Childrens Hunger Relief Fund (CHRF) promotes the relief of hunger and improved sanitation facilities for the orphans and poor children in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. Amongst so many things in desperate need, it has also identified for better irrigated farming and wells to provide safe drinking water. Impact                    10 Wells Repaired At a Cost of £500 EachUpdate - Grants Provided By One Kind Act -  20 January 2020A grant of £13,202 was made to provide new equipment and ongoing support for 2 years for the new preschool facilitated by OKA in 2018.  Update - Grants Provided By One Kind Act - 06 November 2018A grant of £10000 was made to carry out the construction and funding of a new pre-school for children as part of a new development for the poor.Some photos of the first foundation stones being laid...... Update - Grants Provided By One Kind Act - 16 June 2017A grant of £5000 was made to build/repair wells.Update - Grants Provided By One Kind Act - 18 June 2016A grant of £5000 was made to build/repair 10 wells.DetailsThe Sri Lankan civil war is well documented in the media.  Although peace was restored in 2009, the legacy of 30 years’ war has been devastation and destruction that is still acutely suffered by those who survived. A ten square mile area in the Northern Province witnessed some of the most shocking horrors.  Tens of thousands were killed and many more tortured and maimed.  There was large scale destruction of homes, hospitals, water and sanitary facilities among other buildings.  Livelihoods like fishing, farming, trading were shattered.  Families were held in camps for months before being sent back to their village to rebuild their lives.  Over time, the large foreign charities left, leaving behind thousands of bewildered, lost and despairing victims.Children's Hunger Relief Fund UK (CHRF) has provided the hope and lifeline so desperately needed.  Since 2010 they have sent everything - from clothing, blankets, milk powder, food, to sewing machines and bicycles. Their vision is to restore self-sufficiency in the long term....to give a hand up rather than simply a hand out.  Some examples of this initiative are setting up a sewing centre for widows, giving boats and nets to fishermen, seeds and water pumps to farmers, building wells.In the past few years their work has brought excellent results enabling displaced families to find their feet again.  CHRF is now focussing on the high proportion of disabled in the area. Land mines, torture and indiscriminate bombings have left large numbers with loss of limbs, paraplegic or quadriplegic.As a start, crutches, commodes, beds have been provided.  However they are looking to the long term future.Having identified most disabled are farmers, they are being encouraged to earn a living through farming, poultry, cows and goat rearing.  A huge impediment has been the lack of water facilities close by.  It is impossible for a disabled person in a wheelchair or artificial limbs to travel for hours to the nearest well to fetch sufficient water for even small scale cultivation. CHRF has identified those families in dire need of nearby wells and has undertaken to build them. The hope is that even the disabled will live a self-sufficient life in dignity.OKA is proud to support their noble work and has donated towards building several wells for the disabled.Update - Progress/Reviews - 05 May 2016Mrs S Kaneshanathan, Chairperson CHRF-UKWater, which is a very basic need for human existence is denied to many disabled people. Most of the amputees are farmers, and farming is one of the options or only option to earn a living, in addition to poultry, raring cows and goats. Without water they can't do any of these.It is a common practice with the farmers to grow popular crops (short term crops/long term crops) in their own land, feed the family and also sell the excess and earn an income. This opportunity is denied to many   disabled people due to the lack of water. They have to walk far, difficult to walk far with the artificial limbs to fetch water for their daily use and drinking. They can only bring water in small pots. There aren't any ways of getting water for sanitation and for the toilets.The houses are far apart and hence it is not possible to construct common wells. Tube well is another option. But these cannot do cultivation. They need water for drinking, cooking and for their cultivation. Out of the 50 people that we visited, about 24 people needed wells. There are more people asking for wells, but we didn't assess them yet. If we can provide them with wells, they can use water for drinking, their daily use and will be able to do cultivation, rare cows and goats and earn an income. Wells, though expensive, are long term investment for these farmers and can be used for many generations. There are about 200 children whose parents are paralysed and about 200 children whose parents are amputees from the list given to us. Without water, these children will be starving and go thirsty and can get many illnesses including kidney problems.The disabled people and their children encounter lot of difficulties during their day to day life. Travelling is the main hurdle as they live in rural areas, access is difficult, no public transport. They all will benefit from 3 wheel motor bikes and bicycles. But the priority at the moment is the water If we can give them a well at any cost, most of them will survive. They will at least be able to feed their children and fulfil the other basic needs. The cost to construct a well is about £1000.00, depending on the depth, width and the texture of the soil. The cost will go up or down depending on beneficiaries’ contributions and whether it is given to a contractor or not. Our field officers monitor the site and get the work done. Old wells can be refurbished at a cost of £500.00. Amongst the disabled people, we will be choosing only the keen, enthusiastic and knowledgeable farmers/disabled people for the construction of the wells. This is to limit the number of request due to limited funding. Wells could be constructed only in summer.During my visit to Srilanka in March 2016, I was pleased to see the farmers doing various short-term/long term cultivation and earning income. We bought lots of various vegetables and made them happy. They were ever so grateful to us for constructing the wells. We hope to see the same progress with the disabled people.Update - Progress/Reviews -  14 November 2016Mrs S Kaneshanathan, Chairperson CHRF-UKDear Mr AmitEnclosing herewith 2 reports regarding the well project. One is a detailed account with photos taken during contruction,stage by stage and accounts. We visited most of the beneficiaries before and during construction.2nd one with photos of completed wells and the beneficiaries detail. Really sorry for the delay in sending this report. It was beyond our control. Since construction of a well involves various factors , we just could not finish the work earlier than this. Still construction is going on with other  wells but disturbed by intermittent rain.  Hope to finish them all soon.At the beginning (2012), we constructed the associated facilities such as water trough to store water, hard floor to stand and draw water or to have bath and a pulley system to draw water. It costed a fortune, about £1000.00- £1500.00 per well. Since there are so many thousands in need of well/ water, now, we are excavating as far as reaching the water level, constructing parapet walls for protection of the well from ruining and rubbish falling into the wells during flooding, and people accidentally falling into the wells and plastering inside and outside for protection. Below is a such completed well. We expect the beneficiaries to do these associate facilities   as and when they can afford. By doing this , we are able to construct wells for many people. We sincerely thank  you and your members for the kind  and generous donation and to enable us to construct these wells. We hope you will be able to help us  in the future alsoWe appreciate if you could  give us a feedback, positive or negative about this project.On behalf of CHRF-UK, we extend our sincere thanks to all the members of OKA.Kind regardsShantha KaneshanathanChair person CHRF-UK Update - Progress/Reviews -  15 November 2016REPORT FROM CHRFThe £5000 donated by OKA was used to build 10 wells for the disabled in Vanni, Sri Lanka.Some examples are given below.  