Indian hero Carol gets her reward

Jul 27 2007 By Tony Collins, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM Mail 'hero' has finally collected her trophy after spending two months in India working with orphaned children -helped by the generosity of city pupils.

Carol Lyndon was at Chad Vale Primary, in Nursery Road, Edgbaston, to collect her Birmingham Mail and Pallasades Local Heroes award from head teacher Robin Haselgrove.

He collected it on her behalf last month during the awards ceremony at the Botanical Gardens.

But the real purpose of Carol's visit was to thank Chad Vale's pupils for raising £750 to help create a library at the orphanage in Gandhigram, Tamil Nadu, India.

Carol, former head of Kings Rise Community Primary in Kingstanding, where Robin was her deputy, had been at the orphanage since May 8.

She initially visited the deprived children's home last year as part of a group trip with Teaching and Projects Abroad following her retirement from Kings Rise in 2005.

Carol, 58, from Great Barr, who donated the remaining £350 towards the £1,100 library project, became a Local Hero due to her charity work in India.

She has now returned to England to show pupils at Chad Vale photos of the library which their fundraising efforts helped to achieve.

"Robin tells me that the Hero celebrations in June were really good, but it's really about showing the children my pictures from India of the new library," Carol said. "It was so satisfying taking money that the children from Chad Vale had raised.

"It is so humbling because the children there are so happy on so little."

Money raised for the orphanage was used to buy books in Bangalore - a 10-hour journey away - and renovate the room.

While in India, Carol also met up with orphan Vijaya Lakshmi, 21, who was able to have vital open heart surgery after she raised the money for the operation.

The retired head teacher is now planning her next mission to India: "There is an unused area of derelict land which I plan to get ploughed up and planted with vegetables so they can grow their own food. I have to go back because I just love the place."