A HOSTEL for up to 100 girls has been opened in south-east India, thanks to Dave and Kolleen Packham.The Vale couple opened the Lily Packham Girls’ Hostel late

last year at a ceremony attended by 2,000 people – and they are still buzzing from the memory.Situated in Nalluru, the hostel was founded in 2007 by Dave’s late father, Richard Gordon Packham (known to everybody as Gordon), following a chance meeting with Vijaya Kanthi. The theology student, now a reverend who runs the hostel, wanted to help girls who were begging on the streets.When Gordon died in 2009, Dave and Kolleen decided to carry on his work, with the support of people at Cobo Mission.Gordon had left money and a plot of land was bought in the middle of a rice field so that a new hostel could be built to replace the existing rented building.Originally a total of £65,000 was needed. Some of this was raised locally from fundraisers including car boot sales, church activities, Festiva choir events and cake sales, and subscriptions and donations have come from as far afield as Wales and New Zealand.A story in the Guernsey Press in 2015 also helped. ‘My daughter, who is a designer, did some work for a man who saw the story and asked if she was related to us,’ recounted Dave. ‘He gave us a cheque for £1,000. So we

don’t know where donations are going to come from.’Now the hostel accommodates 45 girls and has capacity for up to 100. It has a full-time nanny, a warden, a cook and a hostel assistant.The girls, aged five to 16, are a mix of Muslims, Christians and Hindus. They are equipped with skills including sewing and the older ones are trained to take up jobs including nursing and computer science. Sponsors give £20 each month which covers food, clothing, schooling, accommodation and any medical treatment which they may need.

As soon as the building was made operational, Dave, Kolleen and all their children and grandchildren

travelled to India for the official opening and celebrations went on for two weeks.‘We took with us a 19-year-old lad from Caerphilly whose dad went to the same church as my dad in Wales. He wanted to see the hostel for himself. He was so blown away that he sponsored one of the girls on the spot,’ they said.Clearly proud of the building, Dave described some of its features.‘From left to right it has two gates – the Gates of Christian Love, where you go in, and the Practical Support Gates, where you come out. ‘There’s a warden’s room which is open 24 hours a day, a sick room, store room, kitchen and dining room. Then there are dormitories, showers and toilets. ‘Steps lead to the first-floor guest accommodation, where we stayed. Fifteen people worked non-stop for three days to finish our rooms before we arrived. ‘There is also an administration block and the Cobo Mission Tailoring School, which will hopefully double up as a computer room. ‘They also needed somewhere outside to cook huge pots of vegetables, potatoes and rice on fires fuelled by wood and cow-pats, so the Vale Mission Cook House was built.’A function hall called the Gordon Packham Community Hall is used for dancing, singing and meetings.At 7,200sq. ft, the hostel is the biggest building in the area and it was described by one architect as ‘the best-designed in the county’.

If seeing the completed hostel stunned the Packhams, that was nothing compared with the opening ceremony.‘They bought us traditional Indian clothes to wear,’ said Kolleen. ‘Not just for myself and Dave but the whole family. We were also joined by Steve, a Christian gospel singer who has been to Guernsey, and he acted as master of ceremonies.’

10 RELIGION guernseypress.com/ GUERNSEY PRESS Saturday 14 January 2017 11RELIGIONguernseypress.comGUERNSEY PRESSSaturday 14 January 2017

RELIGION

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK...

Four years in the making, the Lily Packham Girls’ Hostel in the Indian village of Nalluru opened in October last year. The opening event attracted 2,000 villagers, local dignitaries and religious leaders – and even the Indian

Cliff Richard. Shaun Shackleton spoke to Dave and Kolleen Packham about seeing their vision come true

Celebratory bubbles (above) and a performance from Steve, the ‘Indian Cliff Richard’ (below). Right: A dormitory in the new hostel.

LAST year saw a shift in some political, economic and financial situations which resulted in concern and uncertainly for many people. Guernsey people were not unaffected. Most people are comforted with security and reassurance. For this week’s ‘thought’, I can do no better than quote some of God’s promises which provide great comfort in unsettling times. In this new year, many people look for guidance, while others try to break bad habits. Other people are struggling with depression and many folk lack peace in their lives.

A promise for guidance‘Trust God from the bottom

of your heart and don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go. He’s the one who will keep you on track.’ Proverbs 3: 5-6

A promise for those struggling with addiction‘Call on Me when you are in trouble – I’ll help you and you’ll honour Me.’ Psalm 50: 15 A promise for those suffering with depression‘Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for

I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady and keep a firm grip on you.’ Isaiah 41: 10

A promise for those lacking peace‘That’s my parting gift to you – peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left – feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.’ John 14: 27

These are just four of more than 3,000 promises God has made for us which can be found in the Bible. Why not check out a few more tomorrow by coming along to church? You will be very welcome.

‘He’s known as the Indian Cliff Richard,’ said Dave. ‘He brought his band with him and there was dancing and speeches and he made a DVD of the opening for us.’‘We fed all the church members, 700 people, from huge cauldrons,’ Kolleen continued. ‘Local politicians, significant villagers and much of the community attended. The school let us have their field free of charge.’It was a very colourful event, with all of the hostel girls wearing new dresses.‘Every Christmas the girls receive gifts from their sponsors,’ explained Dave. ‘We had bright pink and blue dresses made especially for each of them and we sent them early in September, in time for them to wear them for the opening.’Dave and Kolleen took presents of their own: bubbles and balloons from Keyprice.‘They loved the bubbles and were ecstatic when we gave them to them.’The couple also visited the village.‘We did a walkabout and the people all came out to greet us. Most of the kids haven’t got shoes. We went to the streets where many of our girls came from and we met their mothers. Our girls aren’t orphans – often their mothers are unable to care for them.’Sisters Vidya and Swetha were four and five years old when they joined the hostel last year, after their mother said she was dying from HIV. Because they didn’t know their surnames, Dave and Kolleen gave them theirs. On their school certificates they are Swetha and Vidya Packham and they are now sponsored by two families in Cardiff.‘All their hair was matted

and had to be cut off. Now they have totally changed,’ said Kolleen.‘They are a marvel,’ agreed Dave. ‘They are a symbol of what the hostel stands for. Their lives are transformed.’

So what next?‘The cost has gone up from the original estimate,’ said Dave. ‘It was £65,000 but now it’s more likely to be £100,000. With the rupee so low, it now means it could cost around £5,000 to fully complete. But we’ve achieved our goal, the building has been very successful and the hostel is now fully operational.’ With some of the girls doing engineering courses and others taking pre-degree courses in nursing (one is now qualified and is being helped to do a nursing degree in the UK with the backing of Julie Morgan of the Welsh Assembly) and with a couple of the girls now married with children of their own, what would founder Gordon have to say about it all?Dave laughed. ‘He wouldn’t stop talking for weeks about it. He wouldn’t stop talking full stop. He’d be thrilled. Over the moon.’On the hostel’s foundation stone is a

plaque which Dave and Kolleen unveiled.‘At the bottom it reads “Jehova Jiva”,’ said Kolleen.

‘It means “God will provide”.

‘As Christian people, we have proved that.’

u For further information or to donate, visit lilypackhamgirlshostel.

wordpress.com.

The younger girls line up

for an outing in their new

outfits.

Above: Feeding the

2,000 people who attended

the hostel’s opening

celebrations.

Left: The Packhams with hostel staff and girls.

Below: The new hostel.

Some of the hostel’s young residents.

by Nigel Pascoe

Above: The official opening of the hostel attended by Dave Packham and his wife Kolleen. Above right: Girls learning to sew in the Cobo Mission Tailoring School.

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