There is no visible outpouring of grief and relief for the victims of the Kashmir earthquake - unlike what happened when the same tragedy hit Gujarat.
Why this is the case is a matter of debate. But I'll save that for some other day.
Right now, I have decided to send a donation to 'SOS Children's Villages of India' - an organisation my dad has been supporting for many years with annual contributions.
The SOS Srinagar village has offered to provide long-term care to over 100 children who have lost both their parents in the earthquake. SOS India looks after 2 lakh children through its 37 SOS Villages and 122 community projects. And I like their philosophy.
SOS gives the children, a closest alternative toa natural family i.e. a SOS family where they find a mother, brothers and sisters to grow up with. Within the security of a family, children can grow-up into independent and responsible citizens of society.
What SOS believes in is not running an orphanage but giving orphans the chance to grow up in a 'family' atmosphere.
A SOS family consists of 9 or 10 children who live together with their 'SOS Mother' in a family home. A family home has 3 rooms for children, a room for the Mother, a large living room, a kitchen and a garden.Each Village has between 10 to 20 family homes. The incharge of the Village is a Director, a father figure who has a team of co-workers to run the administration, guide and help the mothers and children.
Heck, like regular parents they even worry about getting the kids married
SOS Children's Villages of India not only commits itself for taking total care of children when they are brought home in its Villages but settle them through marriages. The marriage cell at National Co-ordination Office was established to provide support to the Villages for organizing marriages of the youth.
So, that's where my money is going for now. Because all things being equal, my heart always goes out to the suffering of children the most.
Email: soscvi@vsnl.com; Website: www.soscvindia.org
Rashmi, I wrote that this impacted the media, I also feel there has also been some amount of 'disaster fatigue' settling in among large corporates - first the Tsunami, then the floods, now this. Maybe even the general population has been hit too, and with the 2% 'corruption cess' that we are paying right now, how much more people want to give the government is also suspect.
ReplyDeleteOn a scale of devastation caused by a quake in this country, the one in Gujarat ranks way higher than the one that hit Kashmir.
ReplyDeleteIts akin to today's Mig-21 plane crash which didn't even find a mention in the TOI (cos only one person was killed). Probably the number of victims determines the amount of column space reserved in a newspaper. And the public usually expresses only based on what they come to know through the media. So, there are your answers.
Hi Rashmi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing about it. I was to write about it soon myself, but you have eliminated the need. My family has also pledged support to this organization by adopting the educational expenses of a child in the SOS Village (Bhopal). After getting settled, I myself plan to adopt another child via this organization.
Can you give me the names of a few organizations which really "do the work"?
ReplyDeleteI want to do something for the suffering, but dont know where to begin.
Get me at abhi_mittal@rediffmail.com or mittalabhishek.blogspot.com
Thanks
Cry Wolf
ReplyDelete