Students ensure late classmate from Bradford will be remembered
A water well is being built in Nepal in memory of a Bradford College student who died unexpectedly last summer.
Suresh Ram, who was studying for a degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing, died suddenly in his sleep at the age of just 21.
His college friends were determined to do something positive in his name and after raising £300, they have been able to pay for a well that will bring life-saving clean water to Nepal through the charity ‘Penny Appeal’.
Suresh’s classmate, Aneeka Naz, said: “Suresh was one of a kind. He touched everyone’s hearts. We all miss him very much.
“As a class we wanted to do something to remember him by and pay our respects.”
Fellow student Junaid Patel, added: “Suresh was a big character in class and we wanted to do something to represent him and the friendship everyone had with him.”
Suresh, from Wolverhampton, died of natural causes, during a break from college.
Another friend, Aroosa Tanwir, said: “I feel proud to do something so honourable in memory of Suresh.
“I hope the well benefits many people in the near future and I am sure this is what Suresh will have wanted.”
Zain Ali, who was also in Suresh’s class on the BSc (Hons) course at Bradford College, said his former classmate ‘meant a lot to everybody’.
“Hopefully by doing this in his memory we not only help the people in Nepal but also show his family he was an important person to his follow students and the college,” he added.
“As a friend he meant a lot to us all.”
The well is currently under construction and should be completed by the end of April.
In Nepal, a child dies from drinking dirty water every 20 seconds. For millions of people in developing countries getting water is not as simple as turning on the tap.
They have to walk for miles to reach the nearest water source. And when they get there the water is dirty and diseased.
The well that the students are building in Nepal will mean that local people can drink, wash, make wudu (ablution), grow crops and water their animals safely.
It will also ensure that they don’t have to spend hours fetching water each day, freeing up time to go to school, work or look after their families.
