment and rehab. He had to travel once a month, 10 hours each way by train to Delhi to get this help. Aman is recovering well and he now leads a normal life with the prospect of ultimately getting a job. Last week he participated in a leadership seminar that I ran for local kids, and he is really growing in confidence as a leader who influences his mates. Last week was the first time in Aman's life that he ever has worn a pair of enclosed shoes.

A few other amazing things to share with you... * The kids also have never had socks, so I bought some for them too. * No-one in this town has a shoe size over a 9. We are still looking for homes for people with big feet. There are some kids whose sneakers are too big for them, but there was no way they were letting go of them! * I also managed to set up a youth program with a guy who owns a gym in town. He is going to give free membership to at risk teenage boys who tend to get caught up in alcohol and drugs by about age 14 (if not earlier). We teaching these about personal goal setting. It's incredibly exciting to empower these kids who a sense of hope for the future.

Over the past 2 years my wife Rowena and I have set up 5 "schools" where now approximately 200 kids attend for 2 hours, 6 days a week. Our charity is able to employ a sports coach to help these kids enjoy games, improve their fitness and to learn through this new experience. We also feed these kids a healthy meal each day. I am super thankful for the support of my awesome gym 'DK Studio' at Coogee and Bondi, that they have been part of this story.

When your shoes travel to India, not only have they been faithful in helping you to work-out, they are now making a difference in a young person's life. My guess is that these kids will hold on to them for a lot longer than you did!

I will be heading back to India in 2017, so if you have old sneakers sized 9 or smaller, please pass them on.

Can You Help Please?

On my recent visit to India I met 7 year old Krish for the first time, and I also saw Rakhi, one of our teachers who I have known for a number of years.

Both need urgent medical care and attention, and sadly both are too poor to receive this. We are asking for your prayers for these people and to ask if you would please consider making a special donation to help them.

The reports below have been written by our friend and charity partner, Amit Samuel. He and his wife are personally visiting both families to help support them. Sunjay's wife, Rakhi is not well. She fronted up for work a couple of days after her miscarriage, and she was clearly in considerable pain. We were not convinced that she is receiving the follow-up care that is necessary.

Please feel free to forward this email to people at your work...perhaps you could do a little collection or fudnraiser. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to these people.

Please let me know if you can help. Donations can be made from our website, or via the EFT details below.

www.kotdwarahelp.org

*BSB: *812-170

*ACCOUNT NUMBER: *100122703

*ACCOUNT NAME: *RM & DJ Thomas INDIA

Please write '*Krish & Rakhi help' * in the reference section, and also include your name

Thank you so much. Love Doug and Rowena

Krish aged 7 - needs emergency medical advice and attention *I am feeling very sorrowful to tell you that one boy from our slums center is going through a sever painful situation . His name is KRISH and he is 7 years old. Few days before , he was playing with his friends and accidentally fell down from the railing and got his right hand broken. At that time his parents were at the work so the neighbor took him to an untrained and illegal practitioner for the treatment. The neighbor were illiterate and it is the worst dark patch on Indian society that most of the poor people are illiterate very severely.so that man put a bandage with some lime on his hand and due to reaction from lime and his arm sweat he got gangrene in his hand. Than His parents took him to a doctor and he advised them to amputate that childs right hand. His family is grieved and that boy is crying since he got this news. When I talked with KRISH, his tears were not stopping and I felt very sad. So I want you to please pray and think about him. Doctors haz also said that if this child gets a good and immediate proper medical help may be in delhi or in dehradun , his arm can be saved. But not sure 100%. *

Rakhi needs urgent ongoing medical help and TLC

Dear brother Doug,

*We are full of sorrow that one of our employees wife Rakhi has lost her newborn child. His Name is Sanjay Singh and he is working very positively with us as a teacher in our Jungle Center. We pray for this grieved family. All this has happened due to poor Govt. Services Mr. Sanjay’s wife got laboured in the night and there was no help to take her to the hospital at the right time. She walked from the jungle 8km to Kotdwara to get to the hospital there. She was very poorly by then. Nearly 48 hours later they then got managed to reach Bijnor Govt Hospital. The surgeons did the surgery but till that time, but it was too late. The child had died. We are very heartfelt for Mr. Sanjay’s family. May God mend their sorrows as soon as it can be.*

*"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say." *Lamentations 3: 22-24

Back from India and more enthusiastic than ever!

