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Up until 1 year ago, Kulraj Singh (20) lived a happy life in New Delhi, India. His family provided a relatively decent lifestyle. But little did young Kulraj know of the earthquake about to shake his whole existence. The consequences of this event were to place unimaginable responsibility and struggle upon this 17-year-old boy.
In May 2019, Kulraj’s mother, Gurpreet Kaur (former teacher, 43), left her husband. Gurpreet’s husband created a toxic environment for the entire family and she had finally said “enough is enough!” She had to escape the numerous violent acts, the sobriety problems, and the dishonesty of her husband’s words. Even though her and her children physically left this toxic environment, she did not have enough finance to afford a divorce. This meant that her children did not receive any financial aid from their non-custodial parent, and she was left to raise them all on her own. Kulraj came to understand the situation and decided to step up in order to help his mother take care of herself, her youngest daughter (Khushi Kaur) and her only son. Kulraj took it upon himself to provide for his family and find a source of income.
His first move was to find a new place for them to live in. They borrowed finances from close friends and were barely able to afford a 41m2 apartment for three people to live in. His second move was to find a way to pay for rent, utilities and basic groceries. As any person with dignity, he tried to find a modest job where his honest and hard work would provide his family with a decent lifestyle again. He worked as a driver, waiter, delivery-person, cleaner, and so on. Unfortunately, considering he was just finishing his high school years and had no further qualification, and adding the fact that India does not have a minimum wage system installed, none of the aforementioned jobs earned him more than 170€ per month. Needless to say, this amount was not enough. Determined to keep going, Kurlaj’s third move, and a very respectable one, was to try and open a small business of his own. He knew it would be an honest solution for him to attract people with his ideas and determination, and earn money directly from these customers. As a result, he initiated a food concept, by which his mom would make home-cooked meals (lunch and dinner) and Kulraj would deliver them to employees who would not have enough time to cook for themselves. He was helping others and others were helping him and his family. On average, he would charge one client 30€ per month for such services. At his business’ peak, he had between 10 and 12 monthly customers. Kulraj and his family then had enough money for rent, and only 100€ left for monthly groceries. However, this left them no room to afford unexpected costs for hospitalization, for example.
Unexpected hospitalization is, unfortunately, an event that is bound to happen in the Singh family. Gurpreet Kaur (43), Kulraj’s mother, suffers from an incurable disease called “Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura” (ITP). Put shortly, Gurpreet’s immune system segment (located in the human spleen), which deals with eliminating antigens from her blood stream, identifies her blood platelets as foreign bodies and eliminates them accordingly. Therefore, the platelets, whose role is to scar wounds and create blood clots in order to stop bleeding, have had their role severely hindered. After being infected by the “Dengue” virus from a mosquito (2013) and going under the knife to have her spleen removed (July 2014, “Splenectomy”), Gurpreet’s number of platelets have kept fluctuating and have seriously affected her immune system in general. She had even reached an all-time low number of platelets for a year (between 2013 and 2014) of 14,000. We must keep in mind that the healthy platelets figure ranges from 150,000 to 400,000. Currently, her immune system is so weak, that any minor infection or illness can become death threatening. This situation has escalated, as the current Covid-19 virus has taken over the population of the world in a whirlwind. Gurpreet can barely get out of her house and is now seriously scared for her life.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to threaten Kulraj’s new business, as well. The customers he had, who moved to New Delhi for work, all relocated to their hometowns once the situation escalated in late March. Over the past four and a half months of lockdown, Kulraj has earned a total of 40€. Corona sent the Singh family right back to borrowing money from family and friends, in order to keep a roof over their heads and afford rent. Gurudwaras in India (temples for Sikh people) provide food for homeless and very low-income people. Especially during this pandemic, the temples decided to undergo contactless deliveries to any person who needed basic food. They would send out bread dough, rice and some vegetables. This has been the Singh family’s only source of food ever since the pandemic started.
Kulraj’s story shows what an honourable man he has come to be, and how good his heart is. Everything he went through and everything he has experienced, shaped him into the person he is today. Kulraj is extremely courageous and determined. He has an honest soul, he shows creative entrepreneurship characteristics and he exhibits highly admirable intuition and initiative. His past is in the past. Kulraj is not looking for merciful donations in accordance to the tough life he has lived. He trusts his certainty that his family will bounce back and manage to survive using their own strengths and devotion. Instead, Kulraj asks the people reading his story, to help him shape his future. He has honourable plans for his future and he is bound to accomplish great things further on. As a result, he needs finance to afford the tuition fees of the higher learning teachings provided by Cambrain College in Canada. He wants to pursue the university’s “Business” course. Because he couldn’t arrange his finance for the fall semester intake, his last chance is to make it into the winter (January) intake. For this winter intake, the tuition fees are due 7th of September 2020. Therefore, he is looking to raise 25,000€ for his future. The amount will be spent as following: 13,820€ for one year of university, 10,000€ for one-year living costs in Canada, and the remaining amount will be kept as savings for his little sister and mother. With this opportunity of building a life in Canada and pursuing higher-education, Kulraj passionately plans to understand and immerse himself into the nightlife business. He would love to create concepts of events and venues where people enjoy different types of artistic expressions, be it food design, bartending, or music. His mind can develop unique ideas upon the matter. Lastly, he also strives to fulfil his and his mother’s dream of opening an NGO (Non-profit Organisation), which would revolve around kids and families never having to go through what the Singh family went through.
Kulraj and his mother sincerely want to thank you for taking the time to read about them and their story. They hope their kind souls have touched yours and they would immensely appreciate any help coming their way. Kulraj won’t let you down, as he will turn his dreams into reality, and he will give back to the world in any way he can.
