Irishman to walk 545 km for Mumbai’s orphans

Smile amongst miles: Jonathan Burke with the children at the YMCA Boys Home. Pic/Satej Shinde

It is Ireland for India and specifically, for Andheri. Irishman Jonathan Burke is walking 545 kms, the distance between Pune and Hyderabad, to raise funds for the Bombay YMCA Boys Home, in Andheri West. The Boys Home started in 1964, currently houses 55 orphan children in the age group of 4 to 18 years. Paul George, chief executive officer and general secretary of the Bombay YMCA said, "Burke has already started his effort. It is a mix of walking at the place he stays, on the treadmill and the road. Every kilometre will not be on the road. Corporates, friends and well-wishers will donate an amount for every km walked or for the distance and, in this way, Burke hopes to raise a substantial amount for the Boys Home."

The Home

The Boys Home comes under the YMCA umbrella, a global youth-centric organisation. Speaking about the Home in Andheri, the go-getting CEO said, "Our children are sent to good English medium schools. We have been getting good results academically. So, we have to spend a sizeable chunk on fees and tuitions for some. We started with four boys, grew to eight and now we have 55 and we have a waiting list of boys, who want to get into the institution."

Walk talk

Burke said, "I started my walkathon on September 15. The walk is not between Pune and Hyderabad but the important thing is the number of kms that separates these cities, and that is the distance I am going to complete. The Pune and Hyderabad connection comes in because these are the Indian cities where my company has its offices. I am doing 25,000 steps a day and have given myself a 30-day timeline." The Irishman, who calls himself an ‘Irishman with an Indian soul', spends at least five months of a year in the country, as Managing Director (MD), India operations of a Cork (Ireland)-based tech company.

The mileage

In the spirit of these times, this MD, breathing life into the adage ‘citizen of the world' by travelling to several countries for work, is walking wherever he can and documenting his journey, virtually. One can check his progress on his Instagram page Foreigner_in_India. Burke originally started the page to showcase the culture and hospitality of the Indian people that he witnessed in his 50 plus trips to the country. "I aimed to showcase to followers the best places to eat, hotel tips and how to get around the large cities in India but most importantly I also wanted to smash stereotypes about the country and clear misconceptions that foreigners, especially Europeans, still have," said Burke.

To donate

The Irishman who puts the desi in pardesi, aims to raise at least 20,000 Euros (approximately '17 lakh) through this effort, which he will donate to the Boys Home for what he calls their "remarkable work." Burke signed off by saying, "I started a Go Fund Me page on the crowdfunding platform, explaining about the mission and of course, for donations." He said with a laugh, "It has been five days and I am logging in the required steps and mileage. What is especially challenging is the heat in India." For Jonathan Burke, who puts the soul into sole, the feat ‘n' heat are on.

Keep pace

The link to the Go Fund Me page started by Jonathan Burke: https://ca.gofundme.com/f/foreigner-walks-for-children-of-india