Calcutta Connect

Realex Payments Group

The group arrived to the FOKE home on the back of a motor van which carried all ten of us.

In November 2015 we were honored to be nominated as on of Realex Payments chosen charities for 2016 and as part of their engagement with our work in Calcutta a group of employees from the company traveled to Calcutta in February to experience first hand the work we do in the city. The group arrived in the first week of February and had an action packed week in the city visiting the projects we support.

The group on their first day in Calcutta visited many of the cities landmarks and got a sample of life in the city.
The group on their first day in Calcutta visited many of the cities landmarks and got a sample of life in the city.
The group head off in a convoy of taxis on their first day visiting our centres.

Our first stop on the first day of our visit was to our Khidderpore centre where the group spent time with our students and staff, getting to know the community and the different programmes we run in our centres. After Khidderpore we visited the office of our partner organisation Development Action Society where our programme coordinator Seema Paul gave an excellent insight in the work we do together. We then went on to our Tangra and Topsia centres to see the work we do there.

The group makes their way through the community near our Tangra centre.
Emily interacts with the children in Tangra playing games with them just outside our centre.

The group the went on to visit the project run by Friends of Kolkata’s Elderly (FOKE) where destitute elderly people are taken in, cared for and given a home. It was a great experience for the group as the home is located about 50km outside of the city in a peaceful village area called Maddhubati and getting to the home required using a whole variety of local transport methods.

The group arrived to the FOKE home on the back of a motor van which carried all ten of us.
Sanghita the secretary of FOKE talks with the group about the work of FOKE in the projects it operates.
Michelle from Realex gets to know Shefali one of the long term residents of FOKE.

The group continued to visit the projects we support throughout the week getting to know more about the projects we support in Calcutta and the staff and students in our centres. Towards the end of the week we distributed the admission fee’s and book costs to our older students in our three city centres as part of our student support programme. This support is essential in allowing older students to remain in school and complete their education.

Baren our local representative conducts the distribution ceremony at our Tangra centre.
The group with all of the older students and staff from our Tangra centre.
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