New Delhi: “I want to become a cardiothoracic surgeon,” 21-year-old Deeksha confidently told Tammy Murphy, first lady of New Jersey, US, who arrived in India last Thursday with her husband, governor Phil Murphy, on a six-day economic mission covering Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kerala.Not long ago, this young medical student from Lado Sarai in Delhi had almost given up on the idea of pursuing medicine as her driver father could not afford to pay her fees. But Deeksha found new hope in One Life To Love, a voluntary organisation led by Courtney Deacon Lalotra, originally from New Jersey. Lalotra, visiting India in 2010, saw the struggles of abandoned and marginalised children and decided to move to India to work for their empowerment. Her NGO provides shelter, education, medical care to vulnerable children and those with disabilities.Lalotra offered to support Deeksha’s medical education. At the Oberoi hotel last Friday, Deeksha, now a third year MBBS student at GMC Anantnag, shared with the first lady Tammy Murphy her happiness at qualifying the NEET medical entrance exam and securing a medical seat in a government institution was overshadowed by the challenge her father faced in financing her study. “Not only did One Life To Love pay my college and hostel fees and for books and coaching, it also gave me the confidence to achieve my dreams,” Deeksha said.Other girls, with aspirations for becoming from a software engineer to psychologists, had similar stories, each underlining the fact that support, if received at the right time, can help girls reach for the sky. Murphy looked on encouragingly as 18-year-old Divya of Gurgaon’s Palam Vihar spoke about her hopes of becoming a chartered accountant. The Delhi University BCom (H) student related how, with her carpenter father unable to bear her education costs, it was the NGO that sponsored her online CUET preparation, helping her gain admission in the university..On her third visit to India, when asked about the potential for collaboration between civil society initiatives in India and New Jersey, Murphy said, “I think we all know we can really trust each other.” She asserted the importance of people-centric collaborations beside those between govts. She also revealed she would be meeting people from various sectors during her visit to explore possible collaborations.Meanwhile, Lalotra recalled meeting the Murphy couple in 2019 while they were visiting India. She said their support helped expand the impact of the work her organisation does. “This time, the first lady introduced us to a delegation of women from New Jersey in diverse fields and we hope to collaborate with the institutions they represent to build on our work in education and health,” Lalotra said.The journey of Laxmi, a house mother at a children’s home run by the NGO, summed up the need for inclusive community programmes. After her husband suffered a paralytic attack, Laxmi was left wondering about her sons Prince and Piyush. At this juncture, One Life To Love embraced her. She now has a job as a mother for other children while her sons study at the education facility.