As we can see all the beneficiaries have lost a limb or are paralysed due to the devastating legacy of land mines.Arulmathy is a widow, below knee amputee, with 3 children. She earns about £50.00 per month from tailoring. She has completed the well with the money given by OKA-UK. She is planning to do cultivation in addition to using the water for drinking and other daily use.Rasaratnam is a below knee amputee, with wife and 2 children. He has completed the well with the money given by OKA-UK. Wife earns £50.00 from tailoring. He has already started cultivation. They say, they will be able to enhance their income if they have livestock poultry etc.Subramanium is paralysed below waist, wheel chair bound; depend on his wife for total care. He has 4 children, all married and living elsewhere. Wife has been taking him out to (other people’s house) give his personal care and shower. Their well is successfully constructed with the money donated by OKA.There are 10 families like this who have been given a hand up towards a self sufficient, dignified life. CHRF would like to sincerely thank OKA for the successful completion of the wells which has brought real improvement in the quality of life and happiness for these unfortunate victims. Click here to download the full report from CHRFAbout One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

Made With Hope believes every child living in rural Tanzania should have access to a quality education and they are achieving this by collaborating with rural Tanzanian communities to understand their barriers to education and finding solutions together. This includes building classrooms, collecting rain water for good health and bringing light to rural homes.  ImpactGrants would help towards 1. Building of much needed remaining 3 primary classrooms of a block of 8 classrooms at the CHETI Primary school (see below for further details). 2. Installation of numerous water tanks at various schools in Arusha to collect rainwater during the November rains (see below for further details).  Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    20 January 2020Following on from the grant made in September 2019 of £11,000 to build the foundations of 3 classrooms, a further grant of £12,185 has been made to complete the project by installing the roof, windows and doors, painting of the walls and filling them with desks, ready for the students to use.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    10 September 2019As a result of funds raised by the Prideview Cricket Challenge Day 2019 and OKA Garden Party 2019, the following grants have been made:  1) £11,000 to build the foundations of 3 classrooms 2) £13,280 to build numerous water harvesting tanks Details CLASSROOM PROJECT Education empowers disadvantaged children living in rural Arusha, Tanzania. In 2002, the Tanzanian government introduced “free primary education for all children”. This policy is an exciting stepping stone in the development of Tanzania, but unfortunately the Tanzanian government has such few resources, all schools became quickly oversubscribed and the education that is taught is often quite low in quality. This never really gives the students a chance to gain the skills they need to go onto secondary education and attain a well-paid job in the future to enable them to escape the vicious cycle of poverty that effects these rural communities.Made With Hope partner with CHETI, a registered Tanzanian charity, whose mission is to provide education to the poor children that live in their community. CHETI has been running their Primary School for many years and has educated thousands of children through their high-quality curriculum and teaching standards. This is a private school that has a large sponsorship programme and is funded through CHETI’s income generation projects. This enables the school to give these children an education that goes over and beyond the quality of the local government schools. They really believe a “CHETI” education will enable children to make a future for themselves that is free from poverty. However, CHETI Primary School is in desperate need of expansion to continue its success and meet the demands of the local community. Made With Hope has funded and constructed 5 more classrooms at this school, however an extra 3 classrooms need to be built which will enable an additional 135 children to be taught to a high level.Once the children graduate from CHETI Primary School, of which so far there has been a 100% pass rate in government regulated exams, the children will be able to attend CHETI Secondary School which Made With Hope constructed in early 2019.Giving a Tanzanian child an education means giving them the tools they need to unlock their future.WATER PROJECT Education offers a real chance for children to escape the cycle of poverty in rural Arusha, TanzaniaHowever, rural schools are located in disadvantaged villages that are often so remote, yet still so full of students eager to learn. Made With Hope have visited 5 rural schools in Arusha and have found that they have no regular water supply. The local government often only provide enough water to last 3 days out of each month for a school of up to 600 students.This means that students have no water to drink, no water to flush the toilet, no water to cook food to eat, no water to wash their hands and no water to clean the school. It is shocking to realise how much water is missing from these rural schools to ensure the students have the water they desperately need. The impact of having no water is a major risk for the students’ health. “We’ve seen excrement wiped on the walls of toilets at these schools because a child has no water to wash their hands after visiting the toilet” Eleanor, Made With Hope Founder.There are many rural schools in Arusha; however, from their partnership with the local Arusha government and collaboration with CHETI NGO, a Tanzanian charity, MDW have highlighted 4 schools that are the most in need of improved access to water, which in total, are made up of over 1,500 students:CHETI Primary SchoolCHETI Secondary SchoolMaweni Primary SchoolMskamono Primary School“No water means the students cannot flush away their urine after visiting the toilet which has causedsome students to gain urinary tract infections” Head Teacher at Maweni Primary SchoolThe water that local residents and school support staff manage to collect is often groundwater. Unfortunately, not only is this in very short supply due to the arid conditions and clay soils, Arusha is a region that is naturally very high in fluoride with levels of 7.6 mg/L (WHO recommends fluoride levels should be under 1.5 mg/L). High levels of fluoride in primary school-aged children can cause weakening of the teeth and skeletal damage such as osteoarthritis (1, 2). We have visibly seen the effects of these high fluoride levels on the local population's teeth, which encouraged us to investigate further. A recent scientific review found 34 human studies and 100 animal studies linking fluoride to brain damage.Made With Hope partner with an incredible Tanzanian NGO called CHETI (Children, Health, Education, Team, Inspiration) who are embedded in local rural communities where the vast majority of the population live in extreme poverty. CHETI has supported over 8,000 poor children since 1997 and have aims to support thousands more children in the future. Made With Hope and CHETI have been collaborating since 2013, with a variety of educational and health projects. In 2015, CHETI identified the need to provide water for children in rural disadvantaged communities whilst they’re at school. MWH took on this project and have been supporting this clean water project since it was first identified.Since 2016, MWH improved the water access to CHETI Primary and Secondary School through purchasing a tractor to transport water from 10km away. However, this was not cost-effective, sustainable and meant we were damaging the environment through releasing greenhouse gases. In 2018, we launched a pilot to tackle these water issues, which involved installing 3 rainwater harvesting systems. We found them to improve the situation drastically; enabling children to drink less high fluoride water and reduce the number of trips to collect groundwater by 70%. Although there are predictable rainy seasons and we are working towards providing solely rainwater for the children to drink, Arusha’s climate dictates that rainwater can only be collected during certain months of the year. Therefore, we intend to continue collecting groundwater during the periods when our rainwater supplies are insufficient for the demand of the children. Eventually, we will seek to have sufficient rain water storage tanks to collect enough water so that 100% of our supply is rainwater.About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

