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"(A mother of two girls in India) was thrilled that they could go to school rested, and with some basic school supplies. Their only way out of that place of poverty was through education." Tom Belton, volunteer, Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) |
March 15, 2010
Different tool in fight against child poverty
BY DAVE BROWN, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
The interview pushed Tom Belton into memory territory he thought he had put behind, and a trace of discomfort showed.
The retired Ottawa businessman is a longtime volunteer with one of the country's lesser-known charities -- Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW). Founded in 1970 by Margaret and Murray Dryden, parents of MP and hockey great Ken Dryden, its aim is simply to provide the world's poorest children with some basics, such as a bed, a toothbrush and minimum school supplies.
The Drydens' aim was to give the gift of a good night's sleep to a million of the world's poorest children. That goal was passed two years ago.
As a volunteer, Belton's job, like hundreds of other volunteers, is to deliver donated bedkits, conduct a brief interview, and report back to the person who donated the $35 that paid for the bed package. "The names don't stay with you, but I remember a mother (in India), obviously undernourished, with her daughter, about eight, standing beside her looking well-nourished."
"The father had died of cancer years earlier leaving the widow to raise two daughters on her own. There's no social system to assist a family like this," he says.
"They lived in a hut without running water, toilet or electricity. Cooking was over an open fire. Mother worked in a quarry, smashing rock into sand by hand, using a heavy hammer. She was paid the equivalent of $1 a day. It was obvious most of the money went to food and most of the food went to her children. She said the bedkit would be shared by her two children and was thrilled that they could go to school rested, and with some basic school supplies. Their only way out of that place of poverty was through education. I often wonder what future is ahead for that family."
Volunteers like Belton, many of them with service club backgrounds, pay their own way to the most impoverished parts of the world to distribute bedkits, take photos, and make certain donors see the results of their charity. SCAW guarantees that every donated cent goes to the purpose advertised. All work that goes into the complex process of doing charity in foreign countries is volunteered.
What little paid management is required is covered by a legacy fund established by the Drydens.
"There was a boy, about 10, in a small town in Colombia, high in the Andes. His mother was in her 40s, but looked twice that. She wheeled him in to receive his bedkit. We guessed the problem was cerebral palsy. He was in a modified pram, his long legs were leading, straight out in front of him, and his head was under the handle.
"We (volunteers) visited their home. Two rooms. The mother and the boy slept in one room. The mattress from the bedkit was placed over a cot, and a log was rolled against the cot to prevent him from falling out. We saw no medications."
Belton gave himself a shake, grinned, and produced a pile of photos taken during the trip to India he has just returned from. There are bright and happy school kids showing off their new clothing. In their world, a pencil is a treasure.
His volunteering has over the years taken him to dark corners in Tanzania, Columbia, Honduras and India. SCAW has left its mark in places like Bangladesh, Kenya, Togo and many regions of India. The organization reaches into 32 countries.
Advances in communications technology make it possible to involve donors in the project in ways not possible in the 1970s. Volunteers on site photograph recipients with their bedkits spread out around them, and with a card bearing the name of a donor to show them their money, turned into essentials, has reached its destination. The use of e-mail grows.
Each kit includes a mat or mattress, pillow, sheet, blanket, mosquito net in countries one is needed, clothing, towel and school supplies. Two thirds of donations come from Canadian schools, churches and service clubs. The other third is from the business community.
It's a success story that has grown without help from governments or international corporations. Donations from such bodies, the Drydens knew, always come with strings attached. SCAW is a case of people helping people, with emphasis on the personal touch.
Contributions are tax deductible and can be made through a website at scaw.org, or call toll free to 1-866-321-1841, or mail to SCAW, 28 Pinehurst Cres, Toronto, M9A 3A5.
brady.brown@bell.net
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