During this countdown to Christmas, can you help me to help others?

‘Project Help India’ is passionately working hard to reach out to this local slum community this Christmas time. We have the privileged opportunity to help a group of people who live in poverty. Their faces in this photo tell a powerful story of relentless hardship, determination, and courage despite some terrible circumstances. When I visited them recently in October, I was welcomed with smiles, warmth and hospitality. I was embraced as a trusted friend, a friendship that extends to our many ‘Project Help India’ supporters. These people are beyond grateful to you for the help you bring through our education and community development programs. Through these programs we communicate and demonstrate love in action.

These people are known as ‘Dalits’ and they live on the banks for the Khoh River in the city of Kotdwara in the State of Uttrakhand in Northern India. Their houses are unsafe and unhealthy. Most are made of plastic, old pieces of sheet metal and cardboard. They don’t have windows, and have dirt floors, leaky walls and roofs. The homes are overcrowded, and the weak structures are often blown away or destroyed during storms and the heavy monsoon rains and floods. Here there is limited or no access to basic services like water, toilets and electricity.

The Dalits are considered as the lowest caste people in India. They are the “untouchables” and considered the most oppressed class in India. They face discrimination, particularly in access to employment, education and marriage partners. They perform the work that nobody else wants to do, such as preparing bodies for funerals, tanning hides, collecting rubbish, recycling plastic and killing rats, vermin and other pests. Doing anything with dead cattle or cow hides is regarded particularly unclean in Hinduism. Under both the local Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, a job that involves death corrupts the worker’s souls, making them unfit to mingle with other people in the community. To compound this, this group of people face exclusion and oppression in society. They are frequently affected by anti-dalit violence and repression by others.

These beautiful people are certainly not untouchable. Nothing could be further from the truth!
We extend our love and hand of friendship to these people this Christmas. We embrace them with a message of hope, value and purpose. We will be bringing the joy of Christmas to this slum. The children who attend our school will each receive a gift and needy families will participate in a special Christmas party. Our help will extend into 2020 through our education and women’s empowerment programs, medical help, supporting families with leprosy, emergency assistance and much more.

We need your help to do this
At a time of the year, when we are filling our shopping trolleys with more than we need, please consider how you can be a blessing to these people. Your donation will go towards bringing Christmas to this community and also to the five other communities (each with a very similar story) where ‘Project Help India’ is working. Your tax-deductible donation will be one of the most meaningful gifts you could possibly give this Christmas. Please let us know (by replying to this email) if you make a donation because we would love to thank you.

Thank you for bringing some happiness and Christmas cheer to some people who really need it.
Your donation will make a difference and no doubt reinforce that notion that it is always better to give than to receive at Christmas. Thank you for being part of our story.

YOU CAN JOIN OUR STORY
1. Donate - Your tax deductible Christmas donation can be made HereEnsure that you are donating to (WYG-IND-PHI-2019)

OR  if tax deductibility is not required, your EFT donation can be made at
BSB: 062 230 (Commonwealth Bank Randwick) 
Account: 1134 1909
Account Name: Project Help India
Please write your name in the reference section so we can thank you.

2. Please like and share this blog on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Thanks so much and Merry Christmas
Love Doug 

Leaders will always be

1. optimistic,
2. never complain (solve problems to change circumstances)
3. curious

 
Your role as a leader is to bring about the best in those who work with you, to help them to shine and be successful, do not manage people.
 
Let people understand you
Show that they know they matter and are valued
Respect is more important for employees than anything else
 
What shadow do you cast?
Making a difference is also about the small things, connection and knowing they matter to you.
 
Help the people around you get to places that they could not get to without you.
Leave people in a better place because they’ve been led by you.

Notes, thoughts and reflections from Shanghai Conference (October 2019) - thanks to all the inspiring speakers.

KINDNESS IS THE HEART OF JESUS
Our Chapel theme this Term has been ‘The Heart of Jesus’ and each week, this has been aligned with our Claremont College thinking, learning, and intellectual character dispositions. This morning I was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak to the children about empathy. I explained that empathy is the key that unlocks the door to our kindness and compassion. Today happens to be ‘World Kindness Day’, so what a lovely alignment with this theme.

