A CARDIFF medical student says that every step he runs in next weekend’s Cardiff Half Marathon he will be thinking of the children who stand to benefit from him taking part.
Amrit Dhadda, a 20-year-old student at Cardiff University, completed last year’s half marathon in Wales’s capital city in around two hours and is looking to shave 20 minutes off his time from 12 months ago.
But his real motivation, he says, is raising funds for HEAL (Health and Education for All), after being inspired by the charity’s work in placing severely disadvantaged children in India into education for the past 20 years.
Amrit Dhadda, competing in last year's Cardiff Half Marathon
“HEAL’s mission is to give orphaned or underprivileged children shelter, healthcare and an all-important education, in an effort to break the vicious ‘poverty trap’ cycle,” says Amrit.
“More than a third of the world’s malnourished children live in India – and the UN has estimated every year more than two million children die before reaching the age of five – mostly from preventable childhood diseases.
“Living in the UK, it’s so easy to take for granted the opportunities that we are given, and to go through life encountering the problems which are thrown in our path which seem so huge whilst we’re going through them – when in reality many are so minor compared to the millions of underprivileged children living in places like India.
“All the money raised goes directly to projects in India as all staff involved in the administration of HEAL are volunteers.
“Running this Half Marathon is going to be tough – but it’s going to be incomparable to what millions of children in places like India are going through.
“I will be wearing a HEAL t-shirt during the run so I hope people will notice me and perhaps make a small donation – even if it’s not much it will do a lot to these children who have nothing.
“I am so honoured to run for such a worthwhile cause. When I came across HEAL I knew instantly that this was the charity I wanted to support and run for – the great work that the charity does is so inspiring and every step I run I will think of the children that will be better off.
“Doing the degree I do I understand how invaluable good healthcare is and how small interventions can make such a difference, as well as the fact that my heritage is from India, makes this charity personal for me.”
Donations to HEAL can be made through Amrit’s fund-raising page at www.justgiving.com/amrit-dhadda0.