The Real Junk Food Project London seeks to eradicate child hunger in UK and has started up enterprises to address this in our local communities as they have successfully done in Leeds.  ImpactTo facilitate a Community ‘pay as you feel’ café in Edgware by purchasing a van to collect vast quantities of available provisions from local major food retailers.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    14 December 2019A grant of £1500 was made from funds raised at the Ethical Catering event held by OKA Associate, Ritu Soni, to support the local impoverished community of Burnt Oak, NW London.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    28 November 2019A grant of £4000 was made from funds granted by the Willesden Green Swaminarayan temple to buy Christmas presents for the children of the local impoverished community of Burnt Oak, NW London.  Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    10 November 2019A grant of £5000 was made from funds raised at the 2019 Prideview Cricket Cup Challenge Day to support the local impoverished community of Burnt Oak, NW London.  Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    7 June 2019A grant of £3500 was made from funds raised at various recent OKA events. The monies will be used to create storage space at the Harrow Cafe project, purchase kitchen equipment and signage for the Barnet cafe, and for general training of volunteers in the kitchen in Basic Food and Hygiene.        Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   10 December 2018OKA were very clear we wanted to help source xmas presents for the children of low-income families in Burnt Oak being suported by TRJFP.  So OKA Associates Alisha Malhotra and Ritu Soni went out on a shopping spree to buy £300 worth of presents. OKA are proud to be able to help towards making Christmas a time of peace and love for those here in the UK in desperate need.                        Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   29 July 2018A further grant of £150 was made as a result of a fundraising initiative by Hilton HQ in celebration of the UN World Day for Cultural Diversity. Hilton HQ held an international bake sale to raise funds for The Real Junk Food Project. See further details on our Event page.  Furthermore, Hilton and TRJFP have joined hands in launching the first of their Bistro nights, when they served a 3 course meal created entirely from rescued food. It is so heart warming that OKA have been able to facilitate a new partnership that will help towards the future success of this noble efforts by TRJFP in north west London. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   24 September 2017A further grant of £2000 has been made to complete the expenses for the much-needed van to collect vast quantities of available provisions from local major food retailers. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   23 June 2017A grant of £10,000 has been made to purchase a much-needed van to collect vast quantities of available provisions from local major food retailers. These provisions are then being made available to needy people in the local community at a pop-up shop in north west London. DetailsThe Real Junk Food Project London seeks to eradicate child hunger in UK.   A routine shopping trip to Morrisons by an OKA Associate saw children waving their buckets to collect for their own breakfast clubs. This led to a conversation and OKA offering help.Too often in UK children from poor families or those neglected by their parents live in hunger. They go to school without nourishment and struggle to concentrate in class due to hunger pangs.    The Real Junk Food Project London aims to provide cafés and breakfast/homework clubs for vulnerable families.The model is based on their founding charity in South Africa where local farmers use produce to feed children in local schools. Unsurprisingly there was an improvement in attendance, behaviour and an eagerness to learn.The Real Junk Food Project London has started to identify local communities where such need is the greatest. One such community is based in northwest London.The Real Junk Food Project London has secured premises where a ‘pay as you feel’ café and a breakfast/homework club can be provided after refurbishment of its kitchen facilities. Planning permission has been sought for.  In the meantime,  The Real Junk Food Project London is putting the premises to good use by setting up a pop-shop where local people can come and collect food they otherwise can’t afford. They have secured a contract with local food retailers, including major outlet Morrisons, to collect provisions that can be used for this purpose. The potential for this service is huge as many food retailers have provisions they can give. Transport of these provisions is the biggest hurdle. One Kind Act believes it is so very important that we help our local community. Therefore, OKA have come forward to purchase a vehicle for them so that they may continue with more ease the noble work they are doing.  There is something distressing and so wrong about young children starving in this day and age in a relatively wealthy country like UK.  The Real Junk Food Project London is trying to fill that gap. One Kind Act is aiming to facilitate it. About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

Via Ninos, in Quito, Equador target certain areas of the city whose children are most vulnerable to abuse and squalor by raising awareness amongst the children’s parents of the importance of education and health, and strengthen skills and aptitudes through participation in UBECI’s playgroups.  ImpactA grant will fund one of their out-reach workers to help provide educational activities to vulnerable street children to build them a brighter future.  Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act    30 November 2019A grant of £1240 was made from funds raised at the Latino Party to help support the salaries of social workers working with the street children of Equador.   Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   9 July 2018A grant of £6590 was made to employ one outreach worker for the third year.   Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act  13 May 2017A grant of £5900 was made to employ one outreach worker for the second year of our two year pledge.   Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act  14 April 2016A grant of £5148 was made to employ one outreach worker for the first year  of our two year pledge.DetailsIn Quito, Ecuador, poverty struck parents working in open air markets are forced to take their children with them.  The children as young as two accompany their market vendor parents from 4am for 12-hour days.  The days are hard and monotonous and can be a harsh and dangerous environment for the young children.  