Today, our Deputy Principal and School Counsellor have delivered social skills lessons to all grades (K-6) with the goal to promote and understand kindness. Three key outcomes of the lessons were;

Compassion is the desire to want to help someone in need.
Ways to show kindness and helpfulness to others.
Being grateful when people show kindness to us and others.

As we head into the Christmas Season, we will be focussing on kindness and compassion as we respond to the needs of others. We are inspired by the fact that God demonstrated His kindness by sending Jesus into the world - this is what Christmas is all about. So how can we respond?

“Now, this is the goal: to live in harmony with one another and demonstrate love, sympathy, and kindness toward each other.” 1 Peter 3:8

“Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15 

Here at school we have chosen to do some exciting and special things over the next two and a half weeks.

‘Kindness at Home’
We have been inspired by so many children, who have asked if they could raise money to help Australians who have been impacted by the bushfires. Over the coming weeks, many children will be working on kindness projects with the goal of setting up stalls, holding guessing competitions, small raffles and the like, which will all be held in Week 8 (check next week’s newsletter for details), the last week of school. We are sure to raise an impressive donation. The children’s enthusiasm and genuine kindness is such a pleasure to be a part of each and every day, here at school.

‘Kindness Overseas’
Next Friday, we will have a special Christmas Mufti Day, as well as our Kindy Nativity Pageant in Chapel. As part of the celebration, all children and staff are invited to wear a Christmas outfit, in the colours of red, green, white, gold, silver or any combination of those colours. For participation in the mufti day, we ask that each child brings in $5. This money will be directed to the children at ‘Project Help India’ to pay for a Christmas gift for 260 children and 12 teachers, as well as for them to have a class Christmas party celebration. For many of the children this will be their first ever Christmas present and for most, it will be the only Christmas present that they receive this year, as their parents are too poor to purchase one.

As part of the ‘Kindness Overseas’ Project, the Year 3 Pixie Post will give all Claremont students a blank Christmas card, and a small fact sheet, for you and your family to write a special message to each of the ‘Project Help India’ kids. I will hand deliver these cards to India in the week before Christmas (I am heading there for a wedding).

‘Kindness to the People we Know’
Today in Chapel I also shared a story about the power of random acts of kindness done in secret. It’s good to ‘pay it forward’, and God loves it when we do these things without being in the spotlight and drawing attention to ourselves. The challenge is out there for students, staff and families to be strategic in showing kindness to one another. If someone is kind to you, or if you are impressed by your children, please let us know.

Lastly, how wonderful it was to hear the stories of our Year 5 students visiting the Dorothy Boyt Nursing Home at Malabar this week. Their kindness, and gentleness with the elderly folk was impressive. The students will be visiting the nursing home again over the coming weeks.

So there you go! Let’s extend ‘World Kindness Day’, so that every day is kindness day, especially as we celebrate Christmas, and what has been a wonderful year. Thank you for your part in making our school such a very special school community. 

​The 5am Club: Own your morning, elevate your life
By Robin Sharm

You've gotta love some of those books you see at airports. This one caught my eye, and it kept me reading all the way from Delhi to Sydney. I highly recommend this book. It is full of wisdom and motivation. There are so many inspiring quotes, from both Sharma and other great leaders.  I didn't want to just highlight the quotes and thoughts as I read them - I typed them all up, to be able to reference them later on. I'm an early morning riser, so getting up at 5am each morning is something that I already do, but the chapters on habit breaking have given me the motivation to try to crack some bad habits - like having a glass of wine most evenings after work. There is a lot of great leadership content as well.

Here's just a few of the quotes that has inspired me...

