Sunday, April 15, 2012

Rotary Distributes Sleeping Kits & Study Materials

As part of social & philanthropic service, Rotary Club of Port Blair, in association with Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), Canada and Rotary Club of Ambattur, Chennai has undertaken a project of distributing slumber kits to underprivileged school students of our islands. This year, a total of 795 kits were distributed to the students of different schools of which 666 kits were distributed in Wimberlygunj zone covering 33 schools on 14th Feb’12 and 129 Kits were distributed at Neil island covering 3 schools on 15th Feb’12. The kits were distributed in the presence of members from Rotary Club of Port Blair, Rotary Club of Ambattur, Chennai, Members of SCAW team from Canada, officials of the Education Department and local Panchayat representatives.

Funded entirely by donations the kit has as many as 25 utility items like Mattress, Pillow, Bedsheets, Pillow covers, mosquito net, Towels, 2 sets of dresses, woollen sweaters, set of Pencils, Colour box, set of note books etc which are procured and put together by the members of the Rotary Clubs who start work months ahead of each distribution, sourcing items and assembling the kits.

Rtn. Zakir Jadwet, President Rotary Club of Port Blair said “seeing children happily struggling to carry away the bed kits is reward enough for the agencies involved”. He also mentioned that so far the club has distributed almost 2500 kits since 2009, and the club will strive hard in future to cover maximum underprivileged children of the islands. Rtn. G. Dhinakaran Chairman SCAW, RC Port Blair informed, “To identify recipients for the kits we usually liaise with the Education Dept. and zero in on the most needy children”.

Founded 40 years ago, SCAW’s mission is to provide slumber kits to needy children across the globe. Inspired by the sight of his own child sleeping peacefully on her bed, as opposed to images of children in underdeveloped countries settling for the pavement or the bare floor that registered in his mind during his days as a travelling salesman, Mr. Murray Dryden founded SCAW along with his late wife Margaret Dryden.

Another reason Dryden felt motivated to reach out to poorer children who couldn’t afford the luxury of a comfortable bed was because he strongly believed that the comfort of a bed is a basic right of a child

Travelling volunteers from Canada who represent SCAW make it a point to be personally present at each distribution. SCAW works in association with service organisations like Rotary Clubs to organise and carry out distributions.

Since overheads are totally eliminated or kept down to the barest minimum, (SCAW’s headquarters is a functional office, everyone who works for SCAW is a volunteer, everything right from postage to film to office supplies is donated) every cent of the donation is spent on the kit. The documentation is thorough and donors get a photograph of the child with the kit and a giant label bearing the name of the donor, while for the children the label is a reminder of someone across the globe who cared to make life better for them.

Dt: 17-02-2012
For ROTARY CLUB OF PORT BLAIR
(Girish Arora), Secretary (2011-12)