What does RTU do? - 1. Children's Villages

The Children's Villages are perhaps the best known part of the work of RTU, and indeed the foundation of their work. In February 1978 Brother James Kimpton, the wonderful De La Salle brother who led the charity from its conception and is still involved today, was asked by a local priest to look after four orphaned children. With no facilities for them, he apologetically refused and set off home. But halfway back he felt strongly called to return and take the children. From that tiny seed has grown the flourishing, sheltering tree of four Children's Villages and six hostels for teenagers. In the villages, widows and abandoned wives act as "mothers" for six to eight children, living in good quality but simple houses. Brothers and sisters are always kept together in one "family". Each village has play areas and an auditorium where everybody meets each evening, as well as facilities such as a shop and a health clinic. The children go to school nearby. When they are mature enough, they transfer to one of the hostels, to continue their education and progress to training or study for employment. Every child remains the responsibility of RTU until they are settled independently, after which they will be welcome visitors throughout their lives.

For me this is an inspirational system of care for children without homes and families - they are simply provided with homes and families! For some of them it may be the first time they have experienced love, stability and security. The success of the Children's Villages is clear from the number of well-adjusted adults living fruitful lives after their upbringing within RTU. With the rapid increase of HIV and AIDS in the area, there has been an explosion in the number of orphans brought to the project, many of whom are also HIV+. The response of RTU is to continue taking every child who needs placement. This requires constant expansion and development of resources and skills.

Training update 1

I thought I was going to have nothing (or very little) to report again this week as regards training! Last week I only managed a couple of 30-40 minute runs before getting a sore throat which enforced a few rest days. Fully recovered, yesterday I cycled for two hours. It was pretty intensive, especially the hour at Richmond Park; there and back are slower because of traffic lights and similar. So this morning I set out for a run with rather tired legs and lungs. To my pleasure, I completed the hour I had in mind. What has the last two days taught me? One: that I still have a long way to go to be marathon fit. Two: that I can keep on running even when I'm tired. I knew that already, but it was a good reminder.

It's now six months minus one day until the Bungay Black Dog. That means six months and six days until the London Marathon. Will I be ready? Yes, God willing. Will I have achieved my target sponsorship? My trust is a bit weaker on this one, but I will say "yes, God willing" and keep on doing all I can to spread the word about these charities. I know that every donation will be put to great use - all I need to do is convince other people of that, too! Don't forget that you can be a massive help in publicising what I'm doing. And, again and always, huge thanks for all your support.

A successful launch - thankyou!

Training has taken a back seat over the last week as I've geared up for the launch of the fundrasising campaign!

Saturday was the big day, and the occasion was the Old Girls and Past Students Reunion of the Assumption schools and training college. I was there with a display and leaflets about the project, particularly focussing on the two charities of course. I also had the chance to introduce myself and to give a brief outline of what I'm doing.

It was really great to experience such interest and generosity - a huge "thankyou" to all who contributed with donations, advice, prayers, encouragement... I can only reiterate how uplifting it was to see people looking at the display, asking questions, and generally responding so positively. You will see from my "justgiving" sites that, simply in immediate contributions, donations to RTU were £82.77, and to WPF Therapy, £138.50. What a great start!

This busy opening day was followed yesterday by another opportunity to show my display, this time at the end of Mass in our chapel. So more "thanks" go to all those in the congregation who found the time to have a look before rushing home, and for all the pledges made. These should bring the totals to roughly £200 for each charity.

Now it's back to the grindstone. I've been out for a 35 minute run this morning. It's bizarre how warm it is for the middle of October. It's good training for April, which could quite easily be equally warm. On the other hand, there was snow for the Bungay Black Dog Marathon last year! I guess it's best to be prepared for all eventualities.

Introductions!

This is me, Isabel Hill. There's a good chance you know me already, to be reading this. If not, you soon will! There's more about me in my "Profile" section (helpfully titled "about me and my project" - just click on it), and you'll soon find out even more from my posts. But don't worry, I'll try not to bore you with TOO many details!

So here I am, all ready to start this project I'm describing as "two marathons - two charities - two weeks". As with most of life, I feel underskilled and underprepared, but determined to complete the task I've committed myself to. Determination won't be enough. All my efforts will be fruitless without your support! But since I can't expect you to support in a vacuum, intermittent posts will aim to let you know some more about the charities I'm supporting, as well as how my training is going.

For starters, what are these charities?

"RTU" stands for "Reaching the Unreached of Village India". Brother James Kimpton, of the De La Salle Brothers, founded RTU in 1975, and since then he's been working to meet the needs of the poor in part of Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state. There are children's villages (for orphaned and abandoned children), schools, medical services, a house-building project, drilling of wells, creation of employment opportunities... While Brother James, now in his 80s, gradually reduces his involvement, the very competent local team is gaining confidence in keeping this amazing work viable and effective in the long term. I will tell you a little about all the different aspects of the work of RTU in the coming months. I can't remember how my connection with RTU started, but for several years now I've been reading their newsletters with admiration and interest. I am always captivated by the very personal interest in the people served, which comes through so clearly in the accounts of their work.

WPF Therapy was founded (as the Westminster Pastoral Foundation) in 1969, when "talking therapies" were in their infancy, and since then the vision of providing skilled and affordable therapy has been maintained throughout its evolution into a well-established centre of excellence. High-quality counselling and therapy are provided, using a sliding scale of fees such that nobody is excluded due to low income. In addition, a wide range of professional training is offered, for example in psychotherapy and counselling. I came across WPF Therapy when I moved to Kensington last year, and have been consistently impressed with the dedication and kindness of the staff. I want to use this opportunity to speak out about the difficulty for so many people struggling with mental illness in accessing talking therapies, and the role WPF Therapy can play in filling that gap. Following their move to a new site near London Bridge, I'm sure this is going to be a particularly fruitful period in the development of WPF Therapy.

So, 6 months 12 days until the first marathon, and two wonderful charities to publicise. I hope this is a reasonable beginning! Training has started too; more of that in my next post.

Thanks for your attention!