My son who is studying Medicine in Manipal,India sent me
some photos of his visit to the slum
areas in the vicinity of Manipal.The visit to the slums was part of his
training to expose the medical students to diseases in poverty-stricken areas.
It was a humbling and touching experience for him being
brought up in comfort back home in Malaysia. Although I had taken pains to
expose him to poverty around us but they were nowhere near to what he saw in
the slums of India. If the condition in Manipal which is located in the
relatively rich Indian state of Karnataka is so pathetic, how terrible it would
be in the poorer states?
The following is what my son wrote back to me, “Here are some pictures of the slum which I
visited today. Many of them had houses which are only the size of my hostel
room but with more than 5 people staying. If I raise my hand I can touch the
roof. Their income would barely reach 5000 Rupees (less than RM250) for the
whole family”
.
His experience at the slums made him comment, “I just spent
Rp.1,000 for a lunch on my recent birthday but these poor people hardly have
Rp.5,000 for a family of 5 or 6 for one full month, to cater for all their
basic needs”.
I felt proud that my young son has began to feel for the
people who are less fortunate. I felt happy that what my wife and I had taught
him has finally begun to produce results.
This further strengthens our belief that the children cannot
be forced to do what you want but they can only be taught by our examples which
will subtly seep into their lives. It reinforces my fervent belief that we must
do what we preach in order for others under our care to respect and follow. 
Youngsters today are not going to
listen to what we preach. They may appear not to be paying much attention to
what we do but if we keep repeatedly doing the right thing all the time, they
will without knowing adopt our examples
when confronted similar situations later when they are on their own. 
A tent is the home for a family of five
No comments:
Post a Comment