I was first introduced to Christel House by a business associate. At the time we were looking for ways for Transguard to help underprivileged children, ideally from communities that had a link with the home countries of many of our staff.
He told me about a charity that had been set up by businesswoman Christel DeHaan and that was doing amazing work with children from some of the most poverty-stricken communities around the world. He then introduced me to Raju Shahani from the Christel House learning centre in Bangalore.
Speaking to Raju, I was impressed with the vision of Christel House and its commitment to provide more than just education by giving its students a real opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and become positive contributors to the futures of their families and communities. I was particularly impressed by the reassurance that 100% of any support we could offer would go directly to the welfare programmes for the students and that the charity offered complete transparency with how its funds were used.
It became clear to me and the Transguard Group Board that we could achieve a great deal by supporting Christel House and we therefore made a commitment to the long term funding of a classroom at its school in Bangalore. We are also committed to developing other initiatives, including a programme that sees graduating students joining the company as management trainees and giving them the opportunity to build a life and career here in Dubai.
My wife Caroline and I were very fortunate to be invited to visit Bangalore in October 2009 and to witness first hand the truly incredible work that Christel House undertakes.
We met the staff and teachers whose dedication and devotion to the students was immediately apparent; we visited the poverty-stricken communities where the students live and we met many of the happy, talented and inspirational children themselves.
The experience was both humbling and at the same time uplifting. Importantly, it reinforced just how much can be achieved when a truly inspiring philosophy is supported by unconditional dedication and compassion and backed by a solid and commercially astute infrastructure.
The support we give is just a small part of the Christel House programme and I hope the booklet below gives you an insight into how Christel House makes a real difference to the lives of its students around the world and in Bangalore in particular.
BOOKLET LINK PDF
www.in.christelhouse.org
