The gift of giving
View(s):Everyone has seen the tiny houses constructed haphazardly out of boards or concrete blocks, the roof a series of sheets of corrugated iron, or “takarang”, as they are called in Sinhala. They can be found in almost every inhabited area, be it Colombo, Balangoda, or anywhere else. The homes belonging to the most impoverished people often have only one seldom-lit light bulb, and often lack the basic amenities such as running water. More often than we like to believe, they don’t even have proper clothing.
I had a teacher a year ago, who said that she had gone with her family to an extremely out-of-the-way village, and set out some of their old clothes which they had brought along to donate, and that the villagers simply walked up and selected the clothing they needed. In many places, reliance upon others’ charity would be considered shameful, and an insult to one’s pride, but not in that village. In that village, and assuredly in many others, most of the village’s assets had been donated by one party or another. This is the plight that many in this country and almost every country around the world faces.
Many don’t have proper clothing, even the basics like underwear or school uniforms. Even more don’thave amenities like running water. One old lady my family visited had one light bulb in her tiny house, and her entire electricity bill for two months had been a two-digit number. She didn’t have running water, and usually ate one meal a day. The windows didn’t have panes, so stray cats and dogs could come and go as they pleased.
There are hundreds of families, definitely encompassing at least a thousand people in this country living under similar conditions. Many spend their day to day in hunger and/or in sickness. Their unsanitary surroundings lead to their falling prey to parasites like lice and worms. And as medical care is often either difficult to reach or too expensive (in the case of medications and medical procedures that can’t be obtained for free), they are forced to suffer through it. As citizens who are lucky enough to not have to live such lives, it is, at least partially, our responsibility to help in whatever way we can.
Start by helping them fulfill their basic needs. And you don’t have to do this alone. Get together with some friends and pool some money to put three square meals in a child’s stomach every day, or build a proper roof over someone’s head. This article was written by a STITCH volunteer. To find out how you can be a part of it please email ivolunteer@stitchmovement.com or visit www.stitchmovement.com
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