Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself?
A: I’m the father of 8 children. My life’s hasn’t been too charming. I was married at 19, had my first child at 20. I came to the UK on 25th May, 1955. I began full time work on the day I arrived in this country and was employed for 39years in a copper tube as a furnace man. For several years my eyesight kept getting worse and I could barely see. In 1985 I had cornea grafts donated to both eyes and they were successful. I saw daylight again little by little. For 10 years I translated Gurbani and Ramayana which are Indian scripts and lectured on them. I started practicing yoga and meditation, spiritually and physically after my 3 month visit to India in 1972. After my return, I started practicing diligently and began teaching to the public here in my home town of Wolverhampton.

Q: How did you first get involved with charity work?
A: In 1991, on a visit to India I came across lepers in my in-laws hometown of Hoshiarpur, Punjab. At the time, I thought beggars to be unqualified individuals who lacked any education and possessed no work skills. I encountered a man suffering from leprosy, who was begging on the street. I turned to offer him some money and asked him what he needed and how he came into this predicament. To my disbelief and surprise, he spoke English and was a doctor. I couldn’t understand how a man with his qualifications ended up on the street. He explained how his contracting leprosy several years ago had led to his banishment from the society he lived in and was left with begging as the only means of supporting himself. He came from the state of Bihar, where I went to visit my sister in the city of Ramgarh days later. There I came across a doctor who set up free medical camps in the remote areas of Bihar, and was shocked at the conditions people were living in. They dated back a 1000years, and in today’s advanced health age were suffering and dying from ailments that were practically non existent in the rest of the world. From then on, I decided that it was a crime for me to allow such things to continue. As my teachings had taught me over the years, I was going to fulfill my duty to man, by helping the poor and needy in that part of the world. I brought back photographs to my classes to make people aware of what was taking place in these parts of India. I started the charity with a little house provided by the local brewery which I used for selling goods from local donations, then moved on to a council shop, after that we rented space and gradually moved up to our own offices on Dudley Road in Wolverhampton.

Q: What goals have you set for the charity?
A: Conditions are so horrific that children die before they reach the age of 2-3years. Many mothers die during birth, and so many blind needing only a 15 min operation to see again end up begging for life. I have many goals. I want to do more eye camps and build more hospitals. Impart health education to prevent such conditions. My main goal is to get these people on their own feet, train them and have them play an active role in society. Especially, provide them with computer and technology training, so they can catch up with the fast paced world of today. Give the children a solid future, a world with opportunity, and something to look forward to.

Q: Are you experiencing any difficulties with your work?
A: It’s hard dealing with bureaucracy, and the lack of law and order. Illiterate people are hard to persuade. They have had bad experiences such as religious conversions and selling of their kids as slaves by many groups, so they don’t trust us. The land mafia are another major problem to the extent that they have threatened our lives. Also many people will portray to be our friends, but just want to get money off of us. Because, there are so many people who use child labour in that region, they think we are using the charity to make money that way. Rich want to stay rich, so the poor remain poor. The rich are the ones who are against us and try to condemn our work so they can have us thrown out. In India it is the money power that talks. It’s very hard to work in this corrupt environment. We have no government support or funding. They treat me as foreigner in India. Another issue is that many relatives ask for the return of the kids because they want to sell them off as slaves. Since they having kinship rights we have no choice but to hand them over and it is next to impossible to show that it is not in the child’s best interest for them to be returned.

Q: You have come a long way since the charity’s inception, what do you put this down to?
A: I think it is God’s will. He chose this work and gave me health so I can work. I’m doing nature’s work.

Q: You started to get a lot of volunteers going over to work in India from the UK, describe the experience?
A: They are very touched by what they see, and many have returned. The children are fascinated and excited to see people from another culture. Language is a barrier for the volunteers but they still manage to relate to the children. I hope more people will take the opportunity to come to India and see our work, and how it’s helping the lives of these unfortunate people.

Q: What kind of feedback have you received from your work?
A: In India no one has volunteered their time, all work for money. But, response in the UK has been good. Several large monetary donations have been made by businesses and individuals, and many volunteer their time to carry out daily activities and help in fund raising.

Q: Tell us some of the success stories of the children at the orphanage?
A: We had a young girl come in to the orphanage when she was around 3 years old. Since many don’t know their own background, are too young or are orphans we cannot be sure of their exact age, but make an estimation. She witnessed her mother being tortured and killed by her own father, and since the incident was unable to speak or relate to staff and other children. But after 6 months of persistent work and love from the staff she started speaking again, and now scores on top of her class in school. There are so many others…….

Q: What skills do you require from the general public who wish to volunteer?
A: I need responsible volunteers. Somebody that has charity experience as in funding, utilizing funds and accountancy. Someone with Solar system or Electrical training. Knowledge of gas production and water supply. Also people with experience in agriculture, soil and seed testing to improve food production. There is a drastic need for nurses in this area, as many are unwilling to work in our charity locations. I want someone who can provide nursing education to the young adults here.