Pam Agius, a World Vision child sponsor, recently came back from a group trip to India where she met her sponsored child, Akash. Here she shares about the special experience she had.
I have been sponsoring Akash for over six years now and always love receiving the letters and pictures from him. I had often read about visiting your sponsored child but could never imagine being able to do so. When the letter arrived from World Vision offering the opportunity to visit as part of a group there was no hesitation – I knew I had to go. What I didn’t realise was that no matter how much I imagined how it would be, nothing could have prepared me for the truly magical adventure I had with all the other sponsors.
The journey to Patna was the beginning of the adventure with the journey from the airport to the hotel being absolutely mind blowing. I thought my head was going to drop off as there was so much to look at and try to take in. Then there were the sounds, the beeping horns and the apparent disregard for any kind of ‘highway code’ to help control the cars, tuk tuks, rickshaws, cows, people, goats, chickens and bicycles!
It was a total assault of the senses but such great fun and almost straight away I fell in love with India.
On our first morning, we all went to the World Vision office and met Priya, Sudarshan and all the staff there. It was during the presentation they gave us that we got an idea of the true scale of the work they do, with so few staff. They are a true inspiration.
On our first sponsor visit, I didn’t meet Akash but I went with Catherine to meet Nisha, her sponsored child. After another hair-raising journey through the back streets we arrived at the community hall where everyone was out waiting for us. They were so happy to see us and presented us with flower garlands – it was so overwhelming and a taste of things to come. The children danced and sang for us and we all joined in towards the end, it was such great fun. I couldn’t get over how happy they all were as we gave out sweets and balloons; it was like all their birthdays had come at once.
The next morning we visited a community in the morning and again the welcome we got was so overwhelming and humbling. The time and work they must have put in prior to our visit was amazing. Karen and Meem got to meet their sponsored children while we met with some of the women and men of the community. Sarah and Catherine who are teachers in the UK had a wonderful time with the children reading stories and doing some times tables.
We also got to see the water filtration system that has been installed because of our monthly sponsorship - an entire community can now drink clean, safe water - a luxury for so few in the slums we visited.
Tuesday afternoon was my time to meet Akash and I was blown away by the welcome, we could hear the drums beating as we were arriving. As with the other communities everyone seemed to have come out to greet us. We were led down a path lined with children shouting ‘Hello Ma'am and Namaste’ and throwing petals while the drum beat sounded down at the front. We were given garlands and bindis and then I was taken into the community hall where Akash was waiting. I was so thrilled to finally meet him and he looked so grown up (he is 14). He is quite shy but we greeted each other and sat down as everyone else made their way in. Some of the children then danced for us and after a while some of us joined in.
When I sat down Akash told me that I danced very well – this just melted my heart.
While the dancing continued a little girl came and took my hand to do a henna design which was just beautiful. Sharon and Karen came with me to Akash’s house where I met his parents and some neighbours. His father has a rick shaw which was provided by World Vision, and he makes and sells rice snacks from this. The time with Akash seemed to pass so quickly but I told him how proud I am of him as he is a very good student and he told me he wants to be a policeman when he is older.
Before we left his Mum took me out to the yard and washed the Henna from my hand and this too was a very special and intimate time. On our way back to meet up with the rest of the group Akash’s Dad had brought his rick shaw to give us a demonstration of how he makes the snacks by dry frying. Just before we left, Akash came running up to me and very proudly introduced me to Mukesh who is his best friend.
It was difficult to say good bye but I did so knowing that he is happy, healthy and has dreams and aspirations
The rest of the week was filled with visits to other communities, a cooking demonstration in the office and a boat trip on the Ganges. I'll never forget my day with Akash and would urge you to make the trip if you can, to spend the day with your sponsored child.
