In a bid to uplift a stratum that has slid into obscurity; City-based youngster Divya Rosaline David is spearheading a plan with Gleeda D'Silva and Samuel Gladson, a duo that’s quite creating a buzz – her charitable initiative, Hand in Hand, is premised on the vision to offer academic assistance and creative sessions to the children of gravediggers in Bengaluru. In an insightful conversation, they gives us a perspective about what it feels like to tread upon a path less traveled and a lot more…
“As a family, we’ve always been actively involved in charity and community services. And this idea was backed by them – so running around for resources and stuff weren’t a problem. In a way, I’d credit them for helping this pan out so well,” pipes the 24-year-old MSc graduate from the University of Oxford, whose parents are the trustees behind the non profit initative. Started early in February, the NGO is still taking its baby steps into making a difference, and is currently run by the trio, who render tutoring and holistic development in the form of tutoring, sex education, and creative classes about forty odd underprivileged kids who reside in an around Sarvagnanagar.
Quiz them about how a typical day in their lives looks like, and Samuel Gladson, reveals, “While there are a couple of volunteer-run initiatives in town, teaching the kids here is indeed a learning of sorts. There’s so much stigma associated with these children because of the families they belong to. Everyday is an eye opener of sorts.” Hailing from neglected households, the children often require additional assistance. “Most of the kids suffer from learning disorders and deviant behavior. But what’s truly inspiring is the fact that these children actually make it a point to attend the classes and are quite regular despite the odds.”
Quiz them about the things that take much of the ex-josephites time, and pat come the reply, “Divya’s a soft skills trainer and a voracious reader so she’s either occupied with that or the kids. Gleeda and I are ardent music buffs. I’m a guitarist and love country music,” chuckles Samuel.
Giving us a peak into what’s next on the anvil, Divya concludingly adds, “We have a few programs in the pipeline. We’re yet to start training the kids on the same but we’re sure it’s going to be a hell lot of fun!”
