Sleeping children have hope
Posted by Stephen Rhodes
Paul Might, a volunteer with Sleeping Children Around the World, (SCAW) praised Rotary for its support in helping the organization distribute bedkits to needy children worldwide.
SCAW raises funds to provide bedkits to the neediest of children in underdeveloped and developing countries. The content of each bedkit varies from country to country depending upon local needs, but usually consists of a groundsheet, mattress, sheets, blanket or mosquito netting, pyjamas, sweater or other clothing, and personal care items.
Since its founding in 1970 through to this year, SCAW has raised over $15 million to provide bedkits for more than 600,000 children in 31 countries such as Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Panama, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
Why bedkits?
Having known many nights without a bed or food during the Depression, while travelling East from Manitoba looking for work, Murray Dryden knows how vital a few hours of comfort and sleep are to help one forget the extremes of temperature, the hopelessness, the sickness, and the pangs of hunger. He feels that the comfort of a bed is a basic right of every child, and that "There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping child".
Murray Dryden's hobby of photographing sleeping children (his own and those of friends, followed by children in Europe and Asia) gave rise to the idea of a retirement project. He and his late wife, Margaret, decided to provide bedkits to 50 homeless children in India in 1970. The image of a sleeping child would grow and eventually become the focus of their lives.
After his 15th trip around the world in 1987, a rigorous December trip into the Himalayas, followed by distribution trips to Colombia, Honduras, and Ecuador, Murray Dryden stated:
"I know the difference between being poor in Canada and being poor in Bangladesh. Remember, they have no welfare system, no Medicare, and very few charitable organizations in these countries. It is when there is so little hope for people, such as those people in the developing countries, that we must work to improve conditions."
For more information visit the website at www.scaw.org
Pictured Warren Raspberry with speaker Paul Might looking over a bedkit.
Since its founding in 1970 through to this year, SCAW has raised over $15 million to provide bedkits for more than 600,000 children in 31 countries such as Ecuador, Honduras, Colombia, Panama, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
Why bedkits?
Having known many nights without a bed or food during the Depression, while travelling East from Manitoba looking for work, Murray Dryden knows how vital a few hours of comfort and sleep are to help one forget the extremes of temperature, the hopelessness, the sickness, and the pangs of hunger. He feels that the comfort of a bed is a basic right of every child, and that "There is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping child".
Murray Dryden's hobby of photographing sleeping children (his own and those of friends, followed by children in Europe and Asia) gave rise to the idea of a retirement project. He and his late wife, Margaret, decided to provide bedkits to 50 homeless children in India in 1970. The image of a sleeping child would grow and eventually become the focus of their lives.
After his 15th trip around the world in 1987, a rigorous December trip into the Himalayas, followed by distribution trips to Colombia, Honduras, and Ecuador, Murray Dryden stated:
"I know the difference between being poor in Canada and being poor in Bangladesh. Remember, they have no welfare system, no Medicare, and very few charitable organizations in these countries. It is when there is so little hope for people, such as those people in the developing countries, that we must work to improve conditions."
For more information visit the website at www.scaw.org
Pictured Warren Raspberry with speaker Paul Might looking over a bedkit.