Kolkata Trip – 20154U team and Compassion UK

Where?

Delhi8 ½ hours

Where?

Kolkata(Calcutta)

2 ½ hours

Who?

16 church leaders,guests of Compassion UK

Why?

To see the work of Compassion in East India

Compassion works through a local church to deliver

programmes to the poorest children they can find.

Why?

Compassion works with the poorest of the poor in 26 countries.

They have1.4 million children in their programmes but need more sponsors…

What did we see?

• Three church-based projects– Including visits to see where the children lived

• 21 year old university students who have been sponsored since the age of 4

• The Compassion East India office

• Mother Teresa’s house

Every Compassion project aims to meet the Social, Physical, Economic and Spiritual needs of every child

Project 1:A Child Survival project out in the countryside

Compassion selects children from the poorest families within a 2 mile radius of the project

New mothers are educated in hygiene, vaccinations, nutrition, and disease prevention

We travelled by rickshaw right out into the countryside…

…to visit this family in their

home.

This little girl has recently joined the project and

lives with her mother and

mother-in-law.

They showed us their home – including their kitchen. A fire is lit in the holes to heat the pans on top.

Project 2:A Child

Sponsorship project for immigrant families

There were about 200 children in the project, each of them sponsored by a family through Compassion

We joined in their assembly where the girls performed a traditional dance for us.

Then they invited us to dance for them…

…a decision we think they regretted!

At break time we played frisbee and cricket with the children and heard from them about the huge difference the project makes to their lives.

This family of 6 live in a 3 room shack sandwiched between a busy road and a swampy pond. Above the

bed you can see school books from the project. The daughter plans to become a doctor.

Project 3:A Child

Sponsorship project in the middle of a Kolkata slum

We met and played with the children

Helen joined the girls making crafts

Dave played football with the boys

We visited this girl’s home down the end of an alley in the slums. Her family of 4

lives in this room, which has no natural light.

She loves dance and wants to become a dance teacher.

This young lady has been sponsored from the age of 4. Now aged 21, she came from a very poor background but

is now at university to study a Masters in social work. Her ambition is to return to her community and work to

improve life for others. Her story was utterly inspiring.

Mother Teresa’s room.From here she changed the world,

by loving one person at a time.

The lesson of our tripWe can’t change the whole world.

But we can change the whole world for one child.

What next?

1. We are exploring 4U team involvement in child sponsorship (both as churches and via our church schools). People are already expressing an interest.

2. Compassion can arrange for us to sponsor children from the same area, and even through the same church. This would make it possible for us to arrange visits in the future to visit sponsored children and support the church.

3. Find out more from www.compassionuk.org

4. Watch this space… and please let us know your thoughts.