Apr 27, 2020
Kerry Luxton
FOKE - Friends of Kolkata Elderly,East Timor
Kerry began her working career in IT as a programmer/analyst in Sydney. The skills gained from those days have helped her in many ways, from being a mother involved in her children's education to working in her husbands small business, all the way through to making herself useful in volunteering positions in India.

Since 2004 she has spent about 2 months each year volunteering in Kolkata and at home, she holds several fundraisers each year .

The funds raised go towards some of the running costs for two homes for the destitute elderly in Kolkata plus the salaries and teaching materials for 12 teachers across 6 schools, for the children of fisherfolk in villages on the Bay 

Of Bengal.

Friends of Kolkata Elderly, as the name suggests cares for the destitute elderly, but also encompasses support for the communities around each of the two homes for residential care.
The second is the Fisherfolk Project where I supply the funds for the teaching costs for six small schools on the Bay of Bengal. There are about 300 students,  the children of fisherfolk, itinerant workers living in isolated villages withl limited access to education. Often these children are the first generation of their family to be education.
I could rattle on about both for hours, but as there is limited time, perhaps you could advise me as to which subject might be of more interest to your group. The old people are my first love as I’ve been involved with them for about 14 years, for the Fisherfolk this is my 5th year.
The website for FOKE is www.foke.in where you can see more about our work. The website for the fisherfolk project is that of the umbrella organisation Kajla Janakalyan Samity,  www.kjksindia.org.in . It’s a wonderful charity, but sadly their website may not reflect all of the wonderful work that they do.