Note From President Shernaz Vakil
THE LOST TRIBE
This week, we post the pathetic stories of the women of the Vaidu community, their desolate and desperate lives, with no hope or meaning, not knowing where the next meal will come from or how they will feed their hungry children that day. How sad is this?
What we would spend on a round of pizza for our kids at one meal… they do not get over three months to feed the family.
When this pathetic situation was brought to our notice, we had to do something to rehabilitate this community. We have started with small steps, feeding a hundred families with ration over the next six months.
I am now looking for Rotarians to adopt one family and feed them over the next year the cost a mere Rs 7000 for rations for a year. This will give them the security that they need to get a hold of their lives and change for the
better.
We are also starting adult literacy classes for the women and men to relate to the present world and to be able to carry out a few day-to-day functions that are necessary to participate in the city they live in.
They are a lost tribe forgotten by our fast-paced world, scraping together a meagre existence bringing up a generation of forgotten children. We also plan to teach and motivate the children who have remained unschooled
so far… giving them some joy in their unhappy existence with activities and learning.
Further, we are looking at starting vocational training so that this community can find a way to support themselves post the pandemic. Once they are able to learn a small-skill they should be able to make a living and gradually pull themselves out of the darkness and misery.
Rotarians, please read their stories and through their pain let us find a way to help them.
— President Shernaz Vakil