Gulliver and I returned home from India just yesterday (Saturday 8th October) and I wanted to pass on my sincere thanks for your prayers and support. We stayed well and healthy for the entirety of our journey - so relieved about this. We were away for three weeks in total: a week in Cape Town, 2 days in Dubai, then 7 days in Kotdwara (north of Delhi) then 5 days working at Vision Rescue in Mumbai.

We had the best time ever and have come back to Australia having had another life changing experience, as well as more passion and determination than ever before. So many of you make regular donations to www.kotdwarahelp.org and I want to tell you that your money is making a significant difference in the lives of children, families and the community. You are part of the story of people's lives. So many people, who I wish you could meet, send their love and thanks to you. These people are grateful to you and they honour you. I am not exaggerating when I say how much they love and appreciate you.

Amit and Daisy Samuel and our staff team (13 people in total) also send their love and best wishes.

It would not be possible for me to write a summary of my experiences in one short email. Over the coming weeks, I shall send you short stories about my experiences and the people whose lives you have touched. We have seen lives touched in remote communities and slums through education, healthy meals, sport, anti-human trafficking, youth leadership projects, teacher training, tailoring and technology programs, visiting people with leprosy, handing out female sanitary items, second hand sports shoes, ...not to mention just spending time with people, encouraging and listening to them tell their life story, extending dignity, compassion, love, physical help, smiles, lots of high-fives and photos - they love having their 'selfie' taken - it shows that you value them.

If you have not seen my photos on Instagram - check them out on @dougthomas and @gullythomas

I must warn you that we have some incredibly exciting targets, plans, hopes and dreams for www.kotdwarahelp.org and I can't wait to also share these with you. I also have some important and necessary governance and administrative tasks and demands to attend to, now that we are registered as an NGO in India.

In the mean time, please consider a couple of things; - Commit our work to your ongoing prayers - Consider making a donation or increasing your current amount. I have again experienced first-hand, the difference a small amount of money can make in the life of another person. - Feel free to contact me should you like to know more, so that you feel confident about where your donation is heading and how it will be used. Perhaps you can help in other ways? - Think about coming to India with us next year. I am hoping to organise a tour in September. Let me know if this is something you'd be interested in.

Get ready for a few more emails over the coming weeks. You will love the stories which you too are a part of.

Love to you, and thanks again, from an energised, exhausted, happy, satisfied and jet-lagged Doug

Simple Necessities - helping kids and young women

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From time to time, we are able to provide basic necessities to the children and young people in the slums and villages. In June and July, we distributed toothpaste to the kids and sanitary items to young women and girls. We hope to continue this on a regular basis.

Without the sanitary pads the girls are forced to use old rags, scraps from rubbish piles or even nothing at all. Girls often venture into the jungle to clean themselves and we are devastated to hear that they often accosted by men who will abuse and rape them. There are no easy solutions to this, but our hope and vision is for the health and leadership programs of www.kotdwararhelp to one-day assist in breaking such negative cycles in the community.

2 Very Big Months

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Our June and July News

It has been a couple of very big months for us all. We are so very thankful for the encouragement and support that we receive from friends far and wide. Your compassion and generosity continues to enable exciting projects to both commence and to continue.

Amit Samuel and his family continue to work hard every day spending time with people and sharing their lives with their community in the remote town of Kotdwara in North East India.

Kotdwarahelp has now employed a dynamic young man, Mr Daniel Abhishek Nathan, who works for us 5 days a week. Daniel is Amit’s ‘second in charge’ – and he works alongside many people, visiting the education centres and other projects. An aspect of his role is to ensure that the administration component of the charity is kept up to date, and in accordance with all NGO regulations.

