Indian orphan hailed in Britain

An Indian orphan who was found abandoned in a basket in Delhi is hailed a hero in the British town of Swindon.

Ali McCallum, now 12, was abandoned in a basket outside the Delhi Council for Child Welfare home, Palna. He was a four-year-old baby when Neil and Kauser McCallum adopted him.

In 2006, on his arrival in India, Ali was deeply moved by the lives of several other orphans for whom he decided to raise funds.

After returning to Swindon, Ali raised over 3,000 pounds to gift to the Palna orphanage. Last month alone, over thousand pounds was raised for the orphanage.

The Swindon local council has decided to honor the fundraising efforts of Ali by presenting him the Pride of Swindon Award by the Mayor on 14 May.

"I wanted to go and see where I started my life. The staff told me that they were doing really well but always needed money for better care. So I decided to help. It's my way of helping a few children have a better life," Ali said.

The Palna staff have thanked him for the donations and said the money will meet the cost of vaccines and a new roof for the orphanage.

Ali who is in Year 7 at Churchfields School, said, he was proud of his Indian roots. "Many people see pictures from India and think it's so terrible and think they can't do anything. But you can make a difference in a small way and it's important to do something good. It's a wonderful country and I'm very proud to come from there."