Another Somalia!
Around 1990 the monsoon failed in Western Orissa. Thereafter repeated monsoon failure paved the path for a severe drought. Today’s scientific prediction is that the situation is prelude to certain districts turning to desert. The local newspapers were bringing information about the famine in nine districts. Photographs highlighted starvation deaths, beeline for water, TB, migration and sale of children. I made a brief visit to this area accompanied by Missionaries Bimala and Samal. What we saw in the villages and read in the newspapers made us cry. When I shared this with our leaders, they sent me again alongwith Mrs. Sakuntala Israel of Palayamkottai and our Missionary Philip Bishoy for a more detailed study. Herebelow we give an account of what we saw.
The TV was repeatedly flashing news about the heat-wave and death-toll in Orissa. But we decided to take up the survey in the barbecuing heat of May so we can get to the people before some more died. Temperature soared to 48 degrees celcius on some days and we had to wrap wet towels around us to prevent heat-stroke. On the whole we covered 58 villages. There were atleast one or two starving middle aged or old persons in many of the villages. Some get an old age pension of Rs. 100/- per month (US $ 2) which lasts hardly for a week after which they resort to begging. The houses are generally mud huts measuring 6'x8' with some rags and vessels. We could not even find a handful of rice or dhal or oil when we inspected. Every day was a struggle for survival for them. We saw a malnourished lady weak and sitting on a cot. We asked her what she had eaten. She replied in a shaky voice, “Nothing since morning.” It was 8 pm when we met her. Widows whose husbands died of starvation or TB, struggle to feed their children. We visited the house of Dukiram who died of starvation leaving behind the young widow and four children to their fate.
We offered to take some to an Old Age Home. The desperate ones were willing. But some felt very insecure to leave their huts and village to come to a strange place to strange people. It was quite under- standable and we thought of ways to feed them in their own places. Daud, a fine Christian in his 70’s, was praying, “Lord, give me something to eat or take me.” He and his wife readily agreed to come to a Home. Some own one or two acres of land which they lease for Rs. 50/- per year because of the drought. When they become old and helpless their lands are swindled. The rich have borewells and motors to irrigate their lands.
We felt sorry to see some who had lost their minds because of the stress of the drought and death of loved ones. They kept crying and blabbering, narrating their sad story over and over again. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble.” (Js 1:27)
There are orphans who have lost their parents to starvation. Prekren and his wife Premsila were wood-cutters with three children aged 12, 4 and 2. Prekren graudally became weak, took to bed and died. Three months later Premsila followed suit leaving the three children to their fate. Now the children are with his brother Domburu. We asked Domburu why he did not feed his own brother. He was feeding him for sometime. When he found he could not even feed his own wife and two sons, he stopped feeding him.
We found him angry and shaking his fist. Seeing his name in the newspaper, some men had come one evening in a vehicle and taken him and Premsila’s children to a place 6 km away explaining that a team from Delhi had sent him gifts and so they wanted to take his photograph. Having taken the photograph without giving any gift they left him at 10 pm to walk back 6km to his village with the children. Our blood simmered to hear his outburst and we ached with him. He screamed, “If no one is going to help me I am planning to sell the children.” His family of seven lives on 2 kg rice per day which he gets by digging a pond under the Food for Work government programme. Meeting people after such people sent us into an emotional tailspin.
Many have the BPL (Below Poverty Line) Card with which they can purchase 16 kg rice a month for Rs.5/- per kg, but do not have the money to purchase the rice. Since the Card is useless for them some sell it to others for Rs. 100/-. The rich bribe the officials and purchase BPL Cards. In some villages BPL rice is supplied once in two or three months only. Poachers steal truckloads of BPL rice and sell it back to the Food Corporation of India.
People cry, “Give us food, give us water, give us jobs.” In desperation people are building temples to appease their gods. Women carry pots of precious water to pour on the goddess of rain.
In a village plunged in darkness with no street lights we found poles and electric wires. We discovered that it was an electrified village but people (except one or two) were too poor to take connection. People roll cigars and sell 2000 for Rs. 20/-. Some make leaf plates and cups and sell. Because they have no money to invest, these leaves are their easy investment.
