When I was 18 I hit the road, and the world, in search of adventure. My first stop on a round-the-world trip was India, and there I travelled to Rajasthan, a desert state near Pakistan and, although I didn't know it at the time, future home of Educate for Life's first school.

NGO work

Whilst there I joined up with a local NGO (Non-governmental organisation) and was inspired to see a little schooling was reaping great benefits for some pretty hard off people; safer drinking water, more water in this area of much drought, better women's rights, and a safe future for their kids. I was also impressed by a local school which was the home of all this education, and only cost £1200. There and then I decided I'd raise that money and give it to someone to build a school with. Such good things coming out of so little for so many, and considering my comparative life of luxury, it seemed the least I could do.

A reawakening.

I forgot about that promise to myself, but over the next couple of years I travelled more, met more people from more cultures and in my sub-psychy the idea was being continually reinforced. Everywhere I went I was so lucky to be visiting. Places were beautiful, and the land exotic and exciting, but I only ever had to pass through a place of poverty rather than to be faced with it as a reality in my life. I always knew that there was a flight waiting for me to take me back to a land of central heating, clean water from a tap and more food than I could ever hope to eat. It's a cliché to say so, but there is so so much we take for granted, and I was determined to do my bit to care for other people more. The more I travelled the more I slowed down and spent time in these places. I found that the poorer a person was, the more they gave. The poorer people were the less complacent they became and the bigger their smiles grew. It was inspiring and humbling.

After some time it seemed to me that the only thing I could do in my life to satisfy myself was to try and help these people, out of comradeship for another person just like me, but who wasn’t lucky enough to be born without the hardship of poverty. It just made less and less sense for me to not do something; the £100 I could spend on a couple of nice shirts from Jermyn Street could get a child out of a brothel, it just started to become clear to me that that was the better option, and that I was able to make a difference.

Just a little goes a long way

I was most impressed by the fact that the greatest differences came from the 'smallest' people. Normal people just doing something simple, but with love and dedication. Big donors and LiveAids aren't going to get people out of poverty without some caring, understanding, consideration and respect too, on a day to day, simple level. Those are things that we can all give, free of charge (as if money should even be an issue), and I wanted to give more, so when I met Ash and found he was thinking similar things, Educate for Life just kind of fell into place.