This is the VOA Special English Development Report:
In two thousand five, Tanya Pinto was a successful
young businesswoman in Dallas, Texas. But she decided to take three months off from
work at an advertising company to visit her birthplace, India.
She volunteered at Mother Teresa's home
for orphans in Kolkata. She also traveled, and saw children in great need.
|
Tanya Pinto with some of the children she is helping in India |
TANYA PINTO: "And that experience was life changing.
And that's why I decided to start a charity."
She returned to her job in Texas and began Baal Dan Charities. In Hindi, the name means "child donation."
India
has an estimated eighteen million poor children. Some charity workers say the conditions
on the streets are, if anything, worse than those shown in the film "Slumdog
Millionaire." Many children depend on international charity projects like
Baal Dan.
At
first, Baal Dan provided street children with clothes. Today, the organization
gives money to orphanages, schools and local projects. The money provides food,
medicine, schoolbooks and some education. The work is centered in Kolkata,
Hyderabad and Kerala province.
Tanya
Pinto started her project with small donations from friends and co-workers.
TANYA PINTO: "I would pass them in the hallway and
they would say, 'Hey, the next time you go back to India, here is twenty
dollars, here is fifty dollars, here is ten dollars for the children.'"
Today, Baal Dan has other financial supporters in the
United States. People organize events to raise money. A restaurant in Dallas donates
money whenever anyone orders "Tacos for a Cause."
In
the next several years, Tanya Pinto hopes to begin sponsoring an orphanage. She
visits India as often as she can while working full-time at the advertising
company. Her last trip was in May.
TANYA
PINTO: "I will take the children on
an outing as well. I will take them to the zoo or to the park. And so I'll do
things that are really fun activities, because these are children who are living
in unimaginable poverty. So I like to bring some fun into their lives."
(SOUND OF CHILDREN IN INDIA)
She talks
about a trip when she visited a care center operated by a local group that her charity
has helped. Two boys recognized her. They had met her at a shelter at a railway
station the year before. The children, she says, were rescued from the streets
and were doing well.
Tanya Pinto says you do not have to be wealthy
or well known to help others.
TANYA PINTO: "Even if you are not a celebrity, if
you are not rich, if you are not famous, you can do something to help make this
world a better place."
(SOUND OF CHILDREN IN INDIA)
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report,
written by Jerilyn Watson, with Gregg Flakus in Dallas. You can find
transcripts and podcasts of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve
Ember.