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared symptuously everyday. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” (Lk 16:19-21)
There is mass migration to other States. In some villages nearly 50% had migrated. Their houses are locked or inhabited by their aged parents. The young and strong move out to Hyderabad, Raipur, Assam and other places in search of jobs as labourers. Some of their houses collapse in due course. Crushed and ground down by years of poverty, hardly daring to hope that a change would come to better their lot, they leave their parched lands in search of green pastures. Think of them in alien lands, not knowing the language with no place to stay, begging for jobs! Many die, are exploited or return home disappointed. People feel there is nothing in the village but to put out the lights, lock the door and leave. May be God is taking the people out of this State that they may have a fair chance to listen to the gospel. The old and ailing who are left behind face the drought boldly. They had no complaints because they knew that the survival of their sons and daughters itself was a big question mark.
The government and certain non-governmental organisations are providing borewells for villages. Many are good, some are defunct and a few are running dry. But in many villages people are not able to use the borewell for washing and bathing because of the queue. They use dirty pond water even to brush their teeth. It was a nauseating sight. We would wash our feet on getting home if we had set foot on the pond!
Deliver those who are drawn to death. If you say, urely we did not know this, Does not He who weighs the heart consider it?” (Prov 24:11,12)
Children have no scope at all. Some have stopped going to school and taken to begging. Certainly for starving stomachs education is not a priority. Some go for the sake of midday meals. There are schools but visited by teachers occasionally. Health Centres are a distant dream for villages. In bigger villages there are Primary Health Centres but no doctors. A nurse visits once a week.
A gut-wrenching practice is the sale of children. We interviewed one Ramprasad who had bought a child. He said, “I was unwilling to ‘buy’ a girl child. I have two sons and no daughters. So I was in search of a girl child for adoption. At that time Syamlal fell prostrate at my feet and begged me to buy his three year old daughter. He was sick and had no money for his treatment. His family had not eaten for three days. He said in any case he was going to sell her. So I bought her for Rs. 5000.”
We met Syamlal. His wife had gone to see her sold-out daughter. They are not heartless parents but parents like you and me whose bowels knot for our children. Harsh poverty had driven them to sell the fruit of their womb. These are not poor or beggars but landowners and houseowners reduced to nothing. We met another starved family looking for prospective buyers for their children.
Our next concern was Tuberculosis. There is an appalling number of TB patients. Since they have to pay for the “free” treatment, patients go to the centre whenever they have money. So much so, they keep taking treatment for 3-5 years. Such things made us helplessly angry.
“Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth where supercyclones and earthquakes will take them.”
Christian patients are charged that they receive money from foreign countries and demanded money. We had read the names of Mahadev Ganith and Rajaram Rout in the newspapers that they are suffering from TB and starving. When we reached their villages they had already died and gone to be with the...? (who knows with whom they are?) The newspaper said Mahadev was reading Bagavat Gita in hope of getting to Heaven. It was a common sight in villages.
We met Debendra, a 35 or 40 year old skin and bone man lying in a manger. It was obvious that TB was consuming him. He gets 7½ kg of rice per month from the government for emergency feeding. Someone cooks it for him and feeds him. These people are lucky if they get a chilly to bite with the rice. We arranged for him to be admitted in a hospital. We later heard that he was promptly admitted but died after 15 days. We were happy he had a clean bed and good food atleast at the end of his life. In a village when we asked a man why he was not taking treatment for his tuberculosis, he threw back his head, erupted in laughter and said, “We don’t even have money for food, Babu. How can we spend for medicines?” As somebody rightly commented, “It is not the disease that kills the man. It is the bill for the treatment that kills him.” These poor have to pay for the ‘free treatment’ as we later found out.
“Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”(1 Jn 3:17,18)
Oh, how we wished our pockets were full of thousand rupee notes that kept coming like the five loaves and two fish so that we can wipe away poverty at the snap of the finger!
God sent many guardian angels to lead us in our way. Mr. and Mrs. Anoop fed us, packed our lunch and sent us with a prayer. Their home has became a second home for missionaries. Mr. Purnanando Pradhan, a Govt. official, Mr. & Mrs. Nag of Indienhilfe, Miss Latika, Asst. Pastor in the CNI Church, Pastor Hyal, Mr. Patnaik and many others helped us tremendously. Rev.C.K. Das, the CNI Bishop of the Sambalpur Diocese went out of the way to help us giving us the jeep and driver and arranging boarding and lodging for us wherever we went.
