The new set of barbie dolls, the new car toy by hot wheels, the new jeans and a pair of tees, a beautiful new pink skirt, the new 99 in 1 TV Video Game Disk, the happiness in having the first scoop of the Butterscotch Icecream from the Baskin Robbin's, the ecstacy riding alone in your first ever cycle with shimano gears, the fun you had in seasoning the new cricket bat and more of these might just be a memory now.
The time you lived as a kid, under the guiding arms of your parents and your family, enjoying all the fun stuff fresh and new surely does puts a smile on the face.
There are a few kids who are building up their memories as i am writing this and eventually when you will be reading this too. And when they grow up to be like you and I, what they will have in their memory bag is a pair of torn jeans and an oversized t-shirt, used hotwheels car without the wheel in the top-right corner, a cute little barbie doll without the hair-do and a shoe, a cricket bat without the grip and the bottom shaved off always kept in a corner only to be seen, an old CRT TV which was put on only for the news in the evening, and happily greeting lot of unknown people who showed sympathy day in and day out everyday, the sight of a parent feeding its cute little kid with icecream, and lots of such things which carries happines along with it but the child derives happiness imagining it.
There are an estimated 153,000,000 orphans worldwide. Some of these orphans have lost one parent, some both, and some are "virtual" orphans that have been turned out onto the streets by their families, but all are vulnerable and in need of help. Without assistance these orphans continue in the cycle of poverty, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, prostitution and slavery that haunts developing countries. (Source: http://www.worldorphans.org/)
Okay, irrespective of the accuracy in the figure, it is very clear that there is a problem and there are people, very kind and generous people, trying to eradicate this problem. There is a positive force on the job. Its good. Its hopeful.The memory bag of the underprivileged child is getting filled. But the question is, what is being filled?
While we enjoyed owning all the good stuff first hand and new, this group of kids who are striving hard for a stable and a good future are getting to enjoy only the used stuff and getting to eat what is left over. Shouldn't we be affected by it? Think about the moral impact this has on the underprivileged kid during its development phase, when there are kids around growing happily under parental guidance.
Growing up the underprivileged kid feels it is good only for the second hand and for what is left-over.
We understand that such donations in kind cannot be stopped. The shelter homes cannot afford to satisfy all these with new stuff. It has to depend on what is given/ donated. But ain't we grooming a whole lot of young people treating them as second grade citizens?
We have a job in hand to ensure that the kid is morally stable and positive. There should be no indifference created and assumed by such kids themselves. The memory bag has to be levelled out to drive out the indifference.This is a problem to be solved and this is our standpoint.
The time you lived as a kid, under the guiding arms of your parents and your family, enjoying all the fun stuff fresh and new surely does puts a smile on the face.
There are a few kids who are building up their memories as i am writing this and eventually when you will be reading this too. And when they grow up to be like you and I, what they will have in their memory bag is a pair of torn jeans and an oversized t-shirt, used hotwheels car without the wheel in the top-right corner, a cute little barbie doll without the hair-do and a shoe, a cricket bat without the grip and the bottom shaved off always kept in a corner only to be seen, an old CRT TV which was put on only for the news in the evening, and happily greeting lot of unknown people who showed sympathy day in and day out everyday, the sight of a parent feeding its cute little kid with icecream, and lots of such things which carries happines along with it but the child derives happiness imagining it.
There are an estimated 153,000,000 orphans worldwide. Some of these orphans have lost one parent, some both, and some are "virtual" orphans that have been turned out onto the streets by their families, but all are vulnerable and in need of help. Without assistance these orphans continue in the cycle of poverty, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, prostitution and slavery that haunts developing countries. (Source: http://www.worldorphans.org/)
Okay, irrespective of the accuracy in the figure, it is very clear that there is a problem and there are people, very kind and generous people, trying to eradicate this problem. There is a positive force on the job. Its good. Its hopeful.The memory bag of the underprivileged child is getting filled. But the question is, what is being filled?
While we enjoyed owning all the good stuff first hand and new, this group of kids who are striving hard for a stable and a good future are getting to enjoy only the used stuff and getting to eat what is left over. Shouldn't we be affected by it? Think about the moral impact this has on the underprivileged kid during its development phase, when there are kids around growing happily under parental guidance.
Growing up the underprivileged kid feels it is good only for the second hand and for what is left-over.
We understand that such donations in kind cannot be stopped. The shelter homes cannot afford to satisfy all these with new stuff. It has to depend on what is given/ donated. But ain't we grooming a whole lot of young people treating them as second grade citizens?
We have a job in hand to ensure that the kid is morally stable and positive. There should be no indifference created and assumed by such kids themselves. The memory bag has to be levelled out to drive out the indifference.This is a problem to be solved and this is our standpoint.
Really moved by this post!!!
ReplyDeleteI remember the day, when a donor had come to distribute the used toys and how the kids(where we are currently working) pushed each other to pick the best one.
Heartfelt thanks to you for writing this!!!!
even though we have been working with the kids for the past three years, we have realized this now! The same issue is being discussed in our Open Discussion Forum as well. The conclusion shall be shared. Thanks for reading!
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