Kolkata: News from Kolkata

We are in the midst of a distribution 6,500 bedkits in Kolkata, (formerly Calcutta), the capital of the state of West Bengal in the northwest corner of India bordering Kolkata. There is obvious need in each of the eleven communities, within a three-hour radius of Kolkata, in which children will receive a bedkit. Upon arrival we must pass through a solid mass of welcoming people to get into the distribution site, giving further proof of the importance of our mission. Both children and parents share the great excitement in the anticipation in being presented with their own bedkit.

Each child has an individual story but common threads tie each together. Through an interpreter, I talked with one mother and her child, Mohammed Molla, age 7. Mohammed was given a SCAW identity card by the school teacher and has walked 6 kilometres with his mother, the child in bare feet, to the site. They will have the luxury of the city bus to carry the bedkit home. I took his picture with a digital camera, the first time he had seen his own image other than in a mirror.

Mohammed’s father works as a rickshaw driver earning 50 rupees ($1.25 Cdn) each day. Fortunately he has only one wife and one child as this meager wage must support father, mother, and child but it is not enough to rent housing. As such, like thousands of others, they have taken over a piece of the sidewalk and attached a 10’ x 12’ shelter -- supported by two bamboo sticks at the front -- to the wall in the back. They have lived on the same piece of sidewalk for seven years. This is the only home that Mohammed has ever known.

The family lives on a staple diet of rice at each meal. A few times during the week the rice may be supplemented with a few vegetables. Fruit is a rare treat and fish or meat unknown. Medical and dental care are unavailable to this child.

While waiting for his SCAW picture to be taken in his new clothes and footwear I watched Mohammed take a quick peek in his new school bag to find a few of the included items. As his eyes lit up with disbelief when he saw his new gifts, I turned back to see his mother’s eyes well up with tears of joy. While his future is uncertain, his parents hope that he will be able to find a salaried job and not live in a street shack.

Others are not so fortunate as Mohammed. For every recipient there are thousands of other deserving children. We must start somewhere. The need of the children is overwhelming, your donation well appreciated.

Alan Ingram
2007 SCAW Kolkata Team