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Child sponsor and yoga teacher Laura Akram seized the chance to visit HOPE’s projects in Kolkata in 2018. Her blog details the sights, sounds, and experiences she encountered in “The City of Joy”.
This is an edited version of Laura’s blog, which was originally published on akramyoga.co.uk in January 2018.
In 2017, I started sponsoring a 6-year-old girl called Nina* through The Hope Foundation (HOPE). I had learned from HOPE’s correspondence that Nina’s family lived in a slum area beside the river, on occupied and illegal land, in one small, overcrowded room. Her father was the only member of the family who was earning, and his income was estimated at approximately £48 per month. Nina has one older sister and her mother found it very difficult to take care of both of her children.
She admitted Nina to a HOPE crèche so that she could receive non-formal education and nutritional support. When the opportunity arose for me to visit HOPE projects and to meet Nina in person, whilst also enjoying wonderful restorative yoga sessions with [HOPE Patron] Simon Low and Vikki Stevenson, I knew I had to go to Kolkata.
On 5 January 2018, I set off on what would be an emotionally and physically exhausting trip. But one that I would never, ever forget. Every day was jam packed with visits to various HOPE projects. At each one, I was blown away by the amazing work that this charity does.
One of the incredible facilities established by HOPE is a hospital. Many street children are not permitted into the state hospitals because they have no address and no verifiable identity, (both minimum requirements to avail of state health and other services), so they remain largely without medical care or support.
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At Hope Hospital, we met a young girl who, at 16, already had two children. She had been married at 12 years of age, and her husband had a substance use disorder. I discovered that this is an all too common occurrence, as for the substance user, it alleviates hunger and provides short-lived escapism from the terrible conditions in which many families live. The girl’s husband had violently attacked her and slashed her face open all the way down one side. Along with her two young children, she was taken into care and was now receiving medical treatment from HOPE at the hospital.
Bhagar dump is one of the biggest slums in West Bengal. The area is heaped with waste material and most of the nearby communities are engaged in rag picking from this dump to earn a meagre livelihood.
Due to a lack of access to childcare and education facilities, families working on the dump were previously forced to take their children and babies with them to the dump. HOPE identified this as an area in which we could provide positive support and thus established crèche facilities in Bhagar, to enable children to be dropped off whilst their parents go rag picking in the dump site. The HOPE crèche in Bhagar was basic but full of smiling and energetic babies and toddlers, that genuinely seemed to enjoy our company as much as we enjoyed theirs.
Standing in the middle of this vast dump ground community, I couldn’t help but feel totally overwhelmed. How could we ever make a difference?
It really struck me just how critical education was to these communities. The HOPE crèche facilities, in many cases, were providing an education to first generation learners; the first children within their families to attend school. I looked at their tiny faces and wide shining eyes and knew that they really could change the future.
Another serious problem in Kolkata is solvent abuse. We visited the HOPE rehabilitation centre for boys, who had been rescued from the railway tracks where they were living. Living under the arches, many had been abandoned by their parents. Ninety percent of them had become addicted to substances such as glue. The boys openly talked about their addictions and how they had been driven to do bad things like fighting and stealing. They explained how happy they were to have this second chance in HOPE’s care.
We then met some girls in the HOPE Residential Childcare Centres. I couldn’t believe how open and full of love they were. They seemingly carried no anger or resentment despite the cruelty the world has shown them. Instead, they simply beamed with happiness and warmth. We discussed Bollywood movies and favourite meals and they put on a special dance show for us. They looked so beautiful.
Everywhere we went we were met with open arms and huge smiles.
The ‘Night Round’ was a very memorable experience and probably the one I was the most apprehensive about. This is where a HOPE ambulance travels from slum to slum providing the opportunity for homeless people to speak to a doctor or social worker, be treated for medial ailments, and obtain prescriptions for medication.
