Asian sisters supporting Indian slum and street children
16 July 2009)

Asian sisters, Sunita and Kavita Verma are raising funds to support Indian slum and street children in Goa. Dr Sunita Verma, winner of the 2009 Asian Women of Achievement Award in the Professional of the Year category, is a dentist whose Sparkle Dental Boutique is suppporting UK registered charity, Children Walking Tall - a charity dedicated to helping slum and street children in India. Her sister Kavita Verma, who is the marketing director for the practice, will go to Goa for three months to personally volunteer her time. Neither sister has children of their own.

There are thousands of children living in slums and on the streets of Goa alone. Some are orphans, others are runaways escaping poverty or abuse. These children originate from all over India and often come with their families looking for work. They build basic homes from bamboo, plastic, cardboard or corrugated iron, forming slum communities on any spare land they can find.

"Childrenwalkingtall provide food, shelter, medical care and education for some of the poorest children in India. In a safe, playful environment, they receive a fun and creative education, and also have plenty of time to do what children the world over should do, which is play!" explained Sunita. "As a practice, my team and I are raising funds by going on a sponsored walk (11 miles ) crossing the bridges of London from Battersea Bridge to London Bridge on Sunday 25th July, with the intention of raising enough monies to buy a laptop and games etc for the children. " Dr Sarb Cholia, the resident Special Orthodontist also plans to sing at each bridge to raise monies from passers by

"My sister Kavita is going out to Goa for 3 months in September where she is volunteering her time to work with the charity and help the kids...the difference here is that all the funds collected will go directly to helping improve the quality of childrens' lives and will not be wasted in expensive adminstration...we will be buying laptops, toys, crafts etc and Kavita will be delivering it directly on her trip later this year."

Kavita said "I am really looking forward to spending time with the children. It is something that I have wanted to do for ages. I have no doubt that it will be challenging but also very rewarding. I loved the work that Sunita and I did painting classrooms and playing with children over Christmas, in India two years ago. I am hoping that we manage to raise enough monies so that I can take some toys and possibly a lap top for educational purposes, when I go.”

The team are already in training with some team members getting off a few stops earlier from their bus route and walking to the practice to serious walking practice over the weekends. The vocal chords are also being warmed up in preparation for singing!

The sisters are asking for relatively small donations: £17 will buy fish for a month, £24 will buy rice, £36 will go towards vegetables, £37 for chicken & eggs, £42 will ensure milk is available, £54 will buy fruit, £55 will purchase dry provisions. The money raised by the practice will go towards luxuries like toys, crafts and laptops.

Sunita asks "please make a donation on www.mycharitypage.com/kavita. It is a really worthwhile cause and shows you how far even a small donation goes towards putting a smile on a child's face."