Sanghaseva gifts that keep on giving
Now is Christmas time, and now is, for many of us, a kind of shopping
rush to finish to buy all the presents we need for all the people around
us… (And I haven’t started yet!) For some, this whole period almost
feels like a maniac frenzy of pathological consumerism. (if you see
what I mean…) Quick, gotta find gifts for everybody!! And,
sometimes, we end up buying silly stuff that will only collect dust in
the home of the beloved ones…. 
So I have a suggestion of a good Christmas present that I think you will
find worthwhile: A “Gift that keeps on Giving”.
…..a gift that what???
That’s a gift that we buy to somebody near us (our dear one, or our boss
- to whom we want to ask a pay raise in January!), but that we actually
give to somebody else who needs it more.
For example: We buy a pair of crutches, a leg plaster cast, or calipers
for our mother, but we send it to somebody affected by polio in India,
so that he/she can walk again….
Imagine: To give as a Christmas present the possibility to walk again…!
It feels to me that there are few gifts I could buy that would be worth
that…
I have made, at the request of friends, a little program for their
website to allow to buy and send “Gifts that keeps on Giving”. The
person to whom you buy the gift receives a card explaining the gift you
bought him/her, and the gift is sent (really!) to somebody victim of
polio in BodhGaya, India.
All the funds collected by this (excepted for the small credit card
processing fees) are going to a small local charity who is giving
rehabilitation help and care to polio victims in Bihar, the poorest
state of India.
Polio (also called infantile paralysis), was a word full of terror and
nightmares for parents in our countries, only 50 years ago. It was
eradicated in the 50s or 60s and is no longer part of our worlds, but
that is not the case everywhere, like in countries which are not as
“developed” as us. Polio is a viral infection attacking the spinal cord
and causing paralysis of the limbs. The legs are most often affected
and, by the lack of movement, the joints get stiff and/or horrible
deformities develop.
The Gifts that keep on Giving are offered by the initiative of Sangha
Seva, a small non-profit organization founded by friends of mine, whom
organize retreats and events of help and service in India, England,
Israel and Europe.
“Sangha” means “friends” or “community”, and “Seva” means “service”.
It was with them I was, 2 months ago, in Israel and Palestine for a
peace work retreat.
The link to buy the Gifts that keeps on Giving, or to have more info is:
http://www.sanghaseva.org/e-cards.htm
Fri, Dec 15, 2006
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