Operation Sandwiches & Smiles
The cutting/spreading/assembling crew
Yesterday, friends got together to do our first Delhi sandwich distribution operation. The task is simple: make sandwiches and distribute them to people in the streets.
Our box piled high with sandwiches
We made cucumber, tomato and cheese sandwiches as well as jam sandwiches. Some fresh nutrition balanced with some sweet goodness. Just sitting together and making to sandwiches was fun. My task was to wrap the completed sandwiches. I was touched to think of the number of hands that had come together to make each of the sandwiches: some buttering, other cutting the veggies, others placing the veggies and the cheese on the bread, others cutting the cellophane and mine wrapