UPDATE: I ran the San Francisco Half-Marathon on November 3rd, and finished the race in 1h38min. Thanks for the support!

 

Dear friends,

Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

 

I will be participating in San Francisco's Half Marathon on November 3rd. This will be my first half marathon and I will try to run it under 1h45min.

 

However, my true goal and the reason I want to run this race is to raise money for Don Bosco Child Labour Mission Davangere (www.dbclm.org), in Karnataka, South India, through the Salesians of Don Bosco UK. But why? I had the chance of working as a volunteer at DBCLM in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, experiences which turned out to be extremely fruitful. DBCLM Davangere, created in 1996 by Father Kuriakose has worked until now with child labourers and street children, aged from 9 to 18. It is a rehabilitation center for such children, who once worked in garages, in hotels, on constructions sites, as maids, in farms or simply who lived on the street off rag-picking and begging. The rehabilitation is principally achieved through education and consists of a one year bridge course preparing the children to join government schools.

 

During the past 17 years DBCLM Davangere have educated and mainstreamed 1833 children through a one year Residential Bridge Course and have readmitted over 720 children through various other programmes. Of the mainstreamed children 290 have pursued or are pursuing higher education (174 currently studying and 116 working after due qualification have become self-reliant), highlighting that, among those who are currently going through higher education, 3 of them are pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, 2 of them a Master’s degree in Social Works, 4 of them a Master’s degree in Communication and 2 of them a Master’s of Arts.

 

The total cost per year per student is approximately £225. Today, DBCLM Davangere has 120 boys and girls, down from a few years ago when they had 150, primarily due to lack of funding support. DBCLM Davangere also works with women through self-help groups in which they are taught how to save money for their family and for their children's education; hence, the work has an impact on the entire society. 

 

The Mission's rector Father Kuriakose and Father Rubin are currently trying to admit more children in their centre, and their goal is to have near 200 children. Yet, it is difficult for them as NGOs have considerably reduced their support over the last few years and the government offers very little help. Therefore, their projects rely primarily on individual donors. In addition to trying to admit more students, they perpetually seek to improve the children's study and life conditions.

 

Thank you very much for your support, and keep in mind that every pound you give goes straight to the "Little Angels", without any administrative loss; and, as the chinese proverb says, 

"Even a thousand miles journey begins with a single step."

Once again, thank you!