Dick Smith's hunt for homeless girl ends in heart-warming surprise
A Sydney couple have been sent on a wild goose chase through the streets of India by Aussie tycoon Dick Smith with a seemingly impossible task - finding one child in a country of 1.25 billion.
The 71-year-old businessman was travelling through India on a trip with his wife, Pip, earlier this month.
While on a train in the city of Vadodara, he passed by a family living under a bridge and took a photo on his phone.
One young girl was wearing nothing but a pink bracelet on her wrist, and Mr Smith was so moved by the photo that he made the decision to find that girl again and give her a brighter future.
He contacted his friends, wildlife photographers Chris and Jess Bray, and asked if they would be up to the task of tracking down the girl.
"He wanted us to locate the girl and her family to ensure that the girl has a better standard of living and a bright future," Mrs Bray told The Times of India.
The couple accepted the offer without hesitation and embarked on the journey to India on December 15.
They aimed to find the girl in just one week, enlisting the help of a local bank manager and university professor.
On their second day abroad, Mr and Mrs Bray arrived at the location and after showing Mr Smith’s photo to other locals near the bridge, they were able to track down the mystery girl.
Her name was Divya, meaning ‘divine light’ and the team learned that she was eight-years-old.
“With all eyes on her and these two weird foreigners and two men in suits here to see her, the young girl Divya thought she must have been in trouble, and was initially very shy and a little upset,” Mr Bray posted on his Facebook page.
Divya was still wearing the pink band on her wrist. Her family had lived under the bridge for 12 years – Divya was even born by the train track.
Mr and Mrs Bray explained to the family that Mr Smith wanted to help secure a home for the family and an education for Divya.
“It was a pretty special moment to be sitting there, as the messengers of such a generous, life-changing gift, and watching realisation dawn on this family that we wanted to pay rent for them to move into a house, help Divya get a good education, help the father earn a better wage to help them start to help themselves etc,” Mr Bray said.
Over the next two days, the couple opened a bank account for the girl, took the family shopping for clothes and school supplies and bought them basic essentials.
Mr Smith deposited enough money for three months’ rent into the girl’s bank account with the promise to make regular contributions.
A formal contract was written to ensure the money is spent solely on education and rent and the agreement was made for a minimum of two years
“Although the plan is for it to be more than 10 years,” Mr Bray added on his Facebook page.
They also added in a clause stating that Divya must go to school regularly with attendance reports to be filed every month.
Mr Smith even offered to contribute a ‘significant donation’ to Divya’s school.
The heart-warming story has been told in pictures on Mr Bray’s Facebook page and has been shared over 72,000 times.
They hope their story will spread some Christmas cheer these holidays.
Random acts of kindness among strangers are always encouraged. Here are some more examples of good samaritans in our cities:
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A seven-year-old boy from the US has donated the contents of his piggy bank to a local mosque that was vandalised.
Aussie legends hand out ice-cold relief to tradies
Aussie guys hand out cold powerades to construction workers in a random act of kindness in 40 degree heat.
Homeless man left in tears after kind stranger offers to buy him lunch
A homeless war veteran was left in tears at the act of an incredibly kind man who offered to buy him lunch.
