Over the past few days I have witnessed genuine appreciation and gratitude for the simplest of things in life - things the majority of us take for granted.
The donations of the Sleeping Children bedkits have made a significant difference in the lives of the children and families receiving them. The bedkit to them seems equivalent to our winning the lottery. For many it means their first pair of shoes, first jacket, first blanket, and, yes, their first bed.
One father told me they had no beds, no blankets and that they currently sleep on tree leaves they have gathered to make a mat for the floor and they use whatever clothes they have to make a blanket. He was overwhelmed by the generosity of items in the bedkit, and grateful that his two young daughters could share the mattress and be off the cold floor.
The mother of a disabled child was so grateful for the bedkit that she cried and hugged Irene and me. While the people here are very poor and don't even have the necessities that we take for granted every day, they are so grateful for what they do have. They don't seem to look at themselves as poor, rather they look at themselves as fortunate or rich for what they have because they see others who have less than them.
We can learn so much from those with so little.
Shelley Duggan
for Team Kolkata 2010
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