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How is Asha Ki Kiran born?
Once upon a time, in the Manila streets (Philippines), laying on the ground under an extreme sun, a baby alongside his brother, begging for money. This scene scarred me very deeply and at this precise moment, I dreamed that one day I would help the underprivileged children. A small seed of compassion was sown.
Why India? Since my childhood, this word was magic. Today, even if I live there a few months a year and this for the past three years already, the word is always magic. It is the presence of thousands of divinities in each house, temple and corner of streets which make this country mystical and magical. However, India still has its poor people which live in the streets. Their roof is the sky; their bed is the pavement of the streets and begging as their only food. And it is also an overpopulated country, polluted, corrupted with its castes problems and its poor people who become a bit poorer every day. So is also the daily reality.
Since 2002, I frequently go to India, more precisely in Jaipur, in Rajasthan. It is there that Andre and I arrived, on a day of spring, with our backpacks. Going to the tourist bureau to gather information on an eventual house of Mother Theresa, we met Pradhumna, an Indian, who was taking care of the lepers. Thanks to this meeting, my project could be finally realized. But it was necessary for me to learn their lifestyle, their thoughts, their determinations, their hopes, their expectations, and especially earn their trust.
As time went by, our friendship grew and, today, this family I met three years ago has become my family of heart. It is thanks to their desire to help me in the realization of my project that Asha Ki Kiran was born on February 7, 2005. It was indeed the day of the school’s inauguration. Since this day, teaching and lunch are offered to a dozen underprivileged children. At the end of the day, Hindi lessons are available for illiterate girls and ladies. Other activities could be initiated according to requests. My main objective is to find as many godfathers and godmothers as possible so that the project grows bigger and bigger, to allow more children to attend this school. It is very important that this initiative receives a strong Indian involvement in the follow-up, the adequate processing and the caretaking of its development.