They face aggression, abuse, boredom, neglect, poor health, malnutrition, lack of education and discrimination that impedes their chances of a healthy productive life.Via Ninos aims to improve the lives of these street children by supporting educational and training programmes, offering social and psychological care, health care and where necessary accommodation. Outreach workers are employed to go into the market places and work closely with the children as well as their families to address prevalent issues like poor mental and physical health, behavioural difficulties, social problems and low self esteem.The aim is to break the cycle of poverty, exploitation and abuse to create better futures for the children and their families. This means less time, if any, working and more time either in school, studying or undertaking other activities beneficial to their wellbeing and development.Update - Progress and ReviewsNelly (name has been changed) is 12 years old and currently attending secondary school. Her dream is to become a singer when she finishes school. She lives with her grandmother and younger sister. Her parents both have problems with drug addiction and have therefore never taken care of their daughters. Nelly’s grandmother sells vegetables in the market from 3 in the morning until 8 at night. She is an elderly woman but she is very motivated and loves her granddaughters so she struggles day in day out to bring money home to cover their basic living costs.How has UBECI (United to Benefit Ecuadorian Children, International (project funded by Via Ninos) 9VIA) helped Nelly?  Nelly first got involved with UBECI 10 years ago. She had very low self-esteem due to the situation with her parents. Initially she was very timid and cried all the time. Part of what UBECI did for her was to offer her the care and affection which she never got from her parents. Little by little she started letting go of her pain and gaining confidence until she was able to smile and play with other children. Now she is an adolescent, she has ups and downs with regard to her self-esteem, because she still finds it difficult to accept the sad reality of her parents’ drug addiction. On one occasion, as a cry for help to her grandmother, she threatened to kill herself. Nelly currently sees a professional psychologist who is helping her deal with the trauma. It has been a long process but with positive results. UBECI’s work with Nelly has been to mentor and support her in her education as well as her social development.Over the years that UBECI has been working with Nelly, they can identify a number of achievements: she is attending secondary school, she wants to progress and develop and she is in a much better state of emotional health. UBECI continues to work with Nelly. About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

Punarnava Charitable Trust is wholly focused on improving the health, education and welfare of poverty struck villages on the outskirts of Coimbatore in Tamilnadu, South India, highlighting, amongst so many pressing demands, the need to feed the neglected elderly and provide a monthly free medical health camp.  ImpactProvide food and medical camp for 100 neglected poverty struck villagers for 1 yearUpdate - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - 19 October 2019A grant of £14,320 was made for the purchase of vegetables, rice, coconuts and provisions and to prepare daily Community lunches for 100+ elderly for the whole year. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - 1 August 2018A grant of £12,283 was made to provide food and medical camp for 100 neglected poverty struck villagers for 1 year Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - 19 June 2017A grant of £11,500 was made to provide food and medical camp for 100 neglected poverty struck villagers for 1 year Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - 04 April 2016A grant of £10,000 was made to provide food and medical camp for 100 neglected poverty struck villagers for 1 year DetailsPunarnava is a charity trust based in Coimbatore in South India. They run a completely transparent operation with the philosophy that everyone can make a positive contribution to the world, no matter how humble or not your back ground is.They are focussed on supporting 5-10 villages in the Thirumalayampalayam panchayat.  These villages suffer from extreme poverty, social problems with neglected elderly and children being raised in negative environments.They are not supported by any large organisations and need money for various projects undertaken.  These include:Building a kitchen for a children's home to house 30 orphans or children of struggling single parents from the poverty struck areas.They aim to identify those children in the most negative environments e.g. with alcoholic abusive fathers, or exploited widows and place them in a positive, nurturing environment teaching higher spiritual and moral values.The children's home is already built but until the kitchen is ready they cannot take in any children.Relief of sickness.  Every month they provide a free medical camp to ill villagers for whom this is the only access to medical care.  The difference they make to the quality of life of the sick and diseased is inestimable.  Diabetes, infectious diseases, blindness, strokes, arthritis are  just some of the prevailing issues.Feeding 100 elderly neglected villagers daily.  With increased urbanisation many elderly are left to fend for themselves with no family to take care of them. Many of them are blind, disabled or immobile. All of them are malnourished and painfully thin. They are too frail to work and would slowly starve to death if it wasn't for the wholesome, fresh, hot meal Punarnava delivers to them daily.  Toilets are being built in the villages to increase hygiene and stop open defecation in the fields.  But they now need a water supply to use these toilets.  Punarnava aims to make water sources available through various means including building wells and harvesting rain water effectively.  Careful due diligence was done by an OKA associate (see below for further details) who visited them.  The incredible thing about their work is the minimal costs. There are no administrative costs at all as it is run by dedicated volunteers.  Similarly the logistics, doctor's fees, identification process for eligibility is all free.  This means that all the money donated goes directly to those that suffer most with no wasteful and unnecessary administrative costs. Update - Progress and Reviews - March 2016Richa Varma, OKA AssociateIn March 2016, I visited Punarnava charity to understand their daily process of feeding the neglected elderly of several villages in Tamil Nadu, South India.  They also hold a monthly free medical health camp treating and feeding hundreds of poverty struck villagers. The philosophy of Punarnava is 'maitreya' or friendship and 'karuna' or compassion.  They believe we should create abundance in whatever form possible for everyone around us. Greed, a strong sense of ownership, and making life only about yourself are seen as unethical and egotistical. People should be instruments of a larger, positive purpose.When I arrived, I met Geetha, a remarkable lady who has dedicated her life to administering the charity. She works purely on a voluntary basis, simply for the love of making the world a better place.She introduced me to the other volunteers: Suresh and Somu, both articulate, driven, young men who oversee the logistics, delivery and problem solving of the drive to feed the elderly and the medical camp.Every morning fresh vegetables, rice and dal are cooked by two village women.  These women often have alcoholic husbands who beat them and gamble their money away.  The initiative supports them to earn a safe, independent income.The meals are packed into tiffins and loaded onto a jeep.  The jeep makes 5 stops in the centre of each village where the elderly eagerly await the day's hot meal.  A hundred meals a day are delivered. There is a comprehensive selection process for eligibility. Those elderly who do not have regular access to food or any relatives to support them are considered.  Disabled villagers are also fed as are widows with young children.I spoke to several villagers seeking to understand how they became victims of circumstances.Maraal is a softly spoken woman in her eighties.  