Article by Gina Kellogg. Reporting assistance and photos by Shane Alliew.
Stacks of crisply folded shirts and dresses, each encased neatly in a plastic wrapper, fill the table. A line of youth and children stand patiently nearby, waiting their turn outside a Children International community center in Kolkata, India. Each is eager to choose a gift of their own.
A dark-haired woman in a red sari patiently oversees the distribution. A longtime volunteer for CI, Pampa Sinha watches as a young man carefully sifts through his options. While he is no doubt grateful for the new attire, his disappointment is obvious when Pampa hands him a pink-and-black checkered shirt. He quickly puts it back, reaching instead for a shirt of more muted blues and greens. He turns it over, inspecting it, then walks away, content and clutching it to his chest.
Pampa’s round face breaks out into a wide grin as she turns to the next in line, a young girl dressed in a graceful pink sari. As she helps the girl, it is clear that Pampa understands how important each child’s clothing choices are. After all, no matter what part of the world in which they live, there is always peer pressure to dress a certain way.
Pampa Sinha’s dedication and service at a CI community center in Kolkata, India, has impacted countless children.
Pampa is just one of more than 8,000 caring adults who give their time and energy to protect, nurture and guide sponsored children and youth away from the traps of poverty. Some, like Pampa, are unpaid volunteers who selflessly devote themselves to these efforts. Others, while paid, work far beyond their salaried hours. And countless more, who may receive benefits such as college credit for serving at CI, continue to volunteer their time long after internships end, because they know their impact has real meaning in these children’s lives.
Admittedly, we could fill an entire issue of Journeys with examples of these caring adults. Pampa, though, gets the spotlight in this magazine for one reason in particular – her peers nominated her as someone who is especially caring and devoted. And CI recognized that kindness and dedication by honoring her with our first-ever Inspire Award earlier this year.
Pampa selflessly gives of her time and energy to ensure children and youth are better prepared for the future.
Pampa’s selfless dedication has made her a loved and respected figure in her community. Arindam, 19, a program graduate, says Pampa helped transform him from a 5-year-old into the confident young man he is today through her “friendly and simple manner.”
Asked to describe Pampa’s positive influence on him and other youth, Arindam didn’t hesitate before providing a vivid example. “There are many boys in the area who tease old people, especially those bent with age, with wrinkled skin who cannot walk straight,” Arindam says. These boys, uneducated and unsupervised, waste their days playing in the street. Yet Pampa doesn’t stand by when she witnesses their disrespectful actions. She gently takes them aside to explain how, one day, they will “understand the curses of old age,” Arindam explains. Her kind words have inspired many boys to rethink their actions, he says.
Sujit, 18, also is convinced Pampa’s impact is critical in transforming the lives of children and youth. Sujit has traveled with Pampa as she visited the homes of youth to find out why they stopped attending meetings and activities. “It could be because of family problems, school issues or personal problems,” he says. “Whatever the case, [Pampa] speaks with them as a friend and gives examples from her life and the difficulties that many others face.”
Sujit admires how Pampa explains that the youth are “privileged” to be sponsored. “She then tries to make the youth understand that one can only help one’s self and move on from the given circumstances,” Sujit adds.
In a world where many people overlook the impact they can have on others’ lives, the children and youth in Children International’s programs are particularly fortunate. Our abundance of devoted, caring and compassionate adults ensures that sponsored children are much better prepared for a future of confidence and self-sufficiency.
She is well-respected for her kindness and caring.
