2017 started of very differently for Youth Worker, Nicky Exton and three of our former students, Ella Martin, Hannah O’Connell and Brynlea Stocks. Nicky tells of their overseas visit to India and Nepal.

We were part of a group that spent three weeks in India and Nepal from mid-January onwards. We spent most of our time in Kolkata visiting Lizzie Pawson (ex-RHS student) and seeing what she has been up to since moving there a few years ago.

Lizzie works for Freeset, an organisation that is based in a large and infamous red-light district in Kolkata. 

Freeset is in the business of freedom, and offers women the chance to earn a living through the much more dignified option of sewing bags and t-shirts. 

Alongside solid support, training and care, the women who take the opportunity to work with Freeset eventually discover a new way of life and freedom for themselves and their families. 

They not only receive a decent wage for their work, but also education, healthcare, budgeting help, childcare and counselling support to enable them to be independent members of society who are able to contribute well. The impact of this is huge!

We found visiting Freeset to be an absolute privilege. 

The women we met welcomed us as family and we were able to spend some time with them as they sewed and worked – we did our best to communicate with very little language! 

I don’t think we will ever fully know the depth to which these ladies know courage and boldness – they have all taken such a huge step in exiting an oppressive industry. The joy and hope they now carry was something that struck me profoundly.

The trip has impacted us all in various ways, not in the least opening our eyes to see just how much we have to be grateful for in New Zealand. 

We have all come back determined to not let our comfort blind us to the needs of others, both here and overseas. 

A piece of street art we came across in Nepal sums it up pretty well by saying, ‘I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that, then I realised I was somebody.’ 

The challenge now for us as a team (and maybe for you too!) is to find our place where we can each play our part to make this world a better place for someone, somewhere.