It is obvious she must have been stunningly beautiful in her youth.  She lives next door to her alcoholic son and daughter in law and is only allowed to eat the leftovers they throw out.  On the days there are no leftovers, she goes hungry. She has a 1000 watt smile when I ask her if she enjoys her regular tiffin.Bagyam is a widow who doesn't remember how old she is.  Her son and daughter in law died in an accident and she was left to raise her grandson.  She spends the day herding her seven goats but it is not enough to feed her.Munni and Kanamma are an elderly couple in their 80s.  They have one daughter who is married.  The daughter is not allowed to visit or support her parents, expected instead to sacrifice her life for the in laws, husband and children.  They are too frail to work and depend on Punarnava for the only meal they get.Arunchamy is paralysed and his wife Ramathal takes full time care of him to the best of her ability.  He has improved with treatment from the free monthly medical camp but still does not have use of his arms.  They would have starved if it wasn't for the regular tiffin delivery.There were stories of alcoholism, domestic violence, accidents, disease, social problems and gambling breaking up families.  The eventual victims are often the elderly who traditionally rely upon their sons to care for them in their twilight years.  These elderly have nothing: no earnings, no hope, poor health, no family, no youthfulness on their side. They are without exception painfully thin and malnourished.There was a palpable sense of insecurity and fear. Time and again we were asked "will you feed us till we die?"I asked one man what the worst and best part of his day was.  He said waking up with gnawing hunger in the middle of the night was the worst.  The best part was the hour before the tiffin was delivered. He always arrived over an hour early to wait in the hot sun as the anticipation of food made his "heart soar with happiness".Another lady said her grandchildren would sometimes come and pick at her food.  Although it meant less for her, it gave her great happiness to have the social interaction and time with them.It was frustrating to hear of problems the volunteers sometimes face.  In one village the corrupt local councillor insisted the tiffins be given to him.  It was obvious he planned to feed his cronies, friends and family.  Somu refused and was threatened with violence.  When Somu stood his ground despite the argument escalating and turning nasty, the councillor threatened the villagers.  He said any villager who collected their tiffin would have their pension stopped.  For several days the villagers were too frightened to take their food and went hungry.  It was only when Somu threatened to go to the newspapers and file an official complaint with the political party's headquarters that the issue was resolved.  However, having a resentful bureaucrat remains a thorn in their side.The incredible thing about this whole operation is the minimal costs. There are only four costs: the salary of the village women who cook, provisions (rice, lentils, vegetables, spices etc), petrol and cooking gas.  The office, jeep, kitchen use, administration, driver and logistics are all free.It is clear that every penny donated goes directly to where it is needed with no wasteful administrative costs.Punarnava is doing wonderful work that is not supported by any large organisations and is in keeping with OKA's ethos of living and giving with minimal costs.Update - Progress and Reviews - September 2016Geetha, Volunteer at PunarnavaDear Amitji , Shamitji and all,Namaste!Trust this mail finds everyone at One kind Act in good health and in great spirits.We at Punarnava are writing this to report about our community meal program, for which you graciously donated GBP 10000/-We are thankful for your kind support and pray that onekindact and each one of you go from strength to strength.Our meal program is going on very well. I personally go to meet the beneficiaries of the program periodically, and find that they are very happy to get the hot meal at noon and bless every one for this gift.In my recent visit to the village last week, I was pained to see some of the old people suffering with pain in the limbs due to old age and arthritis. We are taking remedial measures of going on motorcycle to all the remote villages with a doctor to provide the much needed Ayurveda care.Given below is the link for the facebook page on ANNAM- God's gift where we post the meal provided for the day.https://www.facebook.com/PATannam/?ref=bookmarksAlso attaching herewith some latest  pictures for your kind reference.Thank you very much.warm regardsGeethawww.punarnava.orgAbout One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

Sierre Leone is one of the poorest nations of the world, with thousands of people living in slums. UK based charity, Home Leone, has initiated its pilot “Destiny” village, a community-led relocation plan, enabling over 2,000 people to be relocated into a new community that provides jobs, education, low cost homes, social infrastructure, utilities, vocational training and health facilities. The photos below depict what Home Leone aim to achieve, Before and After.  ImpactBuild up to 40 blocks/300 homes enabling up to 2000 people to leave Sierra Leone's horrific slums and start a new life at Destiny Village.Update(s) - Grant Provided by One Kind Act  As a result of funds raised by Shanta Foundation and OKA in September 2018 in aid of Home Leone, the following grants have been made towards building new homes and meeting various operational costs that were seen to be vital for Home Leone to continue in its success. This totals a FULL AMOUNT OF £162,500 RAISED BY SHANTA FOUNDATION AND ONE KIND ACT.  1) £20,000 15th November 20182) £30,000 24th December 20183) £41,250 28th February 20194) £33,000 16th April 20195) £24,750 21st May 20196) £13,500 25th June 2019Update    22nd July 2019One Kind Act feel immense pride in being able to help towards the building of the brand new village for slum-dwellers, Destiny Village, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Nigel Hyde, founder of Home Leone, a charity OKA supports, sends these words of thanks and a video of what has been achieved so far for the slum-dwellers moving in.........Dear Annu, Mona, Shamit, Amit ….. and all at One Kind Act,I am just on the plane home and reflecting on the amazing support you have been and how the fundraising for the last 2 years has come to fruition.The last few days have been truly remarkable in Destiny as we completed the moving of over 200 people from the slums into 48 homes.  The 8 homes you funded directly and the 16 homes you enabled Shanta to help us with are all occupied and the life giving stories people share are really moving.We have now built 56 homes, 6 classrooms, have 6 businesses (construction, water bagging, bakery, brick factory, garage, market garden) are now going and the water supply is largely done.  Teacher training is happening now and the school will open its doors in September.A local company kindly funded a party for the people on arrival.  It is a remarkable time. We had a number of people come and share their story and one stood out that I want to share with you.We have an initiative that has bought 5 x 3 wheel taxis. We had someone fund this with a £10,000 loan.  The 5 guys have a deal with us to repay this over one year which enables them to make a livelihood.  One of them  told his story.  About 4 weeks ago, his behaviour was wild and he threatened to hurt someone badly.  We had to decide if we could continue with him and his family to come to the village and give him the opportunities he sought.  After some careful thought and discussion he told how we decided to give him a second chance (we recognise that people moving from slums will not all exhibit perfect behaviour so we extended his probation). He said how he had turned his life round and behaved so well that he and his family moved to Destiny on time.  