I have been meaning to write this article ever since that one fine January morning when I met Tim.
Future Hope is a home for street children in Calcutta. Tim Grandage is the Founder.
In fact, Tim was a high-level executive at Hongkong-Shanghai Bank in Calcutta when he found himself fascinated by the joy and the life-force of the street children. On a monsoon afternoon, as torrential rain clogged up the streets, and all the employees at the bank were complaining, Tim watched a group of street kids swimming in the rainwater on the streets, laughing, playing, celebrating. Their joy had touched Tim somewhere rather deep inside.
One day, one of these boys got ill, and he asked Tim for help. Tim arranged for his friend, a doctor, to cure the child. That was the beginning.
Before long, Tim was living with 32 street kids in his two-bedroomed apartment, all including their host sleeping on the floor.
And soon, his promising executive career at the bank was history.
Tim Grandage did something very few of us have the courage to do. He put a cause that moved him at the center of his life, and took a DIFFERENT path.
Today, Tims Future Hope is an internationally acclaimed organization with 200 children under his care. These children come from hopeless situations into a healthy and hearty HOME. It is this sense of belonging that they miss the most. Otherwise, why give up the freedom of the streets for a far more restricted and supervised life? After all, these kids are quite tough, and no one really starves.
Instead, under Tim Uncles thoughtful and fun supervision, the kids get educated, gain confidence, learn some sports and the arts. What do you want to be when you grow up? I asked a group of kids.
Aunty, I want to be a Computer Engineer like you This response comes from a boy of about ten who was severely burnt as the mosquito net under which he slept with his mother caught fire. The mother did not survive. The boy came to Future Hope. After some years, he has healed enough from the trauma to start dreaming again. And dreaming big.
Tim is also dreaming big. He is buying land, building houses, building schools, and expanding his infrastructure and capacity.
It is a dream that makes you weep in silent humility. |