I lack the vocabulary to translate my feelings into words. The tales of gloom and doom evoked a resolve in us. What hurt us most is that these people are not introduced to the God to whom they can hold on to in times of crisis. They are weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. What we saw was just the tip of the iceberg. There are stretches and stretches of villages like these samples we saw. We were able to buy some provisions for the starving out of the money you sent us. Since we had gone just to survey we could not help much.
These people are not BPL but BDL (Below Death Line). They are already condemned to die, stumbling to the slaughter. When we read such news day in and day out, our senses get dulled from repeated shocks and a feeling comes over that so much evil and misfortune mar the world that a little more or little less does not make much difference. Now we have lost our capacity for shock, and starvation deaths are just news for us.
So what shall we do for the perishing? Can we let them die under our very noses? Shall we shed a few drops of tears, dig their graves and plant sweet lilies when they are dead? Or shall we do something for them now? Lazarus was a neat case of starvation death and the rich man knew it. We cannot be fiddling when people are dying. We could have taken the earthquake or the supercyclone. But the whole world had its fingers on those pies. But the drought is not a crisis and not many are working there.
Here we are eating, drinking, trying out new recipes, stepping on the weighing machine daily, checking our cholesterol annually, belching and taking gels for indigestion. On top of it all a multivitamin, a calcium tab and a Vit E! Have I left out Spirulina? There they are dying of starvation, digging for rats and eating them. People can die of diseases or accidents. That’s beyond us. But we cannot let them die of starvation. Does the Church of Christ have a conscience? Unless Christendom turns to practical religion it is not going to make a dent in this world by its pulpitpounding preaching. God will require the blood of these people at our hands. How blind we are to the awe-inspiring simplicity and purity of the teachings of Jesus!
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and then come, follow Me.” (Mt 19:21)
I especially appeal to the Christians of Orissa. Simply calling it a curse because of the murder of a missionary is blameshifting. We must also remember that God says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14).
It is said that Gandhiji started wearing a towel around his waist only after seeing the poverty of the people in Orissa. We all cannot become Gandhijis. But atleast we can learn to live a simpler life. I am not ashamed to stand hat in hand before you. Here is an opportunity to clean up your house. Walk around your house and sweep up all that you really don’t need—things that you can do without—utensils, furniture, jewels, clothes, foodstuff, old computer, anything. Have a sale in your neighbourhood. Collect for our “FEED ORISSA” programme. Check your bank account. Many of us can easily do away with a few lakhs out of the abundance we have amassed. Write off your properties lying idle. You don’t need to give them to us for nothing. Just lend them to us and we will repay you with 15% interest (in Heaven). Spare us your vehicles. Come and help. Volunteers can take a long leave and sign up to help run a feeding centre. Retired couples need not languish in jobless boredom. You can help the poor get BPL Cards, demand free treatment for poor patients in Government Hospitals, see that BPL rice reaches villages.
In short, you can change the climate by speaking up for those whose voices have been silenced by starvation. Any more ideas? We may not be able to slay the dragon of drought, but we can certainly rescue people from its throat.
It is wiser to save souls than to save money.
I have read that, “For every tonne of surplus grain there is one starving person in the world.” Poverty amidst prosperity! We are fortunate to be on the prosperity side. I cannot even forego a meal. I become dizzy and hypoglycaemic. I cannot imagine somebody dying of hunger pangs. I used to feel sorry for those who take kanji three times a day in our mission fields. Now I feel they are rich, unbelievably rich! They have something to sustain themselves.
Think of ways to help these unfortunate ones sitting on the scrap heap of life. They can be taught to keep pigeons, rabbits, poultry. If you have money for charity do not blow it away in your own place. We and our neighbours are blessed people. Invest in the drought area. We can invest Rs. 5000/- for a family with which they can do business. Training a person for weaving and presenting him with a loom costs Rs. 5000/-. That gives him a reasonable income. Sewing training and a sewing machine cost Rs. 5000/-. We can give Rs. 500/ - a month to a family till it stands on its feet. You can take a family under your wings, find a job and educate the children. Treatment of a TB patient costs Rs. 3000/-. A one room mud hut for a homeless family will cost Rs. 20,000/-. If children can be put in a hostel and sent to a good school their chances of coming up in life as effective Christian witnesses are good (Rs. 500/- per child). You can pay the salary of Rs. 2000/- towards an evangelist to work in these areas. Two goats Rs. 1500/-. More suggestions welcome. I fall at your feet and beg you. Tomorrow even if you surrender all your wealth the Lord may not find any use for it. Today is the day. Tomorrow may be too late.
