Alindra Naskar is the inspirational founder of the New Life Centre School and Vocational Training Centre, Sarberia, India, which HATW has been involved with since 2005. Here he shares some of his life story, and how the NLC came into being.
Alindra’s story
New Life Centre has a long journey which requires many hundred pages to narrate. I basically started working with St. Mother Teresa in the slums of Kolkata for little more than 2 years in late 1960’s by the influence of a great missionary Priest Fr. Ante Gabric from Croatia, who baptized me and helped me also to come up in life as I am today. This was my first tenure of service.
I met another great Missionary Mrs. J. Evans during my working hours in the slum area at Howrah, adjacent to Kolkata city. She was doing VSO for The Leprosy Mission head quarters in London. I happened to meet her in a slum area, she was impressed and asked me to work for The Leprosy Mission. Thus my second tenure of service began with the Leprosy Mission, and lasted for 32 years.
I was offered Voluntary Retirement from Service in the Leprosy Mission in 2001 and then established the first New Life Centre in 2002, a Vocational Training Centre for the Orthopaedically challenged in Purulia. After 2 years considering the need of my native village I moved the NLC to Sarberia and began the school for children growing up without any aim and objective in life, my third tenure of service. ‘Life is a single opportunity, once for all’ inspired me to work in Sarberia for the least fortunate people.
Sarberia, where I was born was where I constructed the school building with my service benefit money without hesitation, and dedicated the building in honour to Father Ante Gabric as he was my mentor to come up in life as I am today. This is the unknown background of New Life Centre.
What is the NLC today? NLC is a door of hope for least fortunate children – those who are growing up without much purpose in life at this trailing behind populated area on Sundarban delta at South of Bengal in India.
New Life Centre is committed to offer quality education to transform life of least fortunate children. The Vocational Training Centre offers a tailoring course for deprived women and needy families so that they may become the stakeholder of their own community.
The local community is now very happy and thankful about very prospective activities being carried out for them through New Life Centre. Several organizations landed up here earlier with some strategies but in very short duration they lifted up their mission from here for one or other reasons. But we are carrying out for about 20 years. I feel New Life Centre has a very strong foundation on this soil.
However; whatever achievements are recorded in reports, through photos and videos, they have been made possible by the inspirational support from Hands Around The World.
HATW is our main inspirational supporter from the very inception of New Life Centre. Dr. David Steiner – the noble hearted founder of HATW and former C.E.O – had visited our New Life Centre in 2007. He found some significant evidences of good work been carried out by New Life Centre and since then “Hands Around The World” is helping us. I personally feel very fortunate to become associated with HATW working together for the needy.
I express my hearty thanks and would like to work together for further development of New Life Centre to uplift especially the least fortunate children and make them fortunate with quality education.