Daniel tells us that in his spare time, he is India’s first Christian rap DJ.

Regarding our NGO status, this may be only weeks if not days away, from being approved. We have had inspectors meet with Amit to look at our records for compliancy, and everything has been verbally approved.

Our current start-up projects for June and July include;

• We have moved the outdoor slum classroom to an indoor space which we rent just a couple of hundred metres away. This means that the kids can learn irrespective of the weather. They are very happy and their teacher is too.

• We now we have 3 jungle centres, a slum classroom and a class also in town for local street kids. *THIS IS NOW A TOTAL OF 5 LOCATIONS FOR CLASSES FOR KIDS AGED 4 TO 12. *

(The photo is of one of our new jungle village classrooms)

• We started a sanitary pad and toothpaste health program for young women and children

• We held a young women’s empowerment party and gathering, with a local policeman who spoke to the girls about personal safety, domestic violence and trafficking awareness

• Monthly teacher training workshops have become a new and regular part of our calendar

• Computer classes continue for teenagers

• We are commencing the employment of a sports coach who will do some work with the kids in town and in the jungle.

• Emergency plastic sheets were distributed to families impacted by the recent severe wet season rains. When the monsoon rains pour, many people end up on the street with no roof over their head.

• We paid $400 for emergency cataract eye surgery for Sunjay, who is one of our project officers. He is recovering well and would have ultimately become blind if it was not for our help.

• We delivered a one-day pop-up Medical Camp and provided assistance and medical advice to 59 slum families. People were helped with basic medical conditions related to the monsoon season (jaundice, parasites, skin diseases, viral and gastric conditions). One of the problems of the monsoon is the contamination of people’s drinking water with sewerage. We are indebted to a local doctor, Dr. Anil Kumar Singh who volunteered for the day, to make the medical camp a possibility. The families do not have the finances to receive medical help otherwise.

Please check our website www.kotdwarahelp.org for our blogs that provide further details about many of our projects. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.

If you would like to make a donation to support our many fabulous projects…we would be of course delighted. If you could regularly give as little as $5 a week, this will go a very long way to make a difference in the lives of some very poor and needy people.

Staying dry in the big wet

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Emergency plastic sheets were distributed to families impacted by the recent severe wet season rains. When the monsoon rains pour, many people end up on the street with no roof over their head. The rain pours straight into their huts causing not just a terrible inconvenience but causing poor health, sleepless nights, fear and exhaustion. In the past some of the mums, were unable to breastfeed their babies due to their poor health and the wet uncomfortable conditions.

The plastic sheets this month were distributed to the slum families by our guest Mr. Dherandra Cauhan. We thank him for his kindness and help. The sheets cost $100AUS which we feel is a small price, for such an important need.

Staying dry in the big wet

[image: Inline image 1]

Emergency plastic sheets were distributed to families impacted by the recent severe wet season rains. When the monsoon rains pour, many people end up on the street with no roof over their head. The rain pours straight into their huts causing not just a terrible inconvenience but causing poor health, sleepless nights, fear and exhaustion. In the past some of the mums, were unable to breastfeed their babies due to their poor health and the wet uncomfortable conditions.

The plastic sheets this month were distributed to the slum families by our guest Mr. Dherandra Cauhan. We thank him for his kindness and help. The sheets cost $100AUS which we feel is a small price, for such an important need.

Help us put a smile on a child's face - May News

It's hot in India but thankfully some rain has finally arrived. 48 degrees most days has been unbearable but despite this, help, love and compassion continue to bless the lives of so many people because of the work of Kotdwara Help.

