“Visiting Calcutta Rescue has been an incredible and humbling experience,” remarked Mr. Ben Taubman, a trustee of the Helga Todd Educational Foundation.
The Helga Todd Teacher’s Education Foundation, an educational charity based in the UK, was established in 2008 by Ram Todd, an Indian philanthropist, in memory of his late wife, Helga. Over the past two years, the foundation has been actively involved in providing specialized training modules to enhance the skills of Calcutta Rescue teachers.
Upon successfully completing the training courses, Mr. Ben Taubman, who has been closely engaged with the Calcutta Rescue Education Project, visited the teachers to present them with special certificates.
Ananya Chatterjee, the head of the education department at Calcutta Rescue, expressed her pride, saying, “It was a truly proud moment for me to witness the teachers receiving certificates from Mr. Taubman.”
Mr. Taubman, who has been collaborating with Helga Todd since 2015 and previously volunteered as a teacher in India, emphasized the importance of fostering a growth mindset among educators. “We want teachers to continually upskill, playing a pivotal role in the lives of the children they teach. It becomes their responsibility to bring out the best in these children,” he stated. Mr. Taubman found fulfilment in observing teachers applying their learnings in practice.
Mr Taubman and his wife visited CR and toured the various education projects and ventured into the slum areas from which the students hail. He rode the school bus alongside students, visited a student’s home, and engaged in meaningful conversations with them. This holistic approach allowed him to comprehensively understand the challenges and successes within the community.