Contemplating being 50 years old...
We begin to realise that we’re not going to live forever and that our days are numbered. And so we connect with our mortality...We realise we are going to die. What’s truly important comes into much greater focus. We start to wonder if we’ve been true to our talents, loyal to our values and successful on the terms that are right to us. What will people say about us when we’re gone? That’s when many of us make a giant shift: from seeking legitimacy in society to constructing a meaningful legacy. The last 50 years then become less about me, and more about we. Less about selfishness and more about service. We stop adding more things to our lives and begin to subtract. We start to simplify. We learn to savour simple beauty, experience gratitude for small miracles, appreciate the priceless value of peace of mind, spend more time cultivating human connections and come to understand that the one who gives the most is victorious. And what’s left of your life then becomes a phenomenal dedication to loving life itself as well as a ministry of kindness to the many.
 
All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. 

George Bernard Shaw wrote...
 
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish little cold of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
 
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is not ‘brief candle’ for me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
 
In his final sermon before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr., said...
“Everyone can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have t know Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the Second Theory of Thermodynamics and Physics to serve. All you need is a heart full of grace. A Soul generated by love.”
 
I believe the humblest is the greatest. Pure leaders are so secure in their own skin, their mission is the elevation of others. They have such self respect, joyful ness and peacefulness within themselves that they don’t need to advertise their success to society in a feeble attempt to feel a little better. 

No matter what struggles we face and what adversities we endure, no matter what attacks, humiliation, violence we may experience, we must persist and continue. We must stay strong. We must strive to be the best we can be no matter what. Even if it feels the whole world is against us. This truly makes us human beings. Even if it seems that the light will never overcome the darkness keep making your walk to freedom. Model what’s highest for the rest of us. Exemplify grace, demonstrate love. 

Robin Sharma, thank you...I would like to meet you one day! 

​It was great to attend EduTECH Asia in Singapore this week. Here are the slides from my talk. I hope they are helpful. Thanks for coming along, and for those I met, I hope we get to stay in touch. 

Also, attached to the link (below) are my slides from the workshop I presented at the 2019 International Principal's Confederation in Shanghai in October. 

It is an incredible honour for me to tell the story of my school, Claremont College, and to share what we have learnt as part of our journey of transformation. It is also an incredible privilege to meet other educators, to learn from them and to hear some fantastic talks. Global educators unite!

And note...I am NOT Dr Doug Thomas

www.claremont.nsw.edu.au/teaching-learning/conferences-innovation-awards

I have just returned from Kotdwara, Northern India, having spent an incredible two weeks, visiting our projects, getting involved in community initiatives, seeing old friends and making many new ones. The hospitality and warmth of the Indian people are always such a highlight... I wish you could experience this. If you’ve been following my adventure on Instagram @dougthomas you would have seen that I’ve been busy and productive. I’ve enjoyed great food, eaten too many Indian sweets, put on some weight, relaxed quite a bit too, had lots of long chats with many opportunities for planning future initiatives as ‘Project Help India’ keeps growing, and moving forward.

Straight from the airport on my very first day I found myself as the official guest at an open-air community meeting of a couple of hundred people, put together by the Haridwar Police. Here I had to spontaneously speak to the crowd about discouraging their children from begging and why they should be going to school. I have visited our six Education Centres, assessed and worked alongside kids and their mums at our Disability Centre, preached at a church, presented leadership seminars to university students about suicide, I’ve met with police and the local media, attended two Project Help Annual Functions (kind of like a school speech day). I have trained our teachers, revised our Child Protection Policy and procedures with the Project Help team, bought lots of resources for classrooms and visited some people in need. I’ve also done quite a bit of real-estate hunting too and hope to pass on some really exciting news soon (say a prayer please) ...’Project Help’ might soon have a mortgage ...a fixed address, a centre for our administration and all our operations. It’s a house and land in the middle of town, close to all the action and central to where people in need can come for help and counselling, a peaceful garden, plus a classroom for our City Centre slum kids. 

