Natasha in Calcutta

Recording artist Natasha Bedingfield recently took a sabbatical from her recording career to serve in an orphanage in Calcutta.

Here is what she had to say:

"The past few years have been devoted to my career. So it was great to do something less selfish. It filled me with a lot of hope. In the past, I have felt there were so many horrible things in the world I just wanted to shut it out - what can one person do?

Especially when it just takes so much effort to survive, keep your own life afloat, pay the bills. But to see the things that people are doing to help others, the smiles on the kids faces - those kind of things stay with you."

At her record company's request, she agreed to a phone interview with a fashion magazine during her sabbatical. "I'm in the orphanage, my heart is kind of in shock, and they're asking me, 'What's the most you've ever spent on an item of clothing?' I said, 'Thanks for reminding me how materialistic I am.'

Read the whole article here.