HOPE IN EDUCATION

University of Windsor student helps send kids to school in India

Dylan Verburg travelled to India to research water treatment, but ended up changing the fate of several impoverished children who for the first time are attending school with a new sense of hope. The 25-year-old University of Windsor environmental engineering student spent five months near north Delhi beginning in September 2017 thanks to a research grant while working on his master’s degree.

It was during that work that he began crossing paths with three young orphaned siblings.

“I saw them at least a couple times a week,” said Verburg, originally from Chatham. “They have a home, but were impoverished and quite malnourished. I was not able to speak to them, they didn’t know English, but we developed a connection.”

Guddu, 14, Kishan, 9, and Maya, 8, often followed Verburg around. Over time, he learned that the youngsters had never attended school.

“I started doing some talking to people and found out it only costs $200 a year for each to go to school,” he said.

After returning to Windsor in February, Verburg decided to pay the $600 out of his own pocket to send the three kids to school. “I wanted to help these children out,” he said. “I drove by hundreds like them every day I was there.” The school fees he paid cover a small tuition fee, provide a uniform, meals and transportation for a full school year at what’s known as Pehchaan — a street-corner school run by volunteers.

It could have ended there for Verburg, but he instead took steps to help additional children in the district attend school.

“It’s not right for kids not to be able to go to school,” he said. “That’s going to be the only way they can escape the poverty or unfortunate conditions they face.” Verburg came up with the idea to sell goods made from the Delhi area — such as leather bags, handknit socks, wool shawls, wool toques and cashmere scarves — to raise funds to send more kids to school.

With no business experience, Verburg connected with the university ’s EPI Centre, WE tech Alliance and Libro Credit Union. “They helped out with the business end of things,” he said. “I do have a business partner in India.” A woman he met during his stay, Aditi, helps accumulate goods, aids with social work and helps get kids in India started in school. Verburg has a website at inpact.ca and in October began selling goods from India at several campus events.

To date, he has raised $2,000 and five more children have started school. The funds have also been used for school supplies for another 200 children.

“It’s exciting,” Verburg said. “I got to see a lot of unfortunate things while I was in India and it’s nice to be part of the change for these children.

“A lot of these kids have been forgotten about.”

DAX MELMER Dylan Verburg, a University of Windsor student, displays products he imported from India — such as cashmere scarves and buffalo leather handbags — that he’s using to help children pay for school and school supplies in that country.

DYLAN VERBURG Dylan Verburg with, from left, Maya, Guddu and Kishan, orphaned siblings who he met while doing research in India. They had never gone to school, so he began to raise money to send them there.