Bring your video cameras, shoot these people and publish the news throughout the nation. It will influence the mass mind. Let people repent of their greed, selfishness, luxury and gluttony. These poor can easily survive out of our trash. We must give account to God for every paisa we throw away wastefully and answer Him if we remain indifferent to human affairs.
The odds against our dreams for this desertland are astronomical. But believe me friends, nothing shall be impossible for us if we put our heads and hearts, hands and purses together. Many villages are still waiting for their share of the crumbs. Let us fight relentlessly to give these people a better life even though it seems to be a massive social problem that defies solutions. We need technical personnel and expert advice. If you can visit the places you can suggest ways to get the people back on their feet. What they need is a way out, not a handout. Now they are like oxen fallen down because of the unbearable burden. You can lift up their weight long enough for them to stand up. Just feeding the starving is no solution. We must get to the bottom of the problem. Unless we interfere, there is no light at the end of their tunnel. They are facing a great black wall. What does the new millennium hold for these except a bleak future?
May be when you read about Somalia you had an urge to go and serve there. May be you couldn’t go that far. Now here’s a Somalia within your reach. Why not plunge yourself? Peter left the security of his boat to walk on the sea.To be in the boat would have spelt safety. But he would have missed a miracle. Whenever your faith goes down the Lord will lift you up. What are you waiting for? You are not going to get a better opportunity to serve the Lord than NOW.
Nehemiah did not see a vision nor did God tell him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild it. He only heard about the disaster, prayed and acted. Neither was the operation trouble-free. He had to struggle through. A myriad problems will throw up. But we should not be scared to go off the beaten track.
Some of us leaders of Blessing Youth Mission visited this area in Orissa to work out an action plan to save the starving and the suffering. The outcome was FEED ORISSA Project. Write to us immediately how you would like to involve in this project. We will send you further details. The project was started in 2001 and many poor are being helped.
(A 15 minute VCD of the project is available for Rs. 100. Write to us for more details.)
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
hq@bymonline.org
www.bymonline.org
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To buy books written by Dr. Lilian Stanley, kindly reach to us in the follwing address
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Chennai 600 002, India.
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Another Somalia!
Around 1990 the monsoon failed in Western Orissa. Thereafter repeated monsoon failure paved the path for a severe drought. Today’s scientific prediction is that the situation is prelude to certain districts turning to desert. The local newspapers were bringing information about the famine in nine districts. Photographs highlighted starvation deaths, beeline for water, TB, migration and sale of children. I made a brief visit to this area accompanied by Missionaries Bimala and Samal. What we saw in the villages and read in the newspapers made us cry. When I shared this with our leaders, they sent me again alongwith Mrs. Sakuntala Israel of Palayamkottai and our Missionary Philip Bishoy for a more detailed study. Herebelow we give an account of what we saw.
The TV was repeatedly flashing news about the heat-wave and death-toll in Orissa. But we decided to take up the survey in the barbecuing heat of May so we can get to the people before some more died. Temperature soared to 48 degrees celcius on some days and we had to wrap wet towels around us to prevent heat-stroke. On the whole we covered 58 villages. There were atleast one or two starving middle aged or old persons in many of the villages. Some get an old age pension of Rs. 100/- per month (US $ 2) which lasts hardly for a week after which they resort to begging. The houses are generally mud huts measuring 6'x8' with some rags and vessels. We could not even find a handful of rice or dhal or oil when we inspected. Every day was a struggle for survival for them. We saw a malnourished lady weak and sitting on a cot. We asked her what she had eaten. She replied in a shaky voice, “Nothing since morning.” It was 8 pm when we met her. Widows whose husbands died of starvation or TB, struggle to feed their children. We visited the house of Dukiram who died of starvation leaving behind the young widow and four children to their fate.
We offered to take some to an Old Age Home. The desperate ones were willing. But some felt very insecure to leave their huts and village to come to a strange place to strange people. It was quite under- standable and we thought of ways to feed them in their own places. Daud, a fine Christian in his 70’s, was praying, “Lord, give me something to eat or take me.” He and his wife readily agreed to come to a Home. Some own one or two acres of land which they lease for Rs. 50/- per year because of the drought. When they become old and helpless their lands are swindled. The rich have borewells and motors to irrigate their lands.
