Every morning on their way to work, Federico, Diksha, the HR Director and Adam, the Executive Chef would see a scene that would attract their attention, a school for unprivileged kids. Federico would stop reading his newspaper to see all these children sitting under a tree, on the dusty pavement and the conversation with Diksha and Adam was always the same. To help them.
Diksha, went to the school and spoke with the teacher, Mrs. Snehlata Hooda, a 70 year old strong minded and determined woman who, some years ago and after retiring from teaching, decided to help a few children from a slum while their parents were working. Afterwards, she founded this school and named it Gaurav Niketan.
Coincidentally, I had visited the same street school. I was also drawn by it because it was by the side of the road with no walls, no concrete floor, no proper roof, and no desks. The children would sit on the dusty floor where they had to study and eat.
I wanted to help and I did whatever I could to support the school. Yet it was not enough. But Diksha and Federico, who were already inspired by the story of the old retired lady, asked me to share some of the photos I had taken from the school. They showed the pictures to their colleagues and a unanimous decision to aid and support these children was taken.
Hyatt has a program called Hyatt Thrive where their associates select projects to benefit their local communities. I was thrilled to hear that the Gaurav Niketan school was chosen by the Hyatt Gurgaon employees as their project.
April was the month where Hyatt celebrated the Global Community Service so the children were taken to the hotel where they had a magic show, decorated cookies, painted pottery and had lots of games. They all had a blast!
Also, about 25 Hyatt Thrive volunteers visited the school and with each employee´s personal donation and using recyclable materials the so needed job started. Trees were planted around the boundary of the school and the pavement is now a concrete floor. No more muddy floor during monsoon!
But the story doesn´t end here. Hyatt had a photo contest during the Month of Community Service. Hyatt Regency Gurgaon won the competition over 1,000 photographs! The price, 5,000 USD was sent by Hyatt Thrive to continue supporting the school and its students.
Then Hyatt appeared on the scene and things started to change.
Work started in setting up a concrete floor
The playground, before and after
Two years ago, Guarav Niketan school had about 35 children from 5 to 14 years old. They had to study all together and Mrs. Hooda was doing all the teaching. The oldest kids used to quit soon because they were responsible of the little ones and their parents wanted them to work instead.
Today, the school has about 150 children who are divided into age group and intellectual quotient. It counts with four volunteer teachers and one nanny who takes care of the youngest ones. They finally have a roof that will protect them from the sun or rain, floor and desks (these ones donated by another company).
Since the land belongs to the Government, and the school is not officially registered, unfortunately the teachers and students can be kicked out any day, so Hyatt Regency Gurgaon has decided to invest more in books, school material, scholarships for the best students and only do some additional jobs with the most important and basic needs on infrastructure. Like toilets.
These children will definitely have an open door and will be able to have a better future!
This is a perfect example of how much impact an image or images can cause and the benefits of it. I am extremely happy that the photo taken by a Hyatt employee won and I am delighted to know that somehow some of my photographs positively influenced a decision to help others.
To end this post, I want to congratulate every person in Hyatt Gurgaon involved in this beautiful project. Above all, to thank the Hyatt people for believing that your help and actions will change the life of these amazing children by having a proper, cleaner and nicer environment to study and learn!