He came from a slum named Cobalt.  He told us how last Thursday, his next door neighbours from the slum, had their house flood and one of them drowned.  They had moved out in time to have avoided a similar disaster. He was truly grateful.We pass on this thanks as in truth each one of you are is such a key part in saving this man and his family’s life.  I pass on his thanks as whilst he may never know you, and what you did that enabled us to push ahead with a pilot new town for this nation.The picture of me and the baby is the first baby born in the village – they called him Destiny!With much love and thanksNigel         Update    13th December 2018Update on Home Leone – Destiny Village post OKA Trustee visit 1-8 Dec 2018 OKA Trustees, Annu Shah and Mona Bhogal, and loyal OKA Supporter, Reeta Hosein, travelled out to Sierra Leone to see for themselves what Sierra Leone was like and what Destiny Village has to offer.Apart from being stunned by the beauty of the country with its abundant vegetation, mountainous coastline, white sandy beaches and fun-loving friendly people, they soon realised the plight of the slumdwellers of Freetown. No wonder Nigel Hyde, Chief Executive of Home Leone, sees it as his personal calling to re-house these poor needy families into Destiny Village and give them new beginnings to their lives.  Below is a summary of OKA’s findings about the country and the progress made on Destiny Village.  Background to Sierra Leone 1. 80% Muslim, 20% Christian 2. 90% practice witchcraft, medical facilities very limited 3. Very high unemployment, mainly govt jobs and little agriculture 4. 82/1000 infants under 5 die 5. Life expectancy is 466. Average wage is £60pm. 7. Schooling is meant to be free but costs around £15 per term per child which is a large chunk of their wages. 8. Health free for certain people eg pregnant women, otherwise most medication/treatment has to be paid for. 9. Has very decent main roads which have been recently built by the Chinese. Home Leone – Destiny Village (DV)1. Overview• Location - approx. 22m east of capital Freetown; one & half hours away from slums• Site - overall circa 25 acres, legally owned by HL with strategic plan to incorporate low-cost housing, sustainable businesses, education & health facilities and                 water/power infrastructure• Current Infrastructure - includes power generators, water tower, sewers, lighting, etc• Construction to Date•      5 Blocks fully built•      Each Block has 8 Houses, 2 bedrooms each, 40 houses built•      6 Classrooms and Admin Block built•   Occupation to Date -7 Families •   Construction in progress/planned - 2 Blocks with 16 Houses•   Site Capacity - for Housing, approx. 40 Blocks for over 300 Houses2. The Model: • To provide a house for the entire family, employment to the main bread-winner, full schooling to the children, full medical facilities to all the members of the family and private allotments to the household to grow own produce to self-sustain.• The families are selected through a selection process that requires various criteria to be met. The application process consists of 20 pages of questions, including current state of housing, motivation level of want to move, referees in family, skills, partnership for at least 3 years, religion (1/2 Christian/Muslim), age etc. A weighted average is obtained and if score above a level, then an interview follows. 3. Self-Sustainability • Business units set up to include garage/car mechanics, bakery, water bagging, chicken -farm and brick-pressing businesses. The bakery will have a retail outlet to sell to the villagers of DV• Have own generator providing power/electricity to the village  • Cultivated a new nursery of plants - hoping to sell them to hotels/businesses for income an education for children • Brick pressing workshop has been set up. Local spare scaffolding used to house the workshop. About to buy their own hand pressing machine with a random donation of £5000. This will mean that there will be enough demand for skilled jobs (but at present, there is not enough skilled labour on site) • ‘Community kitchen/oven’ to cook staff food which also has capability to be used to burn plastic and recycle waste like rice and coconut husks that can be eaten. • Plastic recycling process also going to be set up 4. Health• Still in creation mode, ongoing research of data on live health cases ie what illness, action plan, medication required, costs etc to establish health needs of the villagers going forward.  • The original model was to build a full health clinic at DV. However, as the funding of the maintenance of a health clinic is not sustainable, in consultation with World Health Organisation, HL have decided not to do this in the immediate future but to rely on nearby clinics • A new Community Health Worker has been appointed to support the villagers of DV and attend to their health issues through nearby clinics. Priority is to make her fully robust in her duties so that ultimately, she can train others as DV becomes bigger.   HL pay for transport but the patient has to pay for treatment and medication unless exempt eg pregnant women. • Re-evaluation is taking place based on data gathering and then, HL will decide on the way forward • Perhaps the way forward is to provide a service that:o Monitors the health of the villagerso Serves as an advisory health centreo Direct patients to existing nearby clinics o Allows for use of medical cover (very much in the future) • Need to also make provisions for workers on site as well the villagers • A mobile health clinic has been donated by World Hope, a big NGO in SL, that can be used for basic diagnostics eg blood pressure. 5. Education• Some classrooms, staffroom, offices, playground have been built thus far towards building a fully operational school for the children of DV  • However, since there are only 7 families residing at DV at present and most of these children are infants, it has been concluded to not implement an up-an-running schooling system until Sep ‘19.• Future discussions on education will include:o Changes required to the current structural design of the schoolo Prioritisation of deliverableso Installation of a Head-mistress who will be pro-active in the recruitment of good calibre teachers and future needs of the school – requires funding o possibly private tutorial classes will be provided for the youngsters currently residing in DVo visits to local primary schools to discuss sending DV children there and training of new teacherso discussion with the ‘movers’ already in DV to establish what they want for their children from the school  o possible apprenticeship programmes for the older children to be able to work at the business units of DV6. What do the ‘Movers’ say?• They’re happy and very grateful to have come from such dire conditions to these ‘mansions’ • Children are more healthy and have space to play• However, families feel isolated at present• Mums can’t rely on the larger community to mind their children whilst they do their petty trade eg selling their wares eg tie-dyed fabrics, hairdressing• Finding it hard at present to make ends meet on just one income of main breadwinner because of the costs of paying towards the house (will be subsidised owner-occupied by 20 years), ancillary costs at school and healthcare treatment/medication costs. £60pm paid to the workers is the minimum wage.• But are very confident that conditions will  get better as more people arrive.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   20th November 2018A grant of £20,000 was made towards building the next block of 8 homes. These funds were raised by Shanta Foundation. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   24th September 2017A grant of £35,180 was made to commence and complete the building of a block of 8 homes, enabling around 40 people to start a new life at Destiny Village. The photos below show the marking out of the foundations for Belu Villas, making the 2,500 cement blocks by men and women breaking down the rocks that go in to the foundation, putting the covers on the calverts that are built to drain the heavy rains away, bringing the ballstone in to the foundation, the whacker plate crushing the stone in the foundations and finally, of raking of the foundations and the foundation walls. So much work has been done by the local community in such a short space of time. Details Home Leone is a charity that believes in caring for and loving vulnerable people facing difficult situations. It is hoped that one day, a nation can be changed.  