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Peter3127
23rd Dec 2015, 22:13
Well done Mr. Smith.

The crazy journey to find the girl in this photo (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/world/asia/the-crazy-journey-to-find-the-girl-in-this-photo/news-story/0b5b61ce2e7754ecdc02e3da7beee013)

:D

IT CERTAINLY wasn’t a phone call I expected to receive.

Travelling India by train, our friend and Aussie icon Dick Smith had passed a homeless family living under a bridge, including a young girl wearing nothing but a pink bracelet.

He wanted my wife Jess Bray and I to head to India and achieve the seemingly-impossible: With nothing more than an iPhone photo and GPS location, our task was to find the family and do whatever we could to help them, in just three days.

The story of our success, captured in a series of photographs, has gone viral, with tens of thousands of people sharing its Christmas spirit online.

Using the law of six-degrees of separation, we somehow managed to connect with a bank manager and a university professor in the city of Vadodara, India, who was the friend of a friend of a friend of the father of a friend of mine.

The locals didn’t speak English at all — only Hindi — but with the help of our contacts, we returned to the bridge, passed around the photo that Dick took and asked if anyone recognised anyone.

The group was evasive, but eventually one woman came forward claiming to be the mother. She went off and soon returned with this adorably-shy girl in tow, still wearing the same pink wristband.

We explained that our friends had passed by in a train a few weeks ago, and had taken these photographs for them, and wanted to know how they could assist the family.

The girl’s parents had been living under the bridge for 12 years, and Divya had been born there just under the bridge without any medical assistance. As the father was away at work (as a plasterer, earning $4-6/day, not enough to afford even a slum house while also caring for three kids) we decided it was best to wait until the dad came home to discuss with the whole family to see if there was a way we could help.

The professor, Dr Chellani told them to meet us at the Bank that afternoon. We even had to pre-warn the security guard to actually let them in.

We opened up a bank account for the young girl, Divya (meaning ‘divine light’), despite her mother (the guardian of the account) being completely illiterate and having no ID.

She had to ink-stamp her thumbprint on the signature line instead, which together with a passport photo was witnessed and authenticated by the bank manager Mr Rajwania.

We then deposited enough funds to cover a few months rent, after which Dick and Pip Smith will continue with regular deposits for their accommodation and the girl’s education. Dr Chellani also agreed to oversee the account to ensure the money was spent appropriately.

It was a pretty special privilege to be sitting in the bank with them being the messengers of such a generous, life-changing gift, and watch as the realisation dawned on the family that we wanted to pay their rent so they could move into decent accommodation, help their daughter get an education and help their father earn a better wage.

Next, we took the whole family shopping to buy essentials like clothes, shoes, school supplies and tools for the father to help him earn a better wage.

Divya will now regularly attend her local school, and the family is being assisted into decent accommodation, not far from the bridge so the girl can walk to school, and the family can remain part of their existing community and friends.

“It’s so wonderful that the girl’s family now have a chance of some definite income, and instead of having to remain under the railway bridge, to be able to get into some reasonable accommodation.” Dick Smith later wrote to me by email.

“Christmas is the time of giving and helping people …” he said, “and it’s so wonderful that we’ve been able to help this young family at Christmas time.”