Help from abroad for poor kids – - Trust set up with dreams of better education

Kurseong, June 1: Liz McKenna from the UK and Laura McIlhenny from Australia came to Gayabari as volunteers to teach English at a local school. Now, the two young women have set up a trust to sponsor the education of underprivileged children from the area. “The time spent at Blue Diamond English Boarding School has brought us close to the children and the people in and around Gayabari. That is why we have decided to found the Blue Diamond Educational Trust, which we hope will give underprivileged children access to better education,” said McKenna, a student from Oxford in the UK. Her friend McIlhenny studies in Hobart, Australia. [Inset: McKenna (second from left) and McIlhenny with the two children selected for scholarships at the programme on Saturday. Picture by Vivek Singh]

The committee for the trust was formed yesterday at a small programme at Gayabari, 15km from here. McKenna and McIlhenny are in the committee along with four residents of the area. “Through the trust, we hope to provide full funding to the children to study at Blue Diamond School up to Class X. We believe that an education in the English medium will prove vital in opening up a broad range of post-schooling opportunities for them,” said McIlhenny. “An orphanage, Shanta Bhawan, has agreed to help us select the most-deserving of candidates irrespective of caste, race or religion. We have also set up an account and welcome any money raised by donations or through fundraising, which will go towards improving facilities for the sponsored children,” the Australian added. Shanta Bhawan is an orphanage at Gayabari run by the Missionaries of Charity. The trust will take care of the students’ school fees, books, stationery and the expense of travelling to and from school. “If a student fails in a class for two successive years, his or her sponsorship will stop. We have included this condition to ensure that after getting funds, the children and their parents do not neglect studies,” said B.B. Thapa, a trust member. The trust has already identified two underprivileged children from Tindharia near Gayabari. Thapa said the children must be of an age suitable for admission to any year between Nursery and Class IV. The trust may later think about extending the scholarships to cover education beyond Class X, said one of the members. [The Telegraph]