KOLKATA: Legendary former Australian captain Steve Waugh got associated with Udayan, a residential centre for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients’ children on the outskirts of Kolkata, 25 years ago. A meeting with Mother Teresa in the city in 1996 inspired him to begin charity work and a couple of years later he decided to help out children of leprosy patients through the non-government organisation.
Since then the association as one of the patrons of the NGO has only grown with the World Cup-winning captain also making sure he visits the centre whenever he is in the country. The last visit he made to the centre located at Sewli Telinipara village, Barrackpore, was in 2020 when the centre celebrated its 50th anniversary.
With Australia playing South Africa in their all-important semifinal in the city on Thursday, the children have decided to cheer for the team from Down Under which once was led with great pride by their philanthropist. “The children are not visiting the stadium for the match. Instead, they will watch it live on a projector at our recreation centre,” Dipak Sahu, director of Udayan, told this daily.
As Waugh is not here at the venue, where his team once famously won its maiden World Cup with him being an integral part of it, the children wanted to send a message saying they are standing firm behind the team from his country. “At the moment, the NGO is supporting 113 girls and 157 boys. All of them along with us will watch the match and cheer for the Aussies. We have been certified by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) India and Waugh donates around Rs 40 lakh to `50 lakh every year through it to Udayan,” informs Sahu.
The centre aims at providing children quality education including tertiary study and training like nursing, mechanics and physiotherapy which in turn provides them job opportunities. Waugh’s donation ensures the children get involved with tertiary study and vocational training. “His donation helps us impart employment-based training to children which in turn helps them land jobs and make a living out of it. He is one of our patrons and his continued support is one of the reasons we are able to deliver year after year,” signed off Sahu.