We felt sorry to see some who had lost their minds because of the stress of the drought and death of loved ones. They kept crying and blabbering, narrating their sad story over and over again. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble.” (Js 1:27)
There are orphans who have lost their parents to starvation. Prekren and his wife Premsila were wood-cutters with three children aged 12, 4 and 2. Prekren graudally became weak, took to bed and died. Three months later Premsila followed suit leaving the three children to their fate. Now the children are with his brother Domburu. We asked Domburu why he did not feed his own brother. He was feeding him for sometime. When he found he could not even feed his own wife and two sons, he stopped feeding him.
We found him angry and shaking his fist. Seeing his name in the newspaper, some men had come one evening in a vehicle and taken him and Premsila’s children to a place 6 km away explaining that a team from Delhi had sent him gifts and so they wanted to take his photograph. Having taken the photograph without giving any gift they left him at 10 pm to walk back 6km to his village with the children. Our blood simmered to hear his outburst and we ached with him. He screamed, “If no one is going to help me I am planning to sell the children.” His family of seven lives on 2 kg rice per day which he gets by digging a pond under the Food for Work government programme. Meeting people after such people sent us into an emotional tailspin.
Many have the BPL (Below Poverty Line) Card with which they can purchase 16 kg rice a month for Rs.5/- per kg, but do not have the money to purchase the rice. Since the Card is useless for them some sell it to others for Rs. 100/-. The rich bribe the officials and purchase BPL Cards. In some villages BPL rice is supplied once in two or three months only. Poachers steal truckloads of BPL rice and sell it back to the Food Corporation of India.
People cry, “Give us food, give us water, give us jobs.” In desperation people are building temples to appease their gods. Women carry pots of precious water to pour on the goddess of rain.
In a village plunged in darkness with no street lights we found poles and electric wires. We discovered that it was an electrified village but people (except one or two) were too poor to take connection. People roll cigars and sell 2000 for Rs. 20/-. Some make leaf plates and cups and sell. Because they have no money to invest, these leaves are their easy investment.
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared symptuously everyday. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” (Lk 16:19-21)
There is mass migration to other States. In some villages nearly 50% had migrated. Their houses are locked or inhabited by their aged parents. The young and strong move out to Hyderabad, Raipur, Assam and other places in search of jobs as labourers. Some of their houses collapse in due course. Crushed and ground down by years of poverty, hardly daring to hope that a change would come to better their lot, they leave their parched lands in search of green pastures. Think of them in alien lands, not knowing the language with no place to stay, begging for jobs! Many die, are exploited or return home disappointed. People feel there is nothing in the village but to put out the lights, lock the door and leave. May be God is taking the people out of this State that they may have a fair chance to listen to the gospel. The old and ailing who are left behind face the drought boldly. They had no complaints because they knew that the survival of their sons and daughters itself was a big question mark.
The government and certain non-governmental organisations are providing borewells for villages. Many are good, some are defunct and a few are running dry. But in many villages people are not able to use the borewell for washing and bathing because of the queue. They use dirty pond water even to brush their teeth. It was a nauseating sight. We would wash our feet on getting home if we had set foot on the pond!
Deliver those who are drawn to death. If you say, urely we did not know this, Does not He who weighs the heart consider it?” (Prov 24:11,12)
Children have no scope at all. Some have stopped going to school and taken to begging. Certainly for starving stomachs education is not a priority. Some go for the sake of midday meals. There are schools but visited by teachers occasionally. Health Centres are a distant dream for villages. In bigger villages there are Primary Health Centres but no doctors. A nurse visits once a week.
A gut-wrenching practice is the sale of children. We interviewed one Ramprasad who had bought a child. He said, “I was unwilling to ‘buy’ a girl child. I have two sons and no daughters. So I was in search of a girl child for adoption. At that time Syamlal fell prostrate at my feet and begged me to buy his three year old daughter. He was sick and had no money for his treatment. His family had not eaten for three days. He said in any case he was going to sell her. So I bought her for Rs. 5000.”
We met Syamlal. His wife had gone to see her sold-out daughter. They are not heartless parents but parents like you and me whose bowels knot for our children. Harsh poverty had driven them to sell the fruit of their womb. These are not poor or beggars but landowners and houseowners reduced to nothing. We met another starved family looking for prospective buyers for their children.
Our next concern was Tuberculosis. There is an appalling number of TB patients. Since they have to pay for the “free” treatment, patients go to the centre whenever they have money. So much so, they keep taking treatment for 3-5 years. Such things made us helplessly angry.
“Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth where supercyclones and earthquakes will take them.”
Christian patients are charged that they receive money from foreign countries and demanded money. We had read the names of Mahadev Ganith and Rajaram Rout in the newspapers that they are suffering from TB and starving. When we reached their villages they had already died and gone to be with the...? (who knows with whom they are?) The newspaper said Mahadev was reading Bagavat Gita in hope of getting to Heaven. It was a common sight in villages.
We met Debendra, a 35 or 40 year old skin and bone man lying in a manger. It was obvious that TB was consuming him. He gets 7½ kg of rice per month from the government for emergency feeding. Someone cooks it for him and feeds him. These people are lucky if they get a chilly to bite with the rice. We arranged for him to be admitted in a hospital. We later heard that he was promptly admitted but died after 15 days. We were happy he had a clean bed and good food atleast at the end of his life. In a village when we asked a man why he was not taking treatment for his tuberculosis, he threw back his head, erupted in laughter and said, “We don’t even have money for food, Babu. How can we spend for medicines?” As somebody rightly commented, “It is not the disease that kills the man. It is the bill for the treatment that kills him.” These poor have to pay for the ‘free treatment’ as we later found out.
“Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”(1 Jn 3:17,18)
Oh, how we wished our pockets were full of thousand rupee notes that kept coming like the five loaves and two fish so that we can wipe away poverty at the snap of the finger!
God sent many guardian angels to lead us in our way. Mr. and Mrs. Anoop fed us, packed our lunch and sent us with a prayer. Their home has became a second home for missionaries. Mr. Purnanando Pradhan, a Govt. official, Mr. & Mrs. Nag of Indienhilfe, Miss Latika, Asst. Pastor in the CNI Church, Pastor Hyal, Mr. Patnaik and many others helped us tremendously. Rev.C.K. Das, the CNI Bishop of the Sambalpur Diocese went out of the way to help us giving us the jeep and driver and arranging boarding and lodging for us wherever we went.
I lack the vocabulary to translate my feelings into words. The tales of gloom and doom evoked a resolve in us. What hurt us most is that these people are not introduced to the God to whom they can hold on to in times of crisis. They are weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. What we saw was just the tip of the iceberg. There are stretches and stretches of villages like these samples we saw. We were able to buy some provisions for the starving out of the money you sent us. Since we had gone just to survey we could not help much.
These people are not BPL but BDL (Below Death Line). They are already condemned to die, stumbling to the slaughter. When we read such news day in and day out, our senses get dulled from repeated shocks and a feeling comes over that so much evil and misfortune mar the world that a little more or little less does not make much difference. Now we have lost our capacity for shock, and starvation deaths are just news for us.
So what shall we do for the perishing? Can we let them die under our very noses? Shall we shed a few drops of tears, dig their graves and plant sweet lilies when they are dead? Or shall we do something for them now? Lazarus was a neat case of starvation death and the rich man knew it. We cannot be fiddling when people are dying. We could have taken the earthquake or the supercyclone. But the whole world had its fingers on those pies. But the drought is not a crisis and not many are working there.
Here we are eating, drinking, trying out new recipes, stepping on the weighing machine daily, checking our cholesterol annually, belching and taking gels for indigestion. On top of it all a multivitamin, a calcium tab and a Vit E! Have I left out Spirulina? There they are dying of starvation, digging for rats and eating them. People can die of diseases or accidents. That’s beyond us. But we cannot let them die of starvation. Does the Church of Christ have a conscience? Unless Christendom turns to practical religion it is not going to make a dent in this world by its pulpitpounding preaching. God will require the blood of these people at our hands. How blind we are to the awe-inspiring simplicity and purity of the teachings of Jesus!
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and then come, follow Me.” (Mt 19:21)
I especially appeal to the Christians of Orissa. Simply calling it a curse because of the murder of a missionary is blameshifting. We must also remember that God says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr 7:14).
