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The Kalimpong Association - About Us

 

About the Kalimpong Association

The Kalimpong Association functions for social and fund raising purposes.

We meet twice a year for a get together that keeps us up to date with the news and allows us to snack on jelabies and the best samosas to be found in London

We also raise money to sponsor children at Dr Graham's Homes, where many of us were raised and there are still Anglo-Indians benefitting from the vision of the founder Dr. Graham and his wife Kathleen.

Old Girls and Boys (OGBs) and friends of Dr Graham's Homes make up the membership of the UK based organisation.

About Dr Graham's Homes

Throughout the years of Britain's involvement in India, Anglo-Indian children became commonplace. Sadly many of them suffered as they were usually considered rejects by both of the parent communities.

In 1900 a young Scottish cleric and his wife were sent to the foothills of the Himalayas. Appalled by the plight of the abandoned children of British tea planters he started the Homes at Kalimpong near Darjeeling. His vision was to create an organisation which would take in these poor, uncared for children and give them health, education, self-respect and a trade. Eventually the cleric became the Moderator, or father of the Church of Scotland. He was tireless in his efforts to improve the prospects of a forgotten people. John Anderson Graham was an extremely persuasive person and his money raising efforts became legendary, many of his fellow countrymen, the Scottish merchants and businessmen in India parted with substantial sums.

Today 100 years later Dr. Grahams Homes has helped over 5000 children escape from poverty and given them hope and opportunity. The homes have some 400 sponsored Anglo-Indian boys and girls. Their care and education is entirely paid for by voluntary contributions some of it coming from as far afield as Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Norway.

It would be wrong to think that the school only caters for destitute children, there is a good mix of sponsored, fee paying pupils and boarders and the standard of education is constantly improving. Children from all the ethnic and religious groups are to be found studying at Dr Grahams. The school is an asset locally as it provides education and employment for the local peoples. The presence of ethnic Nepali, Lepcha, Tibetan and Bhutanese pupils provide rich and diverse learning environment.

The Anglo-Indian community in India is still marginalized and work for the main wage earner is becoming more difficult to find. The queue of Anglo-Indian children from Calcutta's slums grows every month - The Homes desperately needs you to sponsor a child or to help us to pay for renovation of the buildings. New equipment is needed so that the children can be taught the skills needed by their generation.

Dr Graham

When Dr John Anderson Graham passed away he was honoured by many. The Anglo-Indian children to whom he had given so many of his efforts were not the only ones who mourned his passing; the townspeople from the surrounding area came out into the streets. The procession was led by the Lama from a Buddhist monastery for his influence went beyond the Homes.

Dr Graham's funeral

Dr Graham was a man of action, wise and knowledgeable, his advice and assistance benefited peoples from the  local communities, and as far away as Bhutan, whose king was a friend and benefactor. To this day there is a connection between Dr Graham's and the mountain Kingdom.

You can also access an article about Dr. Graham's Homes Here The informative article was written by Pat Hardie, a second generation OGB who attended Dr. Grahams from 1943 to 1952. More intersting reading material is to be found on the Articles page

Wikipedia entry for Dr and Kathleen Graham wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anderson_Graham

 
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