Disclaimer: I usually try to write well. I did not try this time. But at least it's honest.
It was all fun and fellowship. Laughing and talking. Joking around. Being on vacation means you have a lot of time and perhaps this was a good way to spend the time. By helping people. Going to pack food packets to distribute to migrant communities.
I should have left after the packing. But I didn't have any work to do after and they needed an extra hand. So I joined them to go and distribute. We reached the place and found, according to someone there, 6000 people. We didn't have food for 6000 people. We had even less water. They were boarding BMTC buses after standing on queues under the sun for a long time. The buses would take them to the railway station where they would board trains for their home states.
We distributed the food. But we didn't have enough water. We requested the people to share 12 bottles of water among 35 people. Some said they need more. Some said there would be fighting among the people and so they were better off being thirsty. They hadn't had any water since morning. After a while we ran out of chutney so it was just rotis. And no water.
Trying to explain to people that there is less water and you have to share felt like talking to a wall. I started losing my patience. Perhaps we shouldn't have taken on this assignment. It was more trouble than it was worth.
We did what we could... right?
I don't know if I will ever get the answer to that question. Of course the work was tiring and I had a raging headache by 4 when we finished distributing the food and water. At least the sparse quantities we had. We had water for us though. I wanted to hide and drink it. After explaining to a man that we had no water. A man who hadn't had water since morning and who said he had some ailment. After that I was drinking an entire half bottle of water. But I had no choice right? There were kids on a bus where we gave 15 bottles. They were probably looking at me drinking the water mere minutes after telling them we didn't have more. But... We did what we could... right? Like... I wasn't obligated to do it... right?
A raging headache at 4. No strength even to cry. I wanted to cry though. I sat under a tree and waited for us to leave. I had no strength left.
Of course I have the option to say I'm too tired to go for the packing work tomorrow. Do those people have an option to... you know.... not do this anymore... ? Like, can they say, "I can't even anymore?"
And the people were being unreasonable right? Hiding a bottle and a food packet and saying they don't have one? I mean they are preventing others from getting it. But am I preventing others from having enough when I spend 70 bucks on a coffee at a fancy cafe?
I can still hear the sounds of people asking for water. I can still hear me and the people with me shouting at them that we don't have and that there wouldn't be any left for others. They hadn't had water since morning.
But we did what we could I guess...
Now I can just hold on to a promise 'those who mourn are blessed for they shall be comforted' [Mathew 5:4] and mourn. Because we did all that we could.... I guess.
It was all fun and fellowship. Laughing and talking. Joking around. Being on vacation means you have a lot of time and perhaps this was a good way to spend the time. By helping people. Going to pack food packets to distribute to migrant communities.
I should have left after the packing. But I didn't have any work to do after and they needed an extra hand. So I joined them to go and distribute. We reached the place and found, according to someone there, 6000 people. We didn't have food for 6000 people. We had even less water. They were boarding BMTC buses after standing on queues under the sun for a long time. The buses would take them to the railway station where they would board trains for their home states.
We distributed the food. But we didn't have enough water. We requested the people to share 12 bottles of water among 35 people. Some said they need more. Some said there would be fighting among the people and so they were better off being thirsty. They hadn't had any water since morning. After a while we ran out of chutney so it was just rotis. And no water.
Trying to explain to people that there is less water and you have to share felt like talking to a wall. I started losing my patience. Perhaps we shouldn't have taken on this assignment. It was more trouble than it was worth.
We did what we could... right?
I don't know if I will ever get the answer to that question. Of course the work was tiring and I had a raging headache by 4 when we finished distributing the food and water. At least the sparse quantities we had. We had water for us though. I wanted to hide and drink it. After explaining to a man that we had no water. A man who hadn't had water since morning and who said he had some ailment. After that I was drinking an entire half bottle of water. But I had no choice right? There were kids on a bus where we gave 15 bottles. They were probably looking at me drinking the water mere minutes after telling them we didn't have more. But... We did what we could... right? Like... I wasn't obligated to do it... right?
A raging headache at 4. No strength even to cry. I wanted to cry though. I sat under a tree and waited for us to leave. I had no strength left.
Of course I have the option to say I'm too tired to go for the packing work tomorrow. Do those people have an option to... you know.... not do this anymore... ? Like, can they say, "I can't even anymore?"
And the people were being unreasonable right? Hiding a bottle and a food packet and saying they don't have one? I mean they are preventing others from getting it. But am I preventing others from having enough when I spend 70 bucks on a coffee at a fancy cafe?
I can still hear the sounds of people asking for water. I can still hear me and the people with me shouting at them that we don't have and that there wouldn't be any left for others. They hadn't had water since morning.
But we did what we could I guess...
Now I can just hold on to a promise 'those who mourn are blessed for they shall be comforted' [Mathew 5:4] and mourn. Because we did all that we could.... I guess.