ON her fourth trip to India to help rural communities and orphanages, Winthrop’s Kristy Tomlinson will be taking her sister Gemma for her first time.
The sisters are going with non-profit organisation Equal Health, a group that that sends Australian health professionals to India and other developing counties to help those in need.
Kristy (26) is a speech pathologist and also vice-chairwoman of Equal Health, and Gemma (22) is a physiotherapist working at Fremantle Hospital.
Kristy said she first went to India in 2007 as part of a Curtin University program.
“When I got back I felt I had to keep helping,” she said.
The sisters are going to rural West Bengal, just outside the capital Kolkata and are flying out on February 3.
“We work in an orphanage with people with disabilities … we build things like walking frames and hold workshops with locals to teach them how to work with people with disabilities.
“As a speech pathologist I teach children how to feed properly,” Kristy said.
In addition, she said they would go to different villages around the region to give free health checks and equipment with the whole population lining up for treatment.
While this is Gemma’s first trip to India, she he has done similar work in orphanages in China.