Swati

Ok, I never thought I'd actually do this, but I'm pulling a total Eat, Pray, Love scene. I'm sending the "Tutti" e-mail (or blogpost). I've been very inspired by my friendship with Swati, and want to help her and her family. This is a request for you to help me help her. I'm looking for small donations for various things. $5, $10 or $20 depending on what you choose to contribute to. First, I mentioned my visit to her mother's home in my e.coli post. While I was there, I discovered that her parents and brother do not have their own bathroom. There is only a communal toilet (hole in the ground) for those who live in the small area. There is a space where a "bathroom" could be built in her parents' home, but she tells me they don't have enough money for it. Her father works at a small roadside stall, bringing in only enough money for food and shelter. Her mother takes care of the home, and her brother is attending college courses for hotel management. To pay for the courses, his parents borrowed a lot of money from relatives. Later that day, I asked Swati how much it would cost to build the bathroom facilities which her parents could not afford. Price: a mere $50. She said she wanted to help them, since she has a relatively good job teaching the children of the Ganges, but it is not accepted for a girl to financially help her parents. Her earnings should go to her own family and her husband's family, since that's who she lives with. So I asked her if it would be acceptable to receive financial help from foreigners. She said they would be extremely grateful. So, fund #1: ten $5 contributions for Swati's parents and brother to have their very own hole in the ground. Fund #2: ten $10 contributions to buy Swati a camera. She loves looking at the photos and videos I take of her family and the Children of the Ganges, and has fun using my camera herself. I'd love for her to be able to continue taking photos after I leave. Fund #3: The woman who founded Children of the Ganges recently sent Swati a laptop to use for educational purposes. Swati wasn't sure what to do with it or how to use it with the kids. I told her she'd be able to do much more with it if she had a projector to connect it to. So, ten $20 contributions towards a projector for Children of the Ganges. 

I intend to give her the 1st $50 for the bathroom before I leave tomorrow, so that maybe I will see what it created when I return in May with my dad, and hopefully offer her the camera and projector at the time I come back. I'll front all the money, and will collect any donations when I return home. For those who aren't in my area, you can send positive thoughts instead :)

Thanks in advance for your generosity. This is a cause that you can be sure about where your money is going, and know that there are no administrative costs!

Shukriya, Dhaanyavad.

Namaste.