Children of India

My sister Shivanii's projects in Dabar a village in West Bengal, India

Changing the lives of some of the children of India -

My sister Shivanii has just returned from the Indian village of Dabar where she and her friend, Sanjay Mahato have worked together to give assistance to the orphans and poorer people of the village, and some of the poorer surrounding villages.

She began travelling to India on a regular basis in 2000 for the purpose of making a short documentary about a health project in West Bengal.

In 2003 she met Sanjay Mahato, who is known to his friends as Tinku. He was working with a friend of Shivanii's who had asked her to help make a documentary about traditional music.

Tinku lives in the village of Dabar in the district of Purulia in West Bengal, India. He is a community leader who supports his friends and family in many ways, and works to preserve the culture of his people. Tinku's commitment to improving the lives of the impoverished villagers deeply impressed Shivanii, and they struck up an immediate friendship.

Shivanii's mutual concern about the conditions of the poor people of Tinku's village and the neighbouring villages inspired in her a strong impulse to join Tinku in his dedication to change the lives of these people. Shivanii felt that she had the capacity to bring positive support through her connections in Australian communities, and has dedicated a large amount of her own resources and time since visiting an 'untouchable' village with Tinku in 2008.

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- Brought water to the village

- Built 12 houses for the poorest villagers

- Facilitated the training of village men in growing food for the village in order to replace their lives of begging

- Created a school and community centre

Unfortunately, some of the buildings they built in the village need repair now, following a severe cyclone sweeping through the village before the mud was properly set, so this project is not complete.

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Their most recent project was to create an orphanage in Dabar village for the parentless children of the surrounding villages.

Tinku and Shivanii aim to develop independence in this village, and to set up a model that other villages can follow, and create positive change for many of the poor people and children of India.

To visit their website, click here. (This link will open a new window on your browser)

To read Shivanii's blog, click here. (This link will open a new window in your browser)

If you would like to contribute to Shivanii and Tinku's work in the villages of Purulia, there are facilities for this mentioned in both Tinku's website and Shivanii's blog (links above).

My prayer for all the impoverished children and people of the world, is that through the support, whether large or small, of all of those of us who have excess, whether large or small, hunger and homelessness is eliminated.

May Tinku and Shivanii's projects provide a model of village independence in India which transforms the lives of many of the poor people and children of India!