In May 2019, Kulraj’s mother, Gurpreet Kaur (former teacher, 43), left her husband. Gurpreet’s husband created a toxic environment for the entire family and she had finally said “enough is enough!” She had to escape the numerous violent acts, the sobriety problems, and the dishonesty of her husband’s words. Even though her and her children physically left this toxic environment, she did not have enough finance to afford a divorce. This meant that her children did not receive any financial aid from their non-custodial parent, and she was left to raise them all on her own. Kulraj came to understand the situation and decided to step up in order to help his mother take care of herself, her youngest daughter (Khushi Kaur) and her only son. Kulraj took it upon himself to provide for his family and find a source of income.
His first move was to find a new place for them to live in. They borrowed finances from close friends and were barely able to afford a 41m2 apartment for three people to live in. His second move was to find a way to pay for rent, utilities and basic groceries. As any person with dignity, he tried to find a modest job where his honest and hard work would provide his family with a decent lifestyle again. He worked as a driver, waiter, delivery-person, cleaner, and so on. Unfortunately, considering he was just finishing his high school years and had no further qualification, and adding the fact that India does not have a minimum wage system installed, none of the aforementioned jobs earned him more than 170€ per month. Needless to say, this amount was not enough. Determined to keep going, Kurlaj’s third move, and a very respectable one, was to try and open a small business of his own. He knew it would be an honest solution for him to attract people with his ideas and determination, and earn money directly from these customers. As a result, he initiated a food concept, by which his mom would make home-cooked meals (lunch and dinner) and Kulraj would deliver them to employees who would not have enough time to cook for themselves. He was helping others and others were helping him and his family. On average, he would charge one client 30€ per month for such services. At his business’ peak, he had between 10 and 12 monthly customers. Kulraj and his family then had enough money for rent, and only 100€ left for monthly groceries. However, this left them no room to afford unexpected costs for hospitalization, for example.
Unexpected hospitalization is, unfortunately, an event that is bound to happen in the Singh family. Gurpreet Kaur (43), Kulraj’s mother, suffers from an incurable disease called “Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura” (ITP). Put shortly, Gurpreet’s immune system segment (located in the human spleen), which deals with eliminating antigens from her blood stream, identifies her blood platelets as foreign bodies and eliminates them accordingly. Therefore, the platelets, whose role is to scar wounds and create blood clots in order to stop bleeding, have had their role severely hindered. After being infected by the “Dengue” virus from a mosquito (2013) and going under the knife to have her spleen removed (July 2014, “Splenectomy”), Gurpreet’s number of platelets have kept fluctuating and have seriously affected her immune system in general. She had even reached an all-time low number of platelets for a year (between 2013 and 2014) of 14,000. We must keep in mind that the healthy platelets figure ranges from 150,000 to 400,000. Currently, her immune system is so weak, that any minor infection or illness can become death threatening. This situation has escalated, as the current Covid-19 virus has taken over the population of the world in a whirlwind. Gurpreet can barely get out of her house and is now seriously scared for her life.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to threaten Kulraj’s new business, as well. The customers he had, who moved to New Delhi for work, all relocated to their hometowns once the situation escalated in late March. Over the past four and a half months of lockdown, Kulraj has earned a total of 40€. Corona sent the Singh family right back to borrowing money from family and friends, in order to keep a roof over their heads and afford rent. Gurudwaras in India (temples for Sikh people) provide food for homeless and very low-income people. Especially during this pandemic, the temples decided to undergo contactless deliveries to any person who needed basic food. They would send out bread dough, rice and some vegetables. This has been the Singh family’s only source of food ever since the pandemic started.
Kulraj’s story shows what an honourable man he has come to be, and how good his heart is. Everything he went through and everything he has experienced, shaped him into the person he is today. Kulraj is extremely courageous and determined. He has an honest soul, he shows creative entrepreneurship characteristics and he exhibits highly admirable intuition and initiative. His past is in the past. Kulraj is not looking for merciful donations in accordance to the tough life he has lived. He trusts his certainty that his family will bounce back and manage to survive using their own strengths and devotion. Instead, Kulraj asks the people reading his story, to help him shape his future. He has honourable plans for his future and he is bound to accomplish great things further on. As a result, he needs finance to afford the tuition fees of the higher learning teachings provided by Cambrain College in Canada. He wants to pursue the university’s “Business” course. Because he couldn’t arrange his finance for the fall semester intake, his last chance is to make it into the winter (January) intake. For this winter intake, the tuition fees are due 7th of September 2020. Therefore, he is looking to raise 25,000€ for his future. The amount will be spent as following: 13,820€ for one year of university, 10,000€ for one-year living costs in Canada, and the remaining amount will be kept as savings for his little sister and mother. With this opportunity of building a life in Canada and pursuing higher-education, Kulraj passionately plans to understand and immerse himself into the nightlife business. He would love to create concepts of events and venues where people enjoy different types of artistic expressions, be it food design, bartending, or music. His mind can develop unique ideas upon the matter. Lastly, he also strives to fulfil his and his mother’s dream of opening an NGO (Non-profit Organisation), which would revolve around kids and families never having to go through what the Singh family went through.
Kulraj and his mother sincerely want to thank you for taking the time to read about them and their story. They hope their kind souls have touched yours and they would immensely appreciate any help coming their way. Kulraj won’t let you down, as he will turn his dreams into reality, and he will give back to the world in any way he can.
Organizer
Stephanie Deanna Ungureanu
Organizer
Centrum, NL
