Why not add a gift for a child in a developing country to your wish list this year?

Remember the joy of bounding down the stairs on Christmas morning, and tearing into the gifts that were the focus of our yearning? For days or weeks, we had wondered, speculated and hoped that we had gotten that one thing we really wanted. It was as if all the joy and wonder of the world had been reserved for that moment on Christmas morning.

Some were wrapped with a ribbon and others were addressed from “Mom and Dad” or “sister”. For people who celebrate Christmas, this was the time of pausing in the rapid pace of life to share a moment of togetherness and exchanging of gifts that say, “you matter to me”. If Christmas isn’t your thing, perhaps there are other times in the year of focused emphasis on family, friends and caring for the poor.

Such wonder and gift giving and receiving is not the case for everyone in the world. For many people, both home and abroad, days are not filled with “joy and wonder,” but rather with an enduring sense of uncertainty. The young mother in India wonders what will become of her precious little boy or girl. How will she feed, clothe, educate and give her youngster the tools for a better future? For her, the issue is one of meeting the basic necessities of life, and after a long day of toil in the fields, or factories, there is little energy left to consider her dreams for the child.

Yet, there can be reason to hope for a better future. It is our great opportunity for a gift that will matter for generations to come. Consider this for a moment...

For many Canadians, it was not long ago that our own ancestors came to this country and started a new life filled with their own uncertainty. Settling on a rural homestead with the endless toil of clearing land and planting crops is the story they will tell. Others will attest to landing in a large city with nothing but a few dollars in their pocket, and with an infant in their arms.

Through hard work, a little help from some kind strangers, they made it and gave us a brighter future. Many in Canada are currently writing their own stories of landing in this country and making a life. Such is the power of a gift during the holiday season for a child in a developing country. It is not so much as a hand out as it is a hand up. For a new immigrant to Canada 100 years ago, they were not looking for an or a shiny new kitchen counter appliance, they needed essential tools to help establish them in their new land called home.

A child in India needs immunization against childhood illnesses, shoes for school, a hot nutritious noon meal and clothing for winter. Her father and mother need tools for home-based industry which will alleviate poverty and help break a cycle of indebtedness to money lenders. Sewing machines for industrious hands, gardener’s tool kits to till the soil and create cash crops and food for the family.

So what do we do? Take down the tree, put away the festivities and give it all away? We avoid the tyranny of the “OR”. I help the poor OR I celebrate with my own family? No. Everyone does their part, they fill their own family’s hearts with joy and wonder and include a boy or a girl or a mother or father in a far away land.

So why not? Why not add a gift for a child in a developing country to your wish list this year? No matter the time of the year, Christmas, birthday, anniversary or any other holiday, punctuate the occasion with a gift for a child.

View our Online Catalogue of Gifts for Children in India.