It is such a privilege to sit alongside people and hear their story. I am always humbled by their trust and openness to share. Many ask me to pray for them. All of them just love the encouragement, company and friendship. They are empowered when you show sincere interest in who they are, that I would take time to visit and just want to sit with them. They basically have nothing but there’s always a chair, a chai, a smile, a laugh, a sweet biscuit and the essential selfie! Simple, honest, authentic conversations break down fear and misunderstanding, especially the walls created by religion. I’ve learnt that our differences are few. I continue to be surprised by how much we all have in common. If only we all had more time to listen and love one another as we do this thing called ‘life’ together. 

The personal circumstances of people living in poverty are really harrowing and it really takes it out of me. The emotions catch up with you when I’m not expecting. I’ve worked with kids with disabilities who have not been allowed to school for the first 8 years of their. One little chap, cognitively impaired, age 6, while his parents are working, has literally roamed the streets every day of his life by himself since he could walk -vulnerable and significantly at risk of exploitation. No wonder he now loves the warmth and safety of his teacher and delights in coming to school. He cries when he has to go home. Some of the other kids who attend our education centres have experienced horrendous things - a father recently murdered, mothers repeatedly beaten, husbands spending the family income on alcohol, floods washing away their house each year, abuse, malnutrition on a daily basis, chronic illness, street begging, denied an education because they must work to earn a few rupees for the family, or for fear of being stolen, raped or savaged by a wild animal as they walk to school along the jungle roadway. 

This sounds brutal and it is. It’s like a bottomless pit of suffering, one that gets bigger not smaller. Yes, there’s a cry for help but there is joy here. There’s also inspiring grit determination, perhaps contentment too. There’s a generosity of spirit, hospitality, warmth, and a deep expression of gratitude. There can also be suspicion by many too, so I have to have my wits about me, and be careful with my very word, the photos I take, and to have a local by my side most of the time. It’s not always safe and I go through gallons of hand sanitiser. 

I’m pleased to report that the many initiatives of ‘Project Help India’ are happening as reported. Things are growing and the trust and respect that we have in the community deepens. This week we also had an Australian Project Officer from the Entrust Foundation visit to inspect our work. Your tax deductible donation is banked through Entrust. Their due-diligence requires accountability on our part and I’m pleased to report that they were delighted with what they saw. 

Many people donate to Project Help. Thank you! Your generosity has enabled great things to happen. Lives are changed with people’s personal circumstances have been helped and touched by God’s love and blessing. These people have a tangible sense of hope and their kids are given opportunities for success and flourishing - all because of you. 

Thank you to the leaders of ‘Project Help India’, my dear friends, Amit and Daisy Samuel, and their kids Jasmine and Jonathan. They work tirelessly for others, making daily sacrifices, in the midst of your own suffering at times too. Amit and Daisy, you bring God’s goodness to all who know you, and to the wider community too. You are both loved so much...especially by me. 

Doug :-)

YOU CAN BE PART OF THE 'PROJECT HELP INDIA' STORY

1. Donate - Your tax deductible donation can be made HereEnsure that you are donating to (WYG-IND-PHI-2019)
OR  if tax deductibility is not required, your EFT donation can be made at
BSB: 062 230 (Commonwealth Bank Randwick) 
Account: 1134 1909
Account Name: Project Help India
Please write your name in the reference section so we can thank you.

2. Share our Story - Please like and share this blog on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.Thanks so much.
Love Doug

DEAR GOD,
THANK YOU FOR CREATING THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD WE LIVE IN. EACH NATION IS VERY DIFFERENT, YET WE ARE EQUALLY LOVED BY YOU. OUR PRAYER TODAY IS FOR UNITY FOR ALL THE NATIONS, A DEEPER CELEBRATION FOR DIVERSITY AND FOR US TO KNOW YOU BETTER AS OUR GOOD FATHER. WE THANK YOU, WE LOVE YOU, AND WE HOPE WE BLESS YOU THIS AFTERNOON. IN JESUS' NAME WE PRAY. AMEN

The prayer above was written and presented by students as we celebrated 'International Day' at Claremont College. I'm always blown away by the depth of the children's thinking - why can't we as adults be like them?

