Last year myself and my family went to India and within one hour we'd seen things that some people never see in a lifetime. Witnessed things that would make a grown man cry. Then we visited the Saksham Centre, a school for women and children of the slums in Jaipur. We saw children who had nothing wear new clothes, eat actual food and smile at the thought of song. We saw children and women feel safe in these four walls and receive an education, immunisations and best of all...hopes for the future.

To read more about this experience in the latest blog 'ONE DAY I SAW HOPE' please click here.

The school is funded by an Airbnb. Because of Coronavirus, there are no tourists so no funds to pay the rent for the school and it is likely to close.

If the last few weeks has taught us anything, it's that we take so much for granted...loo roll, pasta...an education!? At least when all this blows over our children will go back to school, these children might not.

As our light dwindles, their light goes out. Please read for more info, share, and if you can, donate 🙏🏽

Charity Facebook link - Saksham Center for Child Education & Womens Empowerment

Please read,

I went to India and I saw poverty.

I saw hunger.

I saw pain.

I went to India and within one hour I’d seen things that some people never see in a lifetime. I had experienced more than enough to make the strongest human weep. More than enough to make them cry. I went to India and my nerves were frayed within seconds. My senses overloaded. My nostrils were ready to drop from my face and my retinas burned with sheer exhaustion. The chaos and extremes hit me like a forklift truck. Every step I went deeper into the unknown explosion of chaos, colour and extremes. It sucked me in and didn’t let me go, it gripped me in a chokehold. I went to India and everything I thought I knew about the world vanished in a flash and I realised I knew absolutely nothing at all. At least nothing that mattered in India. The comfort of my working class western world was no use here.

I went to India and I saw the definition of poverty. Not the definition you read about in books or see on TV. Real poverty right there in front of me – scorching itself into my eyes, etching itself into my heart and forcing me to acknowledge it. If I looked the other way it followed me. If I closed my eyes I heard it. If I covered my ears I smelt it.

I went to India and I saw poverty.

I saw hunger.

I saw pain.

And then I went to a place called Jaipur and I saw something else.

I saw hope.

By chance I met a man. A man who had a dream to help others. A man who gave up a managerial role at a good job to set up a school in the slums. A school for the women and children. He used his savings. To start with he used to walk around the slums knocking on houses, asking parents to let their children come to his school. Free of charge. Some of the children spent all day locked in a room whilst their parents worked. I know this because one time I went with him, knocking on doors. Eventually the children started coming on their own. They received food and clothes. A safe environment. And an education. And then this man set up classes for the women of the slums, the illiterate ladies who couldn’t find very good jobs. These ladies can now write and speak in Hindi and English. The illiterate ladies from the slums can now do better maths than myself, a girl with a degree from one of the best universities in the England. The ladies are now learning how to sew, they are making clothing with the intention of selling these garments and making a living.

I went to India, to the slums of Jaipur and I saw children with nothing receiving an education. I saw children that wanted to go to school. I saw weary children with tired eyes smiling and laughing. I saw children nurturing a box of crayons like it was the latest Xbox. But most of all I saw hope. Hope because this man wanted more for those who have less. This man is called Nitin.

Nitin and his wife are doing incredible things. They now have an Airbnb and run a hostel as a way to fund their slum projects. They provide free immunisations for children and pregnant ladies. The school is small and the numbers are large but no one is turned away.

I went to India and I saw poverty.

I saw hunger.

I saw pain.

But inside those four walls in the slums of Jaipur I saw a happy place. Thanks to Nitin I saw a place of hope. A place of smiles and a dream of a better life. Inside those four walls, although I still saw poverty and hunger and maybe even pain, I saw children with an education, women working towards better lives. My ears heard shy laughter, my eyes saw small faces light up at the mention of song and my hands felt little fingers grasp them in an act of friendship.

The name of Nitins’ school is ‘Saksham’ Centre for Child Education and Women Empowerment.

In Hindu the word Saksham means ‘capable’.

I went to India and I saw lots of things.

I saw poverty, hunger and pain.

I saw suffering and I saw joy.

But what I saw more than anything else was heart.

And kindness.

And a whole lot of hope.

Due to the Coronavirus Nitins, air b&b as lost all its bookings,so the money to pay the rent for the school as gone.They will be asked to leave the premises soon.The rent is only £170 a month.