Lend a helping hand

Caring about the welfare of others is as selfless as one can get. Even Christ shared this while He was on the planet through the famous words ‘love your neighbour as you love yourself’. Charity and charitable causes are as old as the communal settings we used to live in during the caveman era. The survival of the species was hinged on protecting fellow tribesmen and women from the vagaries of the weather, from hunger and from wild animals.

In today’s world however, it is an individualistic and capitalistic mindset that is favoured above all else. More people are disenfranchised now more than any other time in history. From emotional disenfranchisement to financial disenfranchisement, the world is full of it. There are more street children than we care to count, more poor people than we care to give a second glance to. And some of our policies ensure that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Where can we strike the balance between profits and exploitation of workers for instance? Where can we strike the balance between handouts and empowerment of the poor? Where are we heading as a human race when we spend more in military defense than we do in food production? We want to keep our citizens safe from perceived external threats but we aren’t keeping them safe from hunger or disease.

Won’t you lend a helping hand today, won’t you donate some food items to that local charity that runs an orphanage. Won’t you help cover the medical bills of that poor child that needs open heart surgery? There are many ways to lend a helping hand. The world could use a few more genuinely caring people like you. There are more natural disasters now more than any other time in history. Help that family whose house was destroyed in a storm, help pay school fees for that bright student whose parents cannot afford to take him to university. Be a mentor to that young girl who is deciding which path to take in life.


Think of a way of lending a helping hand this Ramadan even if you are a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist. Charity has no religion, nor specific time that it should be performed, strive to do it always.