The word ‘community’ is potentially overused in this present time. We talk a lot about the importance of ‘community’, and of the power of collaboration, consultation, promoting inclusion, respecting and embracing diversity and our many differences… all of these modern day buzz-words. We might say that we value ‘community’, but do we really mean it? How do we live and interact in a way that truly reflects authentic community… we do just that, we live with authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability, demonstrating a commitment to one-another which takes sacrifice, empathy, compassion and love… all with the desire to genuinely want what’s best for our neighbours.
We must walk the talk. Jesus most powerfully put it like this; ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’, (Mark 12:31). Similarly, these other verses pack a powerful punch; ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’ (Matt 7:12) and;

‘Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.’ (Colossians 3:12-15).
​
This week a medical report (19th Sept) was published with some very interesting results. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Health of the Nation Report shows mental health problems have replaced physical conditions as the most common ailments that our doctors are treating. Depression, anxiety and mood disorders have replaced coughs, colds and earaches as the bread and butter of general practice. The report shows that back pain, colds and flu were once the most common reasons people saw their GPs, but musculoskeletal and respiratory problems are now a distant second and third (40% and 39% respectively). If mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are becoming either more common, or more easily talked about (or perhaps a combination of both these things), I suggest that we have a ‘community’ responsibility to support one-another in the challenges of our day to day lives. More than ever, I believe that it takes “a village to raise a child”, and to extend this notion, I reckon it takes a village to support a mum and a dad, and it takes a village to grow and support strong families. We need each other if we are going to stay well, and be strong in our parenting and to live life well.

May peace rule in your heart.

Greetings from North India where just this week the ‘Project Help Team’ have been incredibly busy. The diversity of stories in this blog demonstrates what an extreme place Kotdwara is. We are delighted to share our progress with you, and we thank you from the bottom of our heart, for your kindness and generosity. So much is happening, and we are mindful that we could not impact the lives of people without your support …so thank you for connecting with our story. We are so humbled that ‘Project Help’ has grown in just a few years to be positioned in the midst of people’s celebrations, achievements, happiness, as well as their sadness and distress. This community is reaching out to us for help, we are touching people’s lives and we are making a difference.
Asha
Last week we reached out to you, to help Asha. Thank you to the people who were able to make a donation. We are thrilled to tell you that Asha has returned home from hospital. She is steadily recovering. There is still a long road ahead for her but ‘Project help India’ is checking in on her and the family daily.
Independence Day
This week each of our centres celebrated India’s Independence Day. We are teaching our students to work hard and to have a positive vision for their future. Through education and the changing of mindsets of those who live in poverty we are instilling a growth mindset in the way children understand their talents, abilities and value, and to believe for a hopeful and happy life. Together we work to build strong communities and a strong India. Our efforts this week were acknowledged in the local newspaper.
A significant achievement in Village Parmawala
Our teacher and community leader in Village Parmawala, Mr Sanjay Singh has had a remarkable impact in the lives of some of the local youth. Through counselling and mentoring, the young men of the village have committed to not drinking alcohol. Through empowering these men, they are also educating others, and have been working with the local police to make the entire village ‘alcohol free’. One of the goals of ‘Project Help India’ is to impact communities and bring about generational change. This achievement reflects the power of education and the building of trusted relationships. This is all incredibly exciting.
Introducing Anisha and Naveen
Aneesha is 10 years old and she really has a tough life. Rakhi her teacher at Parmawala brought this young girl and her sister Naveen (aged 8) to our attention. Becuase of poverty, these girls are at risk of significant harm due to the impact of alcohol and domestic violence. We are helping these girls through their access to a ‘Project Help’ education, however we are aware that there is not enough money in the family to provide for their very basic needs.  We would be delighted if anyone would like to reach out to sponsor this family at a cost of $25AUS a month. Contact us to let us know.
A Horrific Crime in Kotdwara
This week we were informed of a most distressing crime that occurred in Kotdwara.
“In the most barbaric incident of recent times, a serious crime of rape took place on 5 August 2019 in slum of Kotdwar. The police got the breakthrough when a family from Lakdipadao slum launched a missing complaint of their 10 yr old girl. According to police the girl was allegedly brutally murdered by two of her neighbours , Padam (28 yrs) and Ashok (31 yrs ). The two accused have been arrested. When the police interrogated on of the men he confessed to his crime. The body was found in a horrible state the cause of death was rape and suffocation. The body was in a decomposed condition as it was all eaten by pigs and stray dogs. This proves that the child faced the brutality. The incident had sparked a lot of outrage and left people shaken. They have become concerned about their children. Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB ) 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012 Out of these, 24,470 were commited by someone known to the viktim. 98% of cases. (Quoted from Project Help Officer’s email 15th August)
The victim of this most heinous of crimes, was not a student of our slum schools but her family lives in the same location. Our team has reached out to the family with gifts and emotional support. We pray that our love will provide some comfort in this terrible time. This incident has reminded us of the need to review our Child Protection programs in each of our schools, to give children strategies and awareness to protect themselves.
Our story is your story
​These exciting initiatives have only been made possible because of the generosity and prayerful support of others. Can you believe that all of this has happened in just one week?
YOU CAN BE PART OF OUR STORY
1. Donate - Your tax deductible donation can be made HereEnsure that you are donating to (WYG-IND-PHI-2019)
OR  if tax deductibility is not required, your EFT donation can be made at
BSB: 062 230 (Commonwealth Bank Randwick) 
Account: 1134 1909
Account Name: Project Help India
Please write your name in the reference section so we can thank you.
2. Share our Story - Please like and share this blog on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.Thanks so much.
Love Doug

