The orphans, who have grown up scavenging through mounting piles of fly-infested rotting rubbish, have been taken in by a project which a Moray volunteer returned to India to see in action.

Katherine Milne took games, toys and funds - donated by generous supporters here - to help in the task of building a more positive future for the poverty-stricken youngsters.

It was Mrs Milne's 12th overseas mission, all of which she has paid for herself, and she revealed it may be her last one.

"I'm getting too old to sleep on floors," she confessed.

The six-week charity trip reunited Mrs Milne with a kind-hearted couple she met on her previous visit to the capital six years ago. The Rev Raju Ram and his wife, Shilpa, founded the organisation, Way True Life, to create lasting changes in the lives of the poor and underprivileged.

Mrs Milne, 4 Lesmurdie Road, Elgin, has kept up her contact with the family and was invited back to see the work going on in the new children's home they have set up in the district of Kalyan, which is 54km and 24 railway station stops from the centre of Mumbai.

There, the youngsters are learning how to play and enjoy their childhood, away from the never-ending fight for survival on the streets, which Mrs Milne also witnessed, as she headed out on her own to see for herself some of the real India, far removed from the usual experiences of tourists.

"I never felt frightened going out on my own. Even though there was a language barrier, everyone was very welcoming of this foreigner in their midst, and I was met with nothing but friendliness wherever I went," she explained.

"The area is very, very crowded. At weekends, I walked along some of the surrounding streets and was totally surprised at the rubbish on the streets everywhere. Huge skips are placed along the streets, and people come from their homes and empty their bins into them or on to the streets when they are full. The smell of rotting things and the swarms of flies are awful."

Mrs Milne looked on sadly as men, women and children came to scavenge for anything which could be recycled for money, such as cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and metal, using a curved piece of metal to rake through the mound of rotting material. Starving dogs also gathered to hunt for scraps of food.

Mrs Milne was pleased to help out in the kitchen... and the children seemed pleased to see her too.

Adding to the smell was the network of ditches along all the roads, into which waste water flowed.

"If you want to be able to eat, you have to find the money to pay for it yourself, as there are no benefits paid to anyone. I experienced the monsoon, with the heavy rain turning paths into streams, and still people scavenged in the heavy rain in the rubbish skips," she added.

Although facilities in the children's home were basic, the youngsters were delighted with the pencils which Mrs Milne handed out to them, and they loved to colour in pictures, which they put up to decorate the bare walls. The youngsters also enjoyed playing with the cards and board games given out.

Mrs Milne was loaded down with clothes, toys, knitted blankets and other items kindly donated by people in the area, with the gifts she took out weighing an additional 30kg.

"The children and I slept on mats on the floor. There was an electric light, but the supply was not very dependable and went off without warning, so a supply of candles was kept handy," said Mrs Milne.

"Water to fill up containers comes from an outside tap and is only available at set times. Everything is washed in cold water and the toilet is just a hole in the floor - and no one ever uses toilet paper.

"The traffic in Kalyan is crazy. Everyone just barges on, and no road signs are adhered to, with motorbikes, push bikes, auto rickshaw taxis, cars, lorries and the occasional bullock cart all jostling to pass each other."

Rice is the staple food and everything is eaten using your fingers, Mrs Milne added. Breakfast was suji, a mix of wheat, sugar, salt and water, which is cooked rather like oatmeal.

Mrs Milne has also thanked those who gave monetary donations totalling £420, which will be used to buy food for the children. She has taken back with her letters of thanks from Rev Ram to all who have supported the work of the project, which he and his wife fund.

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