As we pulled into our first stop it got noticeably darker and I’d be lying if I said I felt fully at ease in my surroundings. Out of the undergrowth of dark tarpaulin emerged several men, women and young children. One young boy was in shorts and a t-shirt and was visibly shivering. He had also cut his foot but was walking around in flimsy, open toe footwear. We gave him some socks to help keep his feet clean and warm. Others flocked around for medicine and received the necessary prescriptions. The social worker was amazing. At only 22 she was calm and kind, patient yet authoritative. What a truly remarkable and inspiring young lady.
From a corner of the street appeared two young girls who proceeded to walk with us on the round, curious to see what we doing and keen to speak to us in English. One of them told me how she wanted to be a dancer. ‘Bollywood dancing?’ I asked. ‘No, classical’ she replied. I asked her to show me and in amongst the heaps of rubbish and thick dusty plastic sheets, she performed a beautiful classical dance with the grace and poise of a princess.
We walked until we reached an elderly lady, perched in a makeshift ‘bedroom’ made of pallets and plastic. I offered her some biscuits and, as she looked up at me, her eyes spoke to me with a kindness I have never seen. She told us that her arthritis was very bad, and she struggled to walk. We went back to the ambulance and fetched the doctor who spoke to her and provided a prescription, which I expect was to help
with the pain. She smiled and thanked us and I felt that it truly came from the very depths of her heart.
The hardest part about meeting all these incredible people is of course having to leave them.
Walking back down a dark alley lined with homeless families we passed a late-night bar. Music and laugher echoed out into the street as punters partied into the night, while babies slept outside on the concrete. I almost didn’t see this tiny little baby asleep on the pavement. HOPE will keep an eye on her over the coming weeks and months and hopefully even enrol her in school when she is older.
One of the highlights of my trip was getting to meet my sponsored child. I was nervous, as no doubt she probably was too. I met her in the afternoon at HOPE Café.
That morning, we had been to visit a crèche about an hour’s drive away. On leaving the crèche, I met a lovely family walking around the slum and was drawn to a very sweet little girl all dressed up in a beautiful green dress. It seems selfies are a global phenomenon, and we spent some time having pictures taken together and communicating as best we could. I couldn’t establish why she was all dressed up but assumed she was off to a party or celebration of some kind in all her finery. Wherever she was heading she looked like a little princess and was clearly very excited.
We got back on the bus and I felt nervous about heading to meet my sponsor girl. What if she didn’t like me or seemed uncomfortable meeting a stranger with whom she couldn’t properly communicate? What if I didn’t know what to say to her or worse still what if I became a tearful, emotional wreck in front of her.
I’d never been so anxious about meeting a 7-year-old! I waited nervously at the café and very soon she arrived. She looked as nervous as I felt, wearing a pretty dress with a thick
woolly jumper over the top. Her teacher accompanied her and explained to me that she had been excitedly getting ready all morning. She was beautiful. She smiled shyly at me and I felt overwhelmed with love for this tiny stranger.
I gave her some little gifts, including a colouring book, some bangles, and hairbands. Each time she gasped ‘wow’ and said ‘thank you’ in a little raspy voice. Excitedly she started colouring, filling in the intricate designs perfectly in carefully selected bright colours.
We stayed for a while before walking back up to the HOPE office down the road. We walked hand in hand and every now and then she would glance up at me and beam a big smile. Each time she did it I swear I felt my heart crack a little bit. We said our goodbyes and I reluctantly let her go. I knew that I would miss her desperately already. I rejoined the rest of the HOPE team and one of the girls said, “wasn’t that the little girl from this morning?” “No,” I replied, “just a similar coloured dress.”
As we set off to our next project I flicked back through my photos from the day and reached the pictures from the morning. Sure enough, the little girl I had spoken to was my Nina.
How had I not realised? It seems silly now, but, in my daze, nervousness and excitement I hadn’t recognised her as the little princess from that morning. I wonder if she had made the connection. That must have been her mother I spoke to that morning, and her sister. I felt sad, not to mention stupid, that I hadn’t recognised her. Then I just smiled at the absurdity of our chance encounter. Fate maybe, I don’t know, but I knew it was a day I would remember forever.
*Name changed
