Leeds pupils gift for kids in India visit
Havanna Watson with the children.
Charity begins at home, so the saying goes.
But these Leeds locals are lending a helping hand to worthy causes slightly further afield.
An East Ardsley Primary School pupil also flew to India with her family to deliver presents to the local schoolchildren.
Havanna Watson, nine, spent Christmas and the new year in Goa visiting pupils at the Inspiring Light and Leading Light Schools, which are run by the Educators Trust Charity.
Instead of a Harvest Festival, East Ardsley Primary School pupils organised a Harvest Festival collection to raise £70 for the charity.
The cheque was handed over during the family’s visit and will go towards repairing one of the school buildings.
Mum Rebecca Watson said: “We had a suitcase full of clothes and shoes, 80 presents for the children, two scooters for the schools and 80 small Christmas presents for local children.
“We were honoured to visit the schools and children’s homes.”
She added: “My daughter and I had the best experience and we hope that what we donated will make a small difference to their lives.”
Meanwhile Lizzie Batchelor from Wetherby left her job as an environment manager to work at a leprosy hospital in India.
Lizzie, 28, volunteered with small charity Hands for Life to work alongside surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses at an operating theatre in Anandwan.
She said: “The trip was a very new experience for me as I have never been to India before or done any kind of medical work in the past, so we had to learn on our feet.
“We worked for a week wearing hospital theatre blues for about 10 hours a day, assisting the scrub nurse, surgeons and patients as best we were able with a whole range of tasks.
“As you may imagine it was an extremely rewarding experience seeing patients receive sometimes life-changing treatment.”
Lizzie’s parents have supported Hands for Life for the past six years.
The Cheshire-based charity is made up of voluntary surgeons, nurses and helpers that carry out free medical work once a year at a hospital in central India.
Lizzie added: “I am hoping to go back to India this year to carry out the same work with my family.”
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
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poipleshadow
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 07:06 AMwww.EducatorsTrustIndia.org
poipleshadow
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 07:05 AMThe website for the above news items is http:www.EducatorsTrustIndia.org Hope that helps You can't help but admire her....
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