Wanting to give back to Mother Bharat/India for the gift of kirtan that she has passed over to the West, Vancouver Community Kirtan uses some of the monies that come from the community kirtans to support families and children in India to have a better future.
The first organization that Vancouver Community Kirtan has donated to is Basic Human Needs, who provides support in order to better lives for families in Varanasi, India.
The funds we donate to Basic Human Needs go to a single communal fund and isn’t allotted to any one particular family. Upon our request, they will do their best to provide updates on the family of Ram Kishor to let us know what’s happening in their lives.
Here’s some words from the Executive Director, Arwyn King about the beneficiaries:
April 16, 2024
“It’s not for one person or family, but rather a small community from an Indigenous tribe that used to live in a small village but now lives in the slum.
Most parents struggle with addiction and beg for any money they get. The children are pretty much left to their own devices. We support these children and have been for years.
Many of the children have gone through our different schools and are now working and contributing back to their community.”
June 9, 2024 Update
It’s been a tough month for the Ram Kishore family. They’ve been evicted from their room and have gone back to living in a tent camp.We do take the kids to our place to play, study, sit under a fan, nap etc.
This week the temperature reached almost 50°! I’ll be relieved when school starts again in July.
The boy in the cast is Summer, the youngest brother. He broke his arm playing rough. Another little boy hit him with a stick.
August 25, 2024 Update
The kids are doing really well.
For the past two months they’ve been back in our new hostel, eating well and going on small day trips with Anil and Suraj.
The kids suffered such a huge loss of their house mum, Pooja last November and we’ve been navigating a lot of hurting little hearts.
School just restarted last month and I’ve been receiving some photos to show their progress.
This month there was a new addition of Nisha, little sister of Vishal, making a total of six kids staying together.
The kids names are; Summer, Aarti, Isha, Vishwas, Nisha and Ishan. All are closely related in the Ram Kishore Family.
