An Interview with Dr Sonia Gill, Founder of Bright Colours Orphanage in Lahore, Pakistan

Hello there!

My name is Will Banks. I had the great honour of meeting Dr Sonia Gill, Founder and Owner of Bright Colours Orphanage, on Facebook when she introduced me to the tremendous social work she is doing in her local community in Lahore, Pakistan. I’m also pleased that Dr Sonia agreed to hold a remote interview with me so I could learn about the work she does looking after orphaned children in her care. This is a brief report on what I learned during our exchange on 8th May 2020.

Dr Sonia Gill is a dentist by profession, working at a hospital in Lahore. However, over the past two months her dental work has ceased owing to the coronavirus pandemic that’s spread across the world. It’s a critical moment for Dr Sonia as her earnings from the hospital have been funding the Orphanage to look after the children in her care.

Bright Colours Orphanage has been running since 2015. It’s in a slum district, somewhat remote from the centre of Lahore in Raiwind City. It’s a nonprofit organisation, registered in October 2016. At present, the Orphanage has 35 children in residence, where all receive accommodation, food, nutritional needs, clothing, education and medical facilities.

Dr Sonia outlined her mission at Bright Colours Orphanage. She and her 6 staff work hard to ensure every child has the chance to grow up in a healthy and loving environment to lead fulfilling lives. She believes the very best thing for a child is to be part of a loving family, one which creates the conditions where children can thrive. That’s why everything the Orphanage undertakes goes towards meeting this basic need.

In short, Dr Sonia explained the aim of Bright Colours Orphanage is to provide a loving family for every child. However, in the longer term, she hopes it will be possible to abolish the need for orphanages altogether. She believes if we make a concerted effort, we can change the way society cares for orphaned children to help locate them all into stable, loving and nurturing family environments.

Dr Sonia also outlined the typical cycle for orphaned children at the Bright Colours Orphanage. Apart from Lahore orphans, the Orphanage sometimes receives calls from across Pakistan about placements. These are all followed up, and interviews conducted to determine the most deserving cases. The Orphanage accepts 10 orphans per year, aged between 4 to 15 years. For those aged 16, it finds families or foster homes for the adolescents. During the current year, 8 youths will turn 16, so suitable homes are being sought for those youths.

Once accepted in the Orphanage, Dr Sonia explained the work they do caring for and educating the children. Apart from feeding, clothing and educating the children, the aim is to equip them with skills and confidence to live fruitful and productive lives in society.

Towards the end of the interview, Dr Sonia discussed the primary challenges faced by the Orphanage. She said it’s difficult to run an orphanage in Pakistan with limited resources. In particular, financing the operation is an enormous challenge, with building rent and food for the children being the major outgoings. While rent is the larger of the two, food is always a struggle as it’s a vital and continuous need. Also, circumstances are difficult at the moment owing to suspension of her earnings as a dentist due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Orphanage therefore needs urgent help and support to continue to care for its deserving children. To raise funds, Dr Sonia invites you to learn more about the work undertaken daily at Bright Colours Orphanage and urges you to consider giving it support so she may continue to provide basic needs and change lives of the children in its care…