Life lesson: 3 University of Utah students spend time in New Delhi slum

Maitri began several years ago with a mission to contain and arrest the rampant spread of HIV in the country and surrounding region. It started with testing rickshaw drivers and uniformed personnel for the sexually transmitted disease, and later included education as part of the project, beginning with children, teaching them basic English and proper use of their native Hindi language, along with the basics of human respect and hygiene.

Founding chairwoman of the United Nations' Nongovernmental Organization, Winnie Singh said the education gap is really strong as poverty is widespread and 80 percent of men are alcoholics.

With the help of volunteers from all over the world, and specifically the U.'s Hinckley Institute where Singh's own daughter once studied, Singh teaches small groups of Hindu children in a basement classroom and hopes the education sticks.

Local university professors and prominent doctors offer their expertise on occasion and have shown to be quite productive in increasing math and learning scores of the children and grown-ups who voluntarily participate in community health clinics.

Among the region's nearly 11,000 people, Singh also provides empowerment opportunities, teaching life skills like sewing and finance to women who are not generally respected in the culture. The income-generation project, she said, helps them to have economic independence, which in turn helps them to be able to fend for themselves and give their children a better future.

"My life is so easy compared to theirs," Bennett said. "I want to know what I can do to help them in the long run, but it is so overwhelming."

Bennett spent a good portion of her service in India writing grant proposals for Maitri, something she had never done before. She said it was a difficult skill to learn but something she knows will be beneficial when she accomplishes her future goals of working with kids at local nonprofits.

"When you work with the kids there, you see how rough they have it," she said, noting many things that children in the U.S. take for granted. "It's actually strange to be back and be able to see the sun through the pollution."

She brought home some small trinkets and books, but really got attached to the people and children she worked with.

"In the children, you can see what small difference I'm making to them, and I hope that I really am," she said. "It made me a lot more grateful for what I have and the opportunities I have." The chance to grow from nothing over there, Bennett said is "pretty much impossible." But with help from more developed countries, she believes the social stigmas that hold the nation back can and will change over time.

"Really what they need is somebody to make them feel loved and give them the attention they need," said Calvert, who is pursuing a degree in international studies. "You can tell every day when they come that they're so happy to see you, they want to come home with you. It makes you feel like that maybe the hour you spent with them every day has made a difference to them."

e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com