It is not funded by any large organisation, just a small group of people with a big heart and vision.  They are helping some of the world's poorest, working with them on a journey to lift them out of horrific slum life into inspired life of new communities. Home Leone's pilot "Destiny" village relocates over 2,000 people on its 22-acre site, with 6 foundational elements ensuring sustainability:  *   Employment and skills means participants contribute to society in a sustainable manner, with lasting jobs and dignity;  *   Education - by building primary secondary and vocational training schools the village and community equips and empowers the next generation;  *   Low-cost homes - 344 homes, designed by slum dwellers deliver culturally appropriate living at affordable prices in a rent-to-buy scheme;  *   Healthcare - Local facilities, a health savings scheme, a care home and partnerships with local healthcare providers;  *   Water and Waste Management - Drinkable water delivered to homes and a water bagging factory bringing jobs.  Together with our effective waste management,        children and adult's health is improved;  *   Power - Connecting to the local NPA power grid and supplemented by solar and generators, provides a core component to village living.Their programmes, social justice initiatives and training maximise the effective use of this vital infrastructure.  They also welcome corporate teams to come and help as part of their Team Building and Corporate Social Responsibility programmes to send employees on a life changing journey for a week in Sierra Leone.In August 2017, One Kind Act hosted a garden party with a goal to charity Home Leone.  This proved timely, as within a few days the monsoon rains and flooding brought about a landslip, killing hundreds of people and making even more homeless.  The need for low cost homes has never been more urgent.Nigel Hyde, Home Leone's Chief Executive said "One Kind Act is a catalyst beyond just the life transformation for many of the work's poorest.  It really means the first people can be relocated by April 2018 and is also opening doors for others to get involved through volunteering overseas and raising further funds for investment.  It is also an honour to build these homes to celebrate the life of Belu Bhogal, who sadly passed away earlier this year."About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

Whisper‘s new Magical Children's Hospital in Jinja, Uganda supports and provides essential medical attention for children up to age of 13 from some of the poorest areas of the country, often with serious conditions.ImpactA grant of £5000 buys essential medicines, medical supplies and often lifesaving drugs. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   21 June 2019A grant of £1000 was made as a result of fund-raising efforts by OKA Supporter, Amrisha Prashar, at a recent Marathon event (see EVENTS page for details) to buy much-needed medication and drugs to treat 400+ patients.     Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act  8th January 2017A grant of £5000 was made to provide medical attention and drugs to children at the hospital. DetailsTreating 30-40 children daily, Whisper has facilities for a parent to stay with their sick child at the 20-bed hospital.  Children are brought here from up to 4 hours drive away and no one is turned away.  Outpatients are encouraged to pay a nominal amount of £6 but are still treated if they cannot afford this.  They often deal with serious conditions like TB, HIV, severe malaria and malnutrition.  Whisper’s hospital saves so many lives because of the high quality of care. Uganda has good (if scarce) medical staff but are routinely let down by poor support services and standards of care. For example, power cuts are common and in government hospitals, small children on oxygen routinely die when the power fails.  Whisper’s inpatient mortality rate has been very low by local standards, with just 5 unavoidable deaths since the hospital openedAbout One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

The Indian Head Injury Foundation is a charitable NGO working in the area of head injury prevention, rehabilitation of victims of head and spinal injury, training of first responders and education of road users of various categories, so as to prevent traumatic injuries.ImpactFunds would meet towards the enormous need of providing physical and neurological rehab facilities to the under-privileged sections of India's society after suffering life-changing injuries to the brain. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   21 June 2019A grant of £905 was made that was raised at a coffee morning held on 1st May (see EVENTS page for details) to purchase a much-needed multi-activities work station for upper extremities exercise.      Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   7th February 2019A further grant of just under £24K has been awarded towards the civil works, building, furniture and fittings of a new Rehab Centre in Patna. It also includes the cost of essential new Rehab Equipment; a Paediatric Walker, a Tilt Table and a Functional Electronic Stimulation Machine.The work in Patna is in full swing. OKA are HUGELY proud of the fact that the new Rehab Centre in Patna will be entitled with SUPPORTED BY ONE KIND ACT.IHIF hope to complete the project and perform the inauguration in June 2019 to which OKA have been invited. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act   5th March 2018A grant of £26,000 was made for the treatment and rehabilitation of up to 30 trauma victims in rehabilitation centres in Jodhpur and Delhi, India together with the provision of up to 50 active wheelchairs to those in need.DetailsFounded in February 2007 by His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur, the Indian Head Injury Foundation was the outcome of a father’s concern for his injured son. After Maharaja Gaj Singh’s son Yuvraj Shivraj Singh suffered a serious head injury during a polo match, the family was subject to countless medical procedures, numerous remedial opinions and many tough decisions. Seeing the state of India’s social and medical response to head injury accidents and brain trauma, the Maharaja started on a mission to build a comprehensive system for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury, and to provide neuro-rehabilitation to the victims of such unfortunate incidents.  According to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, in India a total of 501, 423 road accidents took place in 2015 and these caused 146, 133 deaths. This is increasing by about 4-5% every year. The analysis of road accident data reveals that about 1,374 accidents and 400 deaths take place every day on Indian roads which further translates into 57 accidents and 17 lives on an average every hour in our country. Out of these, two- Wheelers account for 28.8% (144, 391) of total accidents and 25.9% (34, 057) of fatal accidents. This leaves almost 135, 343 persons injured from two wheeler accidents alone and totally about a million debilitated. This is not the end. This death rate is further increasing and we have the mortality going up by 4% every year.The work IHIF does is desperately needed with India being the head injury capital of the world. IHIF won the prestigious British Medical Journal Award 2017 in the category of non-communicable diseases for their work in spreading awareness of Head Injury Prevention. Most of these accidents can be avoided if the riders and pillions take proper preventive measures and car passengers use seatbelts. Keeping this in mind, IHIF is actively involved in spreading awareness amongst the