An update about some friends I love in India. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Can you help?

The mission of ‘Project help India’ is simple – we help and care for people who live in extreme poverty. It is almost impossible to empathise and put ourselves in the shoes of those who suffer in this way. There is such a divide between us with all of our first-world comforts, and those who battle the challenges of having almost nothing each and every day. So many of their problems could be solved and difficult situations changed, simply with the equivalent of what we would spend on a daily cup of coffee. Poverty breeds poverty. It is an ugly, vicious cycle.

Yet we do make a difference.

Asha lives with her husband Sher Singh, and their 4 children in the Kotdwara slums. She is a kind and generous woman who has opened her home and shared her limited resources to support ‘Project Help’. Over the years, despite having nothing herself, Asha has made it possible for us to care for the many people, especially children, who live in her neighbourhood. Asha and Sher are saints. Despite the hardships they endure, they make sacrifices for others. Just a few years ago, they even suggested that ‘Project Help’ might build a public toilet block that would have taken up the entirety of their tiny courtyard, a metre from their back door. We didn’t go ahead with this because it would have compromised their health and safety.

Asha and Sher truly live out the Bible verse that commands us to love our neighbours.

Now it is our turn to help Asha. Just two weeks ago, we received the news that only just a few weeks after her home was destroyed by the monsoon, she had a massive heart attack. Hearing this news, ‘Project Help’ was able to jump into action and immediately transfer some funds to India. This saved her life because she was transferred to a hospital in Bijnor where she received specialist medical help. Additionally, last week, we were incredibly grateful to some of our amazing Australian supporters who this week donated $1000 which was needed to provide the ongoing help that Asha needs.

Amit, our Project Director sent me this report this week:
This is Asha. She is one of our Cooking staff in Slums Center and she also lives in slums. This week she had a heart stroke and immediately we the Project Help sent her to a specialist heart hospital. Her treatment is going on from later 5 days and doctors said that her on of the heart valve is blocked and they did the angioplasty. But unfortunately the cost of this treatment is very high price @80,000 approximately with hospital charges, medicine, etc.
The family of Asha is very very poor. They earn every day 200 Indian rupee ($4AUS) that means 6,000 rupee ($120AUS) per month. In Asha’s family there are 6 members all together with children. Last month this family went through a big problem too. As because of the heavy rain their wooden and plastic sheet roof fell down and they lost their everything like clothes, mattresses,  bed, tv, fan, eatable things etc. In this case Project Help helped them with money as most of you our friends from Australia send help to us.
Now these days once again Asha and whole family going through with big difficulty as they are helpless to pay this big amount. They are looking forward for a generous help. We have to pay for Asha within a week so I kindly urge for your generous help .
May God Bless every one of you.

