This morning during breakfast, they showed this documentary on TNT (a charity organisation that operates as an orphanage, a rehabilitation centre, a homeless shelter AND an asylum) and the inhabitants therein. After they showed that montage, my mom, my sister and I all got the weepies and we abruptly left the dining table, leaving a flabbergasted dad behind.
Its easy to fall into the trap of romanticizing poverty and deprivation and maybe I too would be guilty of it. But Ive seen the documentary a few times and had been to visit the centre and the most touching aspect is that I have never gotten the impression of deprivation. Yes, there are orphans- children abandoned by families, children afflicted by AIDS and other debilitating diseases. And yet like all children, they laugh, they play, they squabble and they sing their hearts out. The older ones (older here being as young as 7 or 8) help to care for the younger ones, carrying them on their backs and feeding them.
There are the abandoned- a woman found in the woods who never speaks at all, but who creates beautiful knits out of secondhand woolens. A Bihari guy found beaten half to death on a ditch and who couldnt say where he comes from. Addicts driven out by harried families. Fallen women cast out by society.
Then there are the crazies- old men who mimic Bruce Lee all day, adult women thinking they are Bollywood heroines, grown men squabbling and crying at mealtimes, old women who sit and stare all day. And there are volunteers who wipe away snot and tears, bandage oozing sores, placate violent inhabitants and who give baths to grown men and women, without distaste or revulsion
But the craziest of all is the man who founded this centre with nothing on hand but a patch of land, a fierce need to help the unfortunate, and a faith that could, and does move mountains. Often he would spend nights praying for the next meal, aware that there is no food, no paise at hand and hundreds of mouths to feed. And the craziest thing is, they have never gone hungry, they have never gone without.
If you go there, you will see poverty, squalor, sickness and want. But you will also see laughter, companionship, solidarity, joy and most of all, as the Biblical saying goes, faith, hope and love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7zrN65d0hY
Makes you feel ashamed for thinking that your life sucks, doesn't it?
10 comments:
nice, touching post. i once visited the sisters of charity's hospice in maputo and the sight of 'aids-orphans' and other abandoned babies from a few months to 7-8 years old as well as last-stage aids patients just waiting to die, staring at the ceiling with vacant eyes with no loved ones around haunt me still. the memory and sight of the nuns looking after them (they had some 350 abandoned babies/kids and aids patients) with patience and love has also remained with me since. we spent less than an hour there and to this day, i can't but marvel at the faith, hope and love that enables them to look after their charges day after day after day.
at least the missionaries of charity are well funded, as far as i know. so, kudos and my respect to others like TNT who manage to somehow go on helping those abandoned by society. may God bless them.
So beautiful and touching. Some humans are angels, aren't they?
I love this post. A truly inspiring true story.
I always admire the work that Mr Sangthankima's and his co-workers are doing.
These questions must be asked : where did all these orphans come from ? Who are the parents? I believe most of the parents are Mizo; so called-Christians as well !!
It's a shame! Are we losing the value of family in our society?
Pu Seki a thil rawn sawi ang deuh khi ka rilru ah a awm ve a. Tinge tiang em em a tam destitute children/adults an lo tam tak em em? Orphan tak tak an ni em? Nge an nu leh pa te an awmtha duhlo/enkawl zawhloh avanga hetiang home hrang hrangah te an dah tak?
A Kristian lam leh Kristian lam kher lo zawng pawn kan society hi a tlachhe tial tial tihna emni?
(Keimah ang lo takin kan in lak thutak vak chu le.. naupangte thau deuh kawr sen ha khi a lawmawm tawp!)
@roulngulworld: Thanks :) Some people are so amazing, the work they do with the less fortunate. It would be so easy to be cynical when youre surrounded by that much suffering, and yet they still have the capacity to keep on giving. truly inspiring.
@mesjay: Absolutely!
@Illusionaire: thank yews
@Seki: The documentary mentioned a 2-day old infant who was abandoned on the roadside.that, along with stories of babies found wrapped in polythene, found in ditches does make one angry at the callousness of some people.If they dont want kids anyway, why cant they at least give them to these organisations instead of leaving them to die in such a manner?
@mosa: thutak ve a. ka lo ngaihtuah mai2 a, hmanlai kha kan idealise nasa a, mahse fahrah leh sawn kha an lo hmusit ve thei ltka, Family values hi a tlachhe ta ni em2 lovin, a thatlohna hi a langsar ta zawk ani mai thei em ka lo tia.
I guess TNT is a different world parallel to our own, the world which we know exists yet refuse to acknowledge, kinda like the black sheep of the family whom everyone avoids talking about. Our society suffers from misplaced values and ideals, hiding their failures in the closet.
On a different note, I watched "Freakonomics" the other day and how crime was reduced by legalising abortion, eliminating unwanted births, etc.. I wonder..
Happy Belated New Year!
Pu Sangthankima te ang tan hian nuam tur chu, thih dawn ah han inngaihtuah se an life an hman dan hi a meaningful awm bik ka ti lawm. Chuan sex hmang duh mihring fimkhur leh si lo leh mahni naute ngei ngei paih thei mihring Mizo ah kan tam ve lutuk hi a mak ka ti! Chuan kha engtik ah nge hmanah mipakhat RV/Phunchawng ah a zu man bat ai ah a fate 2 naupang te te a dah te kha a va han rapthlak. Mi tha tak tak fa duh em em nei thei si lo an tam lai a hetiang mi te zawk in an nei leh deuh duah bawk sia, Pathian rorel dan hi chu hriattthiam a van har tak!
@Black: Happy belated too! And my love to the missus :D We're a society misguided enough to think that teaching kids sex education is akin to approving premarital sex. And then there are those who dont think much of doing the deed, but who thinks using protection is a sin *shakes head sadly*
@Jeru: fa te dahkham chu ka lo hre ve hleinem! Ka hriat chu, a ruih laiin a fa sen trap ri a ngaitheilo khan bangah naute lu chu a vaw sawp vek a,mi thenkhat hi chu an van rapthlak tak. Nie, duh ngawih2 an awm laia, engatanmah ngailo ten awlsam taka fa an nei leh thei si hi chu hriatthiam chu a har anih hi. Lo dam zel rawh aw!
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