Each day our 170 children are educated and fed a meal. The kids are looking healthy and their smiles remind us about the difference that has been made in their lives and to their circumstances. Thank you for your financial support and for changing their lives - otherwise they would be begging and 'reg picking' - searching through putrid rubbish while fighting off pigs and mongrel dogs, looking for materials to recycle and sell. These children now share stories with us about their hopes and dreams for the future. Prior to this, they dreamt of very little. These children did not know of what they could dream for.

Our new centre is officially open, and the technology classes for girls aged 13+ have begun. A new learning centre has also commenced in one of the upstairs rooms, welcoming about 30 very poor primary aged children who live in the town. Many of these kids have heartbreaking stories, some of which we have started sharing on Instagram.

Our anti-trafficking work gathers momentum in the schools, villages and slums. Again, there have been some stunning stories of hope and rescue, found in the lives of the poorest of the poor in Kotdwara. Our dear friend and Director of Kotdwara Help, Amit Samuel, has written a letter of thanks to you all below. As you read, you will see just how busy he is. We are particularly excited about the respect and appreciation he is getting from the local police authorities.

Just this past month we have also; - built a shelter over the outdoor village classroom (see attached pic) - started a kids' soap project - helping and counselling individual people with health and medical issues

We cannot tell you enough how significant your donations are. You a part of the story of people's lives. If you can donate, remember that just $5 a week, the price of a coffee here in Sydney, provides a healthy meal and an education for a child who otherwise would be high risk to drugs, abuse and forced child labour. Please consider making a weekly direct debt donation of just $5 or more. Would you really miss this small amount?

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Love Doug and Rowena.

Amit's Report for the month of May is below, should you wish to read on....

*Dear Doug,Rowena and All dear Sponsors from AustraliaThis report is to share with you our activities done in the month of May 2016 and the plan of Action for coming months June, July, August and September. With the team of Anti Human Trafficking we visited schools with the aim of counselling students against Drug addiction and about human trafficking. We visited : 1.Slums center and nearby area on 15th May. 2. St. Joseph Convent School on 18th May. 3. J P Inter collage on 19th May. In the counselling session with children and youth near slums area we discovered some underlying facts. 1. Some elements are engaging small children in betting. 2. They are forcing them to steel from their homes. 3. They are supplying the small packets of drugs through the children within the city as children are not aware what they are carrying and police will not check children taking them innocent. Secondly we come to know about a family who had recently married their daughters 2 girls of age 14 & 13 years. Marriage below 18 years is a criminal offence in India as per government law. The family has an excuse that they are so poor, that they don't even have enough to feed and cloth the girls so they married them for good fecility. But the underlying fact is that they had actually sold their daughters. They had accepted some amount of money and not to be accused of selling girls, they performed the ritual of Marriage to be fool people and police. Now we and Anti Human Trafficking unit is behind this case and we will keep record of those those girls.When we condected counselling session and brought this case into light higher official got impressed of our work. They asked us to help them fight the problem of Drugs specially Smack which has spread noticeable in the recent year. The problem has many faces : 1. Youth and teenagers are affected. 2. Boys are indulging girls into it. 3. Boys are spoiling girls sexually after drug use.So we had chalked out a plan of Action to be executed in the coming month and it is as follows : 1. Meeting with all police officials of the area and discussing solutions for the problems. This meeting will be with Additional Superintendent of police Ms. SARITA DHOBHAL and others. In this meeting complete plan of action will be discussed and roles will be assignedWe had preformed our ideas and they will suggest them.We Planned Activities:1. Awareness Rally with police and students.2. Distribution of Pamphlets.3. Counselling with involved children and youth.4. Activities like Drawing Competition, Essay writing, Articles written, Poem writing, Dram, Dance, Singing, will be condected in the town with the help of Project Help team to direct interest of teenagers towards positive and constructive activities.5. Annual function of Project help organisations to be held in September when You and other member visit India. (Kids are very happy about this programme )These activities we have some miscellaneous experience Like; Convene, Printing work, Refreshments and one Time dinner with officials in a month, Annual function etc.I hope that you will understand the situation and would possibly by your best to help us more.God bless you allLove* Amit