Hope Within The Mango Trees Future Hope

For part one of the series, immersed in the sounds of Kolkata, say hello to Nikhat Khatun, your guide on this remarkable journey! Providing first-hand evidence of the transformational work of Future Hope, Nikhat has moved from life on the streets, through ten years at the school, to graduation, to full-time employment, to her debut as an international broadcaster! What a story!
Children arrive at Future Hope with nothing. No home, often no family. Malnourished, often abused. But in the centre of the city lies sanctuary, and this podcast dives deep into the transformational work of the school; through education, healthcare and sport.
Nikhat introduces us to other main characters in this amazing adventure including the man who started Future Hope in 1987, Tim Grandage, and CEO Sujata Sen who leads the organisation towards bright horizons. As they continue to expand, how pressing is the need for relocation? Can Future Hope fulfil its dream?  Plus, there's one significant other to meet. What's her role in this unfolding story?
Future Hope puts the street and slum children of Kolkata at the heart of everything. No child should be left behind. And so we head onto the streets, late at night, to hear, first hand, how lives can be transformed and how respected Future Hope is among the many different communities of the city. The story starts to unfold...

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Future Hope is an expanding school with a growing reputation for excellence. That comes as no surprise when you hear Head Girl, Isha. Her powerful testimony illustrates perfectly how vital Future Hope’s work continues to be. After she speaks passionately on the role of women in India today, it’s symbolic that the return visit to Sealdah Station reveals a surprise twist. 
How different things would have been had Tim Grandage failed to navigate choppy waters in the Future Hope early years! As we turn the clock right back, we discover how close they came to closure; evicted twice, once at a moment’s notice just before Christmas. And wait until the phone rings in the middle of the night...
This took courage, dedication… and some unexpected help… 

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Evicted twice and threatened with closure in the late 1990s, Future Hope needed some good fortune. When all seemed lost, a chance meeting on a street corner in central Kolkata would shape the future... an emotional reunion awaits.
And so we arrive at Rowland Road, the school’s current home. In the heavy pollution of the city centre, walking through the gates comes as “a whiff of fresh air”, according to Principal Meenu Patodia! 
We’re introduced to many of her staff as we take a tour of the buzzing, high-achieving school campus in the company of Future Hope CEO Sujata Sen. We discover how hundreds of willing students are squeezed into every corner. They have built on the roof; and built again on top of that! 
This expanding organisation has outgrown its home; the only solution is to move. But can they achieve the dream?

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For the first time, we’ve escaped the frenetic city centre of Kolkata and, in this episode, find ourselves immersed in the beautiful West Bengal countryside. 
Accompanied by a tranquill soundscape, we move closer to life in Rajarhat; about an hour away from Rowland Road. For Future Hope, this is indeed the future!
More in a moment...
Before that, we pick up the story of the family from Sealdah Station. Future Hope can't offer direct school places any more, it is 100% compliant in all its operations, but the outreach work provides an important reminder of the 36 years of positive activity on the streets and stations by founder Tim Grandage.
In Episode Four, more key characters emerge to embellish the wider Future Hope story; meet Mark Lewis and Samarjit Guha! 
Sam supervises the Sealdah family, as they trade station-platform for a school tour. There’s some tough love; sometimes, no bad thing.
And so to beautiful Rajarhat.
It's where the school wants to shape the next stage of its remarkable life and, in turn, create opportunities for thousands more children. The plans look amazing!
We tour the new site with Tim and Erica and hear how sustainability drives the project strategy. As we're leaving; a surprise meeting...
Caring is in Tim’s DNA, as we’re discovering, but, as Mark confides, nothing lasts forever….

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“It’s fantabulous!” exclaims Dr Sarkur in the medical room at Future Hope, a tiny space off the main assembly hall.
He’s talking about the dedication of Erica Grandage, a trained nurse and first Future Hope volunteer, whose work has completely transformed the medical provision at school over three decades. 
Erica's story, as we're discovering, is remarkable in itself. This episode begins with an atmospheric description of her first impressions of Kolkata. When she describes the early conditions she encountered, and the state of some of the children she treated, the scale of Future Hope's progress is evident...
We’re introduced to Viraf, the medical administrator. Is that a crack of emotion, as he talks about his life having purpose and satisfaction?  It's the same with Dr Sarkur, another of the unsung heroes of the Future Hope operation.
Yes, this is a school, yes, this is a childrens' home, but make no mistake; this is a mini-hospital with a track record of saving lives. All the more importance, therefore, that Future Hope moves to Rajarhat to give these incredible healthcare professionals the space and facilities they need to keep up their groundbreaking work.
In another twist to the series, we're introduced to a new character who, thus far, has lurked in the shadows. While suggesting it was just Erica and Tim in the early days, perhaps that wasn’t the case?  Was it a duo, or actually a trio?!
The mystery man appears. What’s his story?!


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With energy to burn and rules non-existent, street children in Kolkata are wild and free. “They’re used to getting bumped” says Tim, “but on the rugby ground, they can bump somebody else!” 
"Tim made Rugby accessible to all," says Sujata Sen, Future Hope CEO. Four students of the school have gone onto represent the India national team! This is inspiring stuff...
Rugby was the first sport introduced at Future Hope; playing a vital role in developing discipline, team work and personal responsibility. For children who would run away when told to sit down, let along enter a classroom to study, it was a way of shackling that energy from the streets and harnessing the wild-side of some pretty wild kids!
We meet coaches Paul Walsh, whose Khelo Rugby programme now sits under the Future Hope umbrella, and Sanjay Patro, one of the very first boys at the school.  Both have incredible stories to tell...
A search for future talent takes us to The Dhapa; the dumping ground of the city. Here, like all over the city, kids play in bare-feet and compete in mixed girls-and-boys teams. The smiles and laughter emphasise the fun...
Then, on the weekend, the aspiring fly-halves walk for miles and cram onto crowded buses to reach a tournament. We follow them there, for a surprise result…

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