: ‘Mother’ to 150 Kids in Need, Woman Spends 32 Yrs Helping Them Become Teachers, Engineers #IndiaNEWS #Changemakers In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a young Alice is bored of sitting by the

‘Mother’ to 150 Kids in Need, Woman Spends 32 Yrs Helping Them Become Teachers, Engineers #IndiaNEWS #Changemakers
In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a young Alice is bored of sitting by the river with her sister. She spots a rabbit that looks rather different and decides to follow him on a whim. And so she heads down a rabbit hole and arrives in Wonderland.

As children, all of us who read the classic by Lewis Carroll dreamt of visiting Wonderland ourselves some day.

But what is this land? I suppose it depends from person to person. For me, it’s a fantasy land, but for many children who do not have anyone to look after them, it is basic education, dignified life, and a secure future.

Such is the case for several children in Puducherry, for whom ‘Alice’ has created a sort of ‘wonderland’ for the past 32 years.

Alice Thomas is a 53-year-old who runs Udhavi Karangal to work towards rehabilitation of children who have nowhere to go. These include those living on the streets, coming from tribal communities, orphans, or any child who needs a good education and life.

Take, for example, seven-year-old Subash* (name changed). His life included begging daily and eating whatever he received as alms. His parents were ragpickers and depended on him to collect money.

In 2001, Alice took him under her wing and transformed his life. Today, he is an engineer working in a MNC.

Subash is one of over 150 children that Alice, who started Udhavi Karangal in 1991, works with. She runs a primary school, a boys’ home, a girls’ home, and a girls’ observation home in Puducherry.

She began her endeavour when she was only 21 years old, and it all began with an eight-year-old boy.

Finding her ‘true calling’

Alice Thomas at the wedding of one of her children

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and a boy came begging and asking for food. I told him, ‘Why do you want to beg? Come with me, I’ll feed you and educate you’. He agreed immediately, but said that I must inform my mother. I took him on my cycle and the first thing his mother asked was, ‘Did you bring food