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Friday, 20 January 2012
Thirty two A level students from Bolton School Girls' Division
have returned from India after a life-changing experience
continuing the School's efforts in supporting street children in
India.
The girls spent 8 days based in Vijayawada City in Southern
India helping out with the Street Kids' Community Villages (SKCV)
project. They offered help by playing games with the children,
helping them learn English, playing football and helping run dance
classes.
They visited the two SKCV villages that have been set up by the
charity and which are now run by what had been homeless
children. As well as helping out in the centres the girls also
visited a Hindu Temple, a wooden toy making place, and the railway
station where many children are abandoned and forced to live - SKCV
have outposts there to help the children and get them to the
villages. The girls also attended the wedding of an Old Boy and Old
Girl during their time in India and got to dress in traditional
dress for the occasion.
Whilst out in India they decided how to spend the £5,873.33 that
they raised back home before the visit in a variety of fundraising
initiatives which included a sponsored fast, a sponsored swim, cake
sales, charity lunches, an Indian night and a car boot sale. The
girls managed to purchase an embroidery machine, 25 embroidery
frames, fabrics, threads, bobbins, 15 machine stools, 40 rolls of
material, 2 cloth cutting machines, 10 boxes of fabric paints, 40
fabric brushes, 10 screens for screen printing, bed sheets,
pillows, bed covers for 30 beds, dance costumes, jewellery and
make-up for all the dancers (the girls and boys perform at
different functions and can earn money for this), 100 plastic
chairs for both schools, medical equipment including scales to
weigh the boys and girls and stethoscopes, as well as 3 sewing
machines for the boys, a cutting machine and jute machine.
The girls said the best thing about the trip was spending time
with the children and getting to know them, and were surprised that
they didn't miss home comforts and material luxuries at all but
enjoyed living more simply. Becky Richards said: "The trip made me
appreciate everything a lot more, the children there are so
appreciative that they are cared for and looked after an don't seem
to want for anything. They are so happy and generous! The trip
taught me not to worry about the little things that really don't
matter and to be happy."
Anjuli Thomson added: "It shows how money really can't buy
happiness, the children out there are so happy and content with
what they have even though they have very little. I have never seen
such happiness as when we gave them pencil cases as Christmas
presents, it's sad to think how we are given so much more and are
not as happy as them!"
The Sixth Form students were first inspired by former Bolton
School girls who visited the SKCV project in 2005. Bolton
School has supported the SKCV project for 10 years.
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