It is said that Gandhiji started wearing a towel around his waist only after seeing the poverty of the people in Orissa. We all cannot become Gandhijis. But atleast we can learn to live a simpler life. I am not ashamed to stand hat in hand before you. Here is an opportunity to clean up your house. Walk around your house and sweep up all that you really don’t need—things that you can do without—utensils, furniture, jewels, clothes, foodstuff, old computer, anything. Have a sale in your neighbourhood. Collect for our “FEED ORISSA” programme. Check your bank account. Many of us can easily do away with a few lakhs out of the abundance we have amassed. Write off your properties lying idle. You don’t need to give them to us for nothing. Just lend them to us and we will repay you with 15% interest (in Heaven). Spare us your vehicles. Come and help. Volunteers can take a long leave and sign up to help run a feeding centre. Retired couples need not languish in jobless boredom. You can help the poor get BPL Cards, demand free treatment for poor patients in Government Hospitals, see that BPL rice reaches villages.
In short, you can change the climate by speaking up for those whose voices have been silenced by starvation. Any more ideas? We may not be able to slay the dragon of drought, but we can certainly rescue people from its throat.
It is wiser to save souls than to save money.
I have read that, “For every tonne of surplus grain there is one starving person in the world.” Poverty amidst prosperity! We are fortunate to be on the prosperity side. I cannot even forego a meal. I become dizzy and hypoglycaemic. I cannot imagine somebody dying of hunger pangs. I used to feel sorry for those who take kanji three times a day in our mission fields. Now I feel they are rich, unbelievably rich! They have something to sustain themselves.
Think of ways to help these unfortunate ones sitting on the scrap heap of life. They can be taught to keep pigeons, rabbits, poultry. If you have money for charity do not blow it away in your own place. We and our neighbours are blessed people. Invest in the drought area. We can invest Rs. 5000/- for a family with which they can do business. Training a person for weaving and presenting him with a loom costs Rs. 5000/-. That gives him a reasonable income. Sewing training and a sewing machine cost Rs. 5000/-. We can give Rs. 500/ - a month to a family till it stands on its feet. You can take a family under your wings, find a job and educate the children. Treatment of a TB patient costs Rs. 3000/-. A one room mud hut for a homeless family will cost Rs. 20,000/-. If children can be put in a hostel and sent to a good school their chances of coming up in life as effective Christian witnesses are good (Rs. 500/- per child). You can pay the salary of Rs. 2000/- towards an evangelist to work in these areas. Two goats Rs. 1500/-. More suggestions welcome. I fall at your feet and beg you. Tomorrow even if you surrender all your wealth the Lord may not find any use for it. Today is the day. Tomorrow may be too late.
Bring your video cameras, shoot these people and publish the news throughout the nation. It will influence the mass mind. Let people repent of their greed, selfishness, luxury and gluttony. These poor can easily survive out of our trash. We must give account to God for every paisa we throw away wastefully and answer Him if we remain indifferent to human affairs.
The odds against our dreams for this desertland are astronomical. But believe me friends, nothing shall be impossible for us if we put our heads and hearts, hands and purses together. Many villages are still waiting for their share of the crumbs. Let us fight relentlessly to give these people a better life even though it seems to be a massive social problem that defies solutions. We need technical personnel and expert advice. If you can visit the places you can suggest ways to get the people back on their feet. What they need is a way out, not a handout. Now they are like oxen fallen down because of the unbearable burden. You can lift up their weight long enough for them to stand up. Just feeding the starving is no solution. We must get to the bottom of the problem. Unless we interfere, there is no light at the end of their tunnel. They are facing a great black wall. What does the new millennium hold for these except a bleak future?
May be when you read about Somalia you had an urge to go and serve there. May be you couldn’t go that far. Now here’s a Somalia within your reach. Why not plunge yourself? Peter left the security of his boat to walk on the sea.To be in the boat would have spelt safety. But he would have missed a miracle. Whenever your faith goes down the Lord will lift you up. What are you waiting for? You are not going to get a better opportunity to serve the Lord than NOW.
Nehemiah did not see a vision nor did God tell him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild it. He only heard about the disaster, prayed and acted. Neither was the operation trouble-free. He had to struggle through. A myriad problems will throw up. But we should not be scared to go off the beaten track.
Some of us leaders of Blessing Youth Mission visited this area in Orissa to work out an action plan to save the starving and the suffering. The outcome was FEED ORISSA Project. Write to us immediately how you would like to involve in this project. We will send you further details. The project was started in 2001 and many poor are being helped.
(A 15 minute VCD of the project is available for Rs. 100. Write to us for more details.)
Dr. Lilian Stanley
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91 9843511943
lilianstanley@gmail.com
Blessing Youth Mission
13 Church Colony
Vellore 632006, India
+91-416-2242943, +91-416-2248943
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