Hope has no boundariesLinda Webb — Etobicoke, ON There are places that inexplicably tug at your heart strings. For me, Bhairab is one of those places. Situated on the banks of a tributary of the Great Meghna River, it epitomizes village life in the massive delta that is Bangladesh. When I first visited Bhairab in 2004, I marveled at the variety of craft plying the river: rafts with tattered sails, dinghies, riverboats, and barges -- all heavily laden with humanity, produce, animals, and cargo of every description.
I watched the tenacity and determination of the people to carve out a living. I fretted about the fragile homes of the slums sheltering thousands of people on the riverbank. How many would survive when the river burgeoned with the monsoon rains? This year 700 children received bedkits in Bhairab. They arrived exuberantly by riverboat and clambered up the riverbank strewn with rotting garbage, between cows, dogs, women doing laundry, bathers, and river traffic. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies. How incredible to think that this same blue sky is shared by family and friends who live in the safety and richness of Canada. The difference, however, is stark and staggering. After the distribution, I walked to the riverbank to watch the children joyfully wending their way in bare feet, bedkits balanced on their heads, down to the riverboats. I thought I was steeled to whatever it is that draws me to Bhairab, but I find the sight of those riverboats piled high with bedkits and children overwhelming and I can no longer contain my emotions. I furiously click photographs, tears blurring my vision. In spite of it all, the gentle flow of the river and the smiles of the children give me hope. Dear donor and volunteers, when Margaret and Murray Dryden chose to give bedkits to children, I believe they recognized that children are the most vulnerable to the ravages of poverty, that children have the least control over their lives. Don't for one minute think that our efforts are just a drop in the bucket. A bedkit gives hope to each and every child, and hope has no boundaries. |
