When Diane Kirwin and her husband David, a former Warwick Academy teacher, left Bermuda years ago it was to live in Colorado and work for the Young Life organisation.

When her husband died, she was left to raise their five children alone. A licenced clinical social worker, she worked with the children of addicted mothers as well as in a maximum security prison.

On reaching retirement, Mrs. Kirwin moved to northern California to be nearer her now-grown family. At last, she imagined, she would be free to do some of the things she had always wanted to do, like travel. In fact, her oldest son had told her so much about his work during the 19 years he had spent in India that three years ago she decided to visit the country herself.

Lacking the finances to travel in luxury, the intrepid mother decided to backpack instead. Travelling alone and "doing a little volunteer work" en route, Mrs. Kirwin visited south-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

"I realised I wanted to do these things before I grew old and be able to say I had done them," she says. "Sometimes I am scared and hungry."

It was when she arrived in Bodhgaya in Bihar, the poorest state in India, that Mrs. Kirwin met a small group of Indians who were working with 'the untouchables' and thus became acquainted with a concept known as Privilege Sharing.

"The concept is that if everybody shares a little of their privileges, others will be happier and healthier," she explains. "I loved the idea and fell in love with the people, who are good and honest."

Although officially a tourist, after spending several weeks among them, on leaving Bodhgaya the Bermudian widow promised to do what she could.

"I was struck by their honesty, kindness and dedication," she says of the Privilege Sharing volunteers. "When I left I said, 'I will help you all that I can', never realising that it would change my life."

True to her word, every year Mrs. Kirwin leaves her comfortable California lifestyle behind and makes her way back to the area for two months, where she rejoins the Privilege Sharing team and does what she can to help.

Explaining that Privilege Sharing was started by a wealthy, world-famous Swiss photographer who had everything but still wasn't happy, Mrs. Kirwin goes on to say he began to study spiritual matters, among them the work of Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi's son.

"Privilege Sharing was born because he chose to live simply so that others may simply live. We have so much to share."

The Bermudian is under no illusions about how great the need is compared to her small contribution, but she is as dogged as she is undaunted, and has no plans to quit.

"I see myself as a bridge between West and East to help channel what people want to share with others half way 'round the world who suffer so greatly," she says. "Gandhi said: 'In this life we cannot do great things, but small things with great love, and they are written here'."

Indeed, the Bermuda High School graduate says it is hard to put into a western concept the work that she, and others like her, are doing in India.

"In the west you have to have results, but sometimes the only thing that can be said in India is that a child has had a really happy day."

But is it worth giving a child just one happy day?

"Oh, I think so, because their lives are so miserable," Mrs. Kirwin responds.

To give an idea of just how poor 'the untouchables' are, she cites the case of a nurse who worked among the destitute and dying. One day she came home in tears and said that a woman whose bed she was changing had become very upset. When asked why, the woman explained that in the process the nurse had thrown away a hair pin ? her sole possession in the world.

"Don't worry," the nurse reassured her. "I will bring you more".

But when the nurse came back with a whole card of hair pins for her the woman would only take one because that was all she could store.

"That is poverty," Mrs. Kirwin says.

Against this background, it is easier to understand how, when she distributes one coloured pipe cleaner per child, the recipients are thrilled beyond measure.

"It will be their first and only toy, and is a great treasure to them," she says.

That, too, is poverty.

Liquid for bubble blowing is another popular favourite with the children, but sometimes the gifts are temporary and have to be shared ? like the swing and the football.

"We take a swing to the village and the children take turns," Mrs. Kirwin says. "Likewise, we take a soccer ball from village to village."

During such visits, Privilege Sharing volunteers also carry pots and pans and prepare meals for the villagers, many of whom would otherwise have eaten nothing that day.

"Sometimes we feed as many as 200 people at a time. It is a vicious circle. Sometimes they are too weak to work because they don't have adequate food. The ones who do just subsist on white rice, and some don't eat every day."

One of Privilege Sharing's goals is to purchase a plot of land in the country near poor villages where the people can do sustainable farming and live healthier lives.

"The idea is to help the people when they are weak, and to have a vision of the future for themselves," Mrs. Kirwin says. "That is the value of having Indian people working there because we are not trying to westernise 'the untouchables'. We are simply trying to help them within their own culture."

In fact, health is a big issue among the poor. Malnutrition is widespread, as a result of which people have severe chest problems in winter, and skin problems in summer. Scabies is commonplace in children.

Privilege Sharing also distributes free medicines and blankets. Many people die of the intense cold in winter because they have nothing with which to create heat. Taking women to the doctor for family planning is a new development.

Education for 'the untouchables' is another elusive commodity due to their extreme poverty.

"In the villages you have to pay to go the Government school, and poor people can't pay," Mrs. Kirwin explains. "If somebody gives them a scholarship they are prejudiced against in the schools because they are poor, so the only way to educate the poor in Bihar is through free schooling."

To that end, Privilege Sharing is in the process of building its first-ever school in Bodhgaya and excitement is running high.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Kirwin, who is known as 'Madame' or 'Madame Maria' because they can't say 'Diane', also spends part of her time in the villages teaching small children letters and numbers.

"I take a basket of buttons, which we use for counting and mathematics, and they think that is absolutely wonderful," she says. "I also take flash cards, which I have to change to make them more Indian."

Asked why she would give up the comforts of life in California at her age to travel so far and share the pain and suffering of India's 'untouchables', Mrs. Kirwin does not hesitate.

"I see my work in the spirit of Christianity, and I am glad to be able to help alleviate the sufferings of the poorest, but without faith in God I could not do it because it is really hard," she says. "I live in the village with the people in their homes. In some villages they have a mud cubicle with a low roof. They sleep with their animals and have a tiny wood stove in the corner. In the rainy season the mud floor is constantly wet."

Yet she notes that in one 'untouchables' village she was astonished to see how clean it was ? until she saw a woman washing the mud with a bucket of water to make it hard and clean.

Mrs. Kirwin works to pay her fare to and from India, and is responsible for all her own expenses. She also takes digital pictures and has made a DVD and video which she shows to people wherever she can. In fact, last month 72 of her photographs were shown in the second largest city in Latvia, where Privilege Sharing is also active.

During her recent visit to Bermuda, Mrs. Kirwin gave illustrated talks and generally spread the word about the grass roots organisation in which she believes so passionately, and in response to the many people who wanted to help she also opened an account at the Bank of Bermuda in her name to which people can make donations. She stresses that the account was opened in her name on professional advice because not only was it the quickest and simplest way to create an ever-present, fund-receiving avenue, but also it would not incur tax deductions.

"One hundred percent of the funds are directly given to the poor," she assures. "In America, I have to pay five percent Government taxes. Also, many people said they would like to donate throughout the year, and not just whenever I came here."

In her absence, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cook are acting as Mrs. Kirwin's Privilege Sharing representatives in Bermuda, and they can be contacted at ( 236-5997 or fax 236-0223.