Asha remains in a critical condition and she continues to fight for her life. Might you be able to make a donation? You can have confidence knowing that your kindness and generosity will make a difference. You may never meet Asha and her family but these wonderful people are connected to you through the story that we share together through ‘Project Help’. They send their love and gratitude.  

YOU CAN BE PART OF OUR STORY
1. Donate - Your tax deductible donation can be made HereEnsure that you are donating to (WYG-IND-PHI-2019)
OR  if tax deductibility is not required, your EFT donation can be made at
BSB: 062 230 (Commonwealth Bank Randwick) 
Account: 1134 1909
Account Name: Project Help India
Please write ‘Asha’ and your name in the reference section so we can thank you.

2. Share our Story - Please like and share this blog on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Thanks so much. Love Doug.

It was only during the first week of the school holidays that my son asked me to attend with him, the funeral of one of his surfing mates. The young man who passed was only nineteen years old and sadly he took his own life. It was a difficult funeral to attend, and the church was ‘packed’ with teenagers and young adults. My son has now had to come to terms with the suicide of 3 young men, friends and acquaintances, who he has known through his connections in the Maroubra surfing community. In the midst of the overwhelming grief there was a desperate atmosphere of trying to make sense of this. This is an alarming statistic that reflects the impact of what health professionals are calling a mental health ‘epidemic’ in our nation. When I was last in India, I read a news article that addressed similar statistics in schools and universities in Mumbai. The incidence of suicide related to students not coping with the pressure of their academic performance across Asia, for example in Singapore, is recognised as a national well-being priority.  The need for each other to talk, have conversations, and to check-in with one-another is clear. I see that strong schools, with excellent well-being programs are key in helping children and teenagers navigate the stresses and challenges of life. I am thankful for the foundations of a Claremont College education that prioritises the well-being, resilience and flourishing of the children.

And this Tuesday I attended what was perhaps the most heartbreaking funeral I have ever attended. Whilst it’s a relief that this was not related to anyone from our school community, none-the-less, the circumstances are about as harrowing as one could possibly imagine. A little boy from my church, Josiah, died on the day of his first birthday. Josiah was accidentally killed by his father, who was reversing the family car. I attended the funeral to support not just the family, but also to be there for a number of my very close friends including my pastor, who all have the enormous task of caring for Josiah’s mother and father, over the days and years ahead. Whilst it was tinged with hope and faith, this funeral was just so, so sad. Words can not express and so many questions just cannot be answered. The tears flowed the moment we all walked into the church.

I share this news because I know that the mother and father, and wider family, desperately need prayer. There was also a powerful sentiment conveyed through the eulogies that has really impacted me, and has drawn me to write about this. The message was simple…

Life is fragile and we must never let the fusses and small stresses of life cloud what is most important to us all… our family and friends. We must keep perspective and never live with regret. We must reconcile with loved ones. Fights and unresolved conflict are not worth it. We must never be too busy to enjoy time spent with family, and we must always tell our each other how much we love them. In my busyness, I must confess that I am guilty of not always getting this right. I get busy and upset about stuff that really is not important. Josiah’s mother and father spoke courageously at the funeral. The raw emotion was heartbreaking to watch and experience. The mother feared that she “would not be able to get up off the floor” the day after the funeral. Please pray for them all.

So with this, I pray that we would all take the time this weekend to enjoy the blessings before us. Enjoy the crisp winter morning, enjoy the sun, connect with family who you don’t see enough, enjoy the company of your children and loved ones. Tell them that you love them more than ever before.

As a community, we must be committed to walking alongside those who are grieving for the long haul. When the funeral is over and all the people have gone home, that's when the painful and difficult journey commences. 

Thanks Warren Wong instagram.com/wflwong for the image