youth, i.e. school children. We also regularly sensitize their parents by doing workshops for them and their kids work as catalysts. After the completion of the workshop, we distribute ISI marked specially designed children’s helmets to those kids, whose parents have two-wheelers as the primary source of transportation. Till date, we have distributed 12000 high quality children’s helmets under different CSR projects. We have now vast experience in educating children on the issue of Road Safety and want to further spread the message. This CSR initiative has won many awards for its effectiveness and uniqueness. A large number of survivors of such accidents sustain varying degrees of debilitating damage and require long-term rehabilitation treatment. Approximately 200,000 new cases of rehabilitation get added to our existing number every year. However rehabilitation for them is virtually non-existent in most parts of India, and where available, is highly expensive. In several cases, victims of traumatic injuries have to relearn to walk, talk and formulate thought. Even mild TBI leads to symptoms like decreased memory, insomnia, inability to focus, anxiety, mood swings, etc. As rehabilitation is a neglected area in India, it is important to create attention of individuals towards it and make them aware about importance in bringing back victims of Head and Spinal injuries to lead a near normal life.At present IHIF is running two rehab centres at Delhi and Jodhpur with a significant number of TBI, stroke, CP and other patients. Our aim is to cater to these economically weaker patients, who cannot afford treatment. IHIF has some top of the line & expensive Neuro Rehab Equipment like Hand Arm Therapy System (Pablo), Functional Electrical Stimulator (FES), Combined Multi-frequency Ultrasound and Universal Electrotherapy, Opto GAIT Analyzer, Rifton Walker, Static and Dynamic Balance System, Automated Parallel Bars with Harness to deliver rehab services to the poor and needy.Another very important part of rehabilitation of paraplegic/quadriplegic patients is mobilization. This is possible only with wheelchairs. There are two types of wheelchairs available, one is normal and another one is active. Normal wheelchairs are used for general mobilization, whereas active wheelchairs are more effective in performing ADL. With the proper training and help of active wheelchairs, physically challenged people can move around and do their activities independently or with minor support. We at IHIF have been donating these wheelchairs to the needy as per the requirement and with the support of donations. OKA are proud to support their effective life saving work.About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here

fare and Awareness Team (SWAT), a charitable organisation based in West London, aims to financially help disadvantaged communities in various parts of UK. Their core purpose is the support of the homeless and displaced living on the streets of the UK. These people are self proclaimed ‘ghosts of society’, they are there but no one wants to see or engage with them. SWAT's short to medium term vision is to make the life of a homeless or displaced person more comfortable, by providing food and warm clothing; their long term vision is to completely eradicate homelessness in the UK.  SWAT currently serve up to 2500 hot meals every week from 14 locations with 20 sessions.  They have a volunteer network of over 800 volunteers, many of whom are there to provide emotional support and take time to engage and spend time talking to them to make them feel valued, cared for and special and all others who take part in the serving of food and the distribution of warm clothing, including sleeping bags and blankets. Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act -  February 2019OKA are very proud to donate a cheque for £10,000 to help towards the purchase of a new building for SWAT to operate from. They are currently renting but feel the need to lay their foundations as they have grown rapidly over the last 10 years. We presented the cheque on Sunday 17 February at the Strand, when many members of One Kind Act team were present to serve the food to the homeless who come every week to be fed their daily nourishment. OKA made a further grant of £500 to fund the feeding on Sunday 17 February.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - December 2018A grant of £2,000 has been made to fund 100 sleeping bags and 100 hats and gloves for the homeless.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - August 2018A grant of £1,460 has been made to provide a supply of biscuits to over 200 homeless people.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - March 2018A grant of £1,663 has been made to provide a supply of biscuits to over 200 homeless people.Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - December 2017A grant of £2,200 has been made to fund 100 sleeping bags and 100 hats and gloves for the homeless.Update - Progress and Reviews - 30 January 2017On Sunday 29 January 2017, a dozen OKA affiliates and Sponsors, Meera & Harry Bhogal, joined SWAT for their regular slot in the Strand to feed the homeless.  Hot food, dessert, cake and hot drinks were distributed along with blankets, scarves and hats to almost 200 deprived homeless. It was a particularly brutal day with icy driving winds and heavy rain.  Everyone was huddled under hooded jackets, handing out food, trying hard to be upbeat and joyous. However, an OKA trustee looked sorry enough to be mistaken for one of the homeless and was promptly offered compassion and a warm meal!Despite of, or perhaps because of the weather, the homeless continued to stream through for almost two hours, grateful for the food, blankets and the warmth of volunteers who clearly cared about them as individuals.SWAT not only feed the homeless in UK through their volunteers' fundraising efforts, but also do other wonderful work like providing maternity care support for mothers in poverty in Kenya. Update - Progress and Reviews - 9 May 2016On one of the warmer evenings in May we’ve experienced this year, members of the OKA committee gathered at the Strand to offer help to an amazing charity SWAT (Sikh Welfare & Awareness Team). Initially set up as an organisation to primarily unite and transform financially disadvantaged communities, SWAT recognised in 2009 a desperate need to attend to so many people sleeping rough on the streets of London.  It was then that they established their "Homeless Project" to reach out and feed the less fortunate in all different areas of the UK.  London brightens up noticeably in periods of fine weather, no doubt apparent on that sunny evening in May as we noticed a greater bustle and liveliness on its streets. However, balmy weather does not disguise the real hardships of the homeless, who struggle daily without food and shelter. This uncertainty prevails throughout rain or shine. This was abundantly clear as we witnessed a queue of around 200 men and women waiting in line to be given their daily meal. We felt privileged that we could help. With an assortment of drinks, snacks, pre-prepared food and pizzas donated by the Pizza Express chain of restaurants, we were able to help alleviate some of their despair. In particular, one woman stood out. 8 months pregnant, she expressed immense gratitude for her next meal. She had nowhere else to go and though she was likely to be admitted into hospital for the birth of her child, she was under no illusion that she would return with her new-born to the unforgiving harshness of the streets of London. It saddened our hearts to hear this and we, as associates of OKA, felt humbled to be able to help.   Update - Grant Provided by One Kind Act - December 2015A grant of £100 per month for 1 year (Total of £1,200) has been made to provide monthly supply of biscuits to up to 200 homeless people.About One Kind ActOne Kind Act Change Communities and lives of others globally who suffer as a result of Poverty of Health, Nutrition and Education and may have Fallen Through The Net of the larger charities. Learn More here