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| From Chennai 2008 Photo Album |
- the distribution of 712 bedkits and
- our visit arranged by the Rotarians to the Golden Temple in Vellore, a new Hindu spiritual haven that opened six months ago.
The distribution at Vellore went wonderfully well. The children with their new bedkits finally in their arms, after waiting so patiently, expressed their shy “thanks” with beaming smiles and sparkling eyes -- our greatest reward for all our strenuous efforts on behalf of SCAW donors back home.
The mission of SCAW is to serve children, to bring impoverished children some happiness and hope, to help them feel valued as individuals and loved by others, including children like themselves from Canada and other countries.
Likewise at the Sri Sakthi Narayani Amma Golden Temple, the message represented by the palatial gold structure is captured in the many profound sayings set out every 30-40 feet along the meditation pathway to the heart of the Temple. These reflections present a philosophy of taking care of those less fortunate than ourselves. Early along the pathway this “Universal truth” is asserted: “Who is a good person? Someone who creates happiness for others,” and “The purpose of this birth is to serve others.”
Sayings like “Kindness is when we make other people happy without expecting anything in return,” and “Every human being experiences happiness in two different ways: by giving and by receiving. It is in giving that we experience permanent happiness.” The spirit of giving is reinforced by the sign that says: “Giving and the desire to give should come from the heart.”
There are meaningful parallels between the work SCAW Volunteers do to help poor children amidst their poverty and the Hindu religious concepts that inspire the Indian Rotarians to work so hard to improve the living and learning conditions of their children from poor families. Likewise, there are significant parallels between the Christian precepts that underlie the culture of Canada and the sayings displayed on the meditation signs at the Golden Temple.
There are moments as a SCAW Overseas Volunteer when you behold the impoverished children of India and you have to fight back the tears. In contrast, there are moments when your heart fills with wonder as you watch the children’s smiles of happiness and delight at the gift of an eye-catching bedkit and its promise of a better night and day tomorrow. After all, it is a bedkit, not a high-end toy or computer game.
If our western children of affluence could only walk in the shoes of these poor children for a day or a week or a month, and learn again how to find delight in the simple things of life we take for granted: a secure comfortable bed, a good night’s sleep unmolested by mosquitos, good food whenever you want it rather than a hungry stomach and a body damaged by malnutrition, or clean water to drink rather than water you can’t drink safely from the tap! We who were born and raised in Canada easily lose our appreciation of how well our basic needs are met in our affluent society.
The main religion in India is Hinduism, but the inspired 31-year old guru who founded the Golden Temple, Sri Sakthi Narayani Amma, granted our SCAW team a special audience without a long wait and had this to say: “Regardless of the religion or the spiritual path, spiritual seekers everywhere share the same path and goal, to reach God.”
We were especially honoured by the preferential treatment, for behind us the surging crowd frantically had to line up for the long patient wait it would take to see this remarkable young religious leader. The Guru Amma spoke to each team member individually and blessed them, and spoke to our team leader, Tom Belton, for fully ten minutes, blessing him and the SCAW mission, and personally tying a symbolic red cord around his wrist to signify that this blessing was special.
Thus our distribution day at Vellore had two wonderful highlights: The gift of beautiful bedkits in their practicality captured the universal spirit of love in action, and reflected the pathway of universal thoughts about the nature of love embodied in the spiritual sayings at the Golden Temple, as well as the admonition “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Murray Dryden through his love and compassion and personal experience made it all happen, and his Mission is now carried on by those who revere Murray and the great truth he articulated representing love in action on so many occasions: “The comfort of a bed is the basic right of every child.”
Gray Cavanagh
for the SCAW 2008 Chennai Team
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