Project Report
| Apr 9, 2012
A letter from a Volunteer
![Shaun playing carrom with boys at the remand home]()
Shaun playing carrom with boys at the remand home
This update is a little bit different from usual, it is a letter received from a participant in our village experience programme held every year. Volunteers get a chance to work alongside our staff in all of our projects. Shaun refers to Nick and Deepak in the letter, they are the co founders of the Charity.
Aap Kaise Hai? . . .Accha, Aaj bahut garmi hai! ( How are you?) (Good). (Today is very Hot)
Mera nam Shaun hai! My name is Shaun
Firstly I need to apologise for taking so long in sending an email, this is down to either my hectic lifestyle at home or to me being me and not getting round to things. I was going to send it straight away but I was so overwhelmed by everything I felt I needed time to digest everything, clearly has taken me longer than I thought! I hope everyone is well and still working very hard within the group, the work you all do is honestly amazing. I have told everyone about all the wonderful things you do and how you seem to have touched everyone that came to the village experience. I want you all to know that I still often think about you and just sometimes stop and think, wow, those guys are all still so far away still doing what you do best, helping people not so fortunate than yourselves! Life over here is 100% the opposite to India, from the food to the electrics! How I just turn on a switch and its guaranteed that my light or television will turn on. Or my water I drink will always be fresh and clean with shops everywhere selling anything I need. It is very difficult to just walk around and watch people who are so god damn selfish and not have a clue as to what people around the world have to go through just to get water or food. I feel so privileged to have been given the opportunity to see with my own eyes the work you do, how conditions out there are getting better due to your hard work. I am currently sitting in my room, with a laptop, drinking English tea in temperatures of about 16 degrees listening to bob Marley. The very fact that you are reading this now so far away, probably sweating (maybe not) drinking Indian chai (maybe) and if you are lucky, having just beaten bindal at Carrom! If you are reading this Bindal then you need to know I have been missing playing Carrom with you, Surrender and Annan. To think that when I first came I didn’t even know what the game was to becoming possibly the best player every within 100 miles of Bodhgaya!
Rescue Junction really is a statement in itself, Gaya is possibly now a safer environment for children because of the hard work your team put in at all hours around the clock to make sure they are safe. The children at the junction all seem so happy and I get the feeling that they now have something to strive for and you may have perhaps given them a new leash of life. To think a small child that has been abandoned or lost can suddenly be put into a safe shelter, with food and water along with education and most importantly FRIENDS! I will never forget the moment you first took us all there and we sat in the reception and you told us about all the horror stories, that was the moment it hit home, I remember thinking, I wish everybody I knew was here right now to see how lucky we are.
The Health team stood out to me because this is what I am studying here in England so I felt I had a fantastic time with them. Seeing how well they work in difficult conditions and how they just seem unaffected by the things that they see as they stay so professional. If any of the wonderful health team are reading this then I want you to know I have told my teachers and health workers at home all about the work you do and that we will never actually understand how amazing you are to all of the communities around you.
The schools that you run are clearly run every well, with great teachers who all seem to love their jobs and teach with passion that a lot of teachers from England could do with! Naresh – I can honestly say I have never ever seen a more passionate teacher in my entire life. Just watching you enjoying helping the children and always having this great big smile on your face made me realise that if I ever am going to become a teacher this is what I needed to do. The children clearly loved it when you taught them and it was obvious that to everyone who came from England that you had your heart in your job and that is something very special. By the way, my name is SHAUN NOT SAUL! Thank you for always being there when you didn’t need to be, such as when Amy fell ill and wherever we went you met us or made sure we were always happy. This really also applies to Rakesh too, because you both were always with us and seemed to try your best to make sure we were ok. I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us all, I personally always felt safe with you two around and we always seemed to have a good time and joke about. It was very sad when we left at the train station as I felt it was a Journey that you had been there from the start right to the end, I cannot thank you anymore but from the bottom of my heart, it meant everything to me and I’m sure it did to everyone else.
It is impossible to sum up India or the experience it has given me. It was mentally and physically very difficult at times, seeing and listening to things that you would hope you never heard or seen. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Nick and Deepak – I feel that you do not know how amazing you guys are, all of the people you have touched and the children you have saved. The next step is to get the government to take responsibility for what they should have done in the first place! That day will be a great day and that is when the real show gets on the road! I hope you are all well and still working hard with smiles on your faces. I always smile when I think of my time in India, hopefully I will be able to return someday. Keep in touch everyone!
‘We cannot all do great things for the world – but we can do small things with great love’
Keep the Faith!
Namaste!
MAI INDIA SE PYAR KARTA HU! ( I Love India)!
Shaun Warner
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