Bike trek offers New Hope

Leaving behind a tropical paradise like Broome for a two week bike trek in a developing country is not everyone’s idea of a holiday.

But for four Broome residents, travelling to India to spend time with leprosy sufferers, orphaned children and elderly villagers was the experience of a lifetime.

The bike trek was organised by New Hope India, a not-for-profit organisation established to reach out to the poor and needy.

Since its inception in 1985, the charity has established vital community projects and facilities including community centre schools, leprosy colonies and hospices.

Earlier this year, a group of New Hope supporters had the opportunity to see the projects firsthand and the difference they are making to people’s lives.

The four locals, Simon Penn, Lisa Dore, Marilyn Tabatznik and Gwen Jones, were joined by other participants including former Broome resident Sandy Furtado and representatives from South Korea and Odisha.

The group ventured through the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha led by Broome resident and New Hope founder trustee and patron Maggie McMullen, and her tour guide husband Allan McMullen, who have been involved with the charity for nearly 30 years.

They travelled between villages by bicycle at times, but also by train, bus, car and auto rickshaw, to lesser-known parts of India, away from the common tourist regions.

Mr Penn said while they may not have seen popular attractions such as the Taj Mahal or the Ganges, the group witnessed many amazing sights thanks to the access they had through New Hope.

They flew into the city of Visakhapatnam on the south-east coast of India, and then travelled north-west from there and covered probably close to 1000km in a round trip.

“We stayed at Kothavalasa where New Hope is primarily based now, and where they have an orphanage, hospital and school,” Mr Penn said.

“There are about 50 kids living at the orphanage, from a month-old baby through to kids who are now in college.

“There are kids there with special needs, kids with HIV, but for the most part they’re just regular kids who need someone to look after them.

“And you can’t help but be struck by how happy they are, how smart they are and how normal they are.”

The group also interacted with special needs children at an orphanage and school in Muniguda, which is also home to aged leprosy patients and hosts a hospital that specialises in performing eye cataract surgery for the tribal people who live in the surrounding areas.

During the trip, they visited several leprosy colonies, including a leprosy hospital that was established by Mahatma Gandhi and is now operated by New Hope.

Here, they distributed Love Bundles to patients and residents that included custom footwear, blankets, clothing and toiletries.

“Many of these projects have received support over the years from individuals and community groups from Broome, and largely through the tireless fundraising work of Maggie and Al McMullen,” Mr Penn said.

The resident said the entire trip was essentially a highlight.

“Just travelling between destinations was an adventure with so much to see and experience, from the insanity of the traffic when travelling by bus, car or rickshaw and sharing the roads with laden ox carts and herds of cows, to the amazing experience of a crowded Indian train,” he said.

“Travelling by bicycle was fantastic, as it was more intimate and immediate than being cocooned in a vehicle, and a more tactile and interactive way to experience the countryside and villages.”

As well as the travel experiences, Mr Penn said he was awestruck by the people he met along the way.

“The people we met were amazing, from the smart, happy kids to the grateful elderly leprosy patients,” he said.

“The compassion and sacrifice of the people working for New Hope was also wonderful to experience.”

But it wasn’t just the visitors who were awestruck. Mr Penn said the group had caused quite a stir as white westerners travelling in non-tourist areas.

“We were a novelty wherever we went and were constantly being stopped and asked for photographs: “Selfie sir? Just one selfie, please sir?”

“While riding my bike between villages I had an entire family pull their car over and all climb out just to ask to have their photo taken with me.”

Mr Penn said while he had noticed the remarkable differences between India and Australia, he couldn’t help but be amazed at the similarities.

“I came away with an overwhelming impression that people are essentially the same wherever you go in the world, and that they’re all just living their lives and going about their business,” he said.

“In a developing country like India where so many people have so little, I also came away with the impression that the people are perhaps happier and more satisfied than people in Australia who for the most part have so much more, and yet live with more anxiety and frustration.

“That’s perhaps one of the reasons why an organisation such as New Hope can make such an impact in a country like that, where it takes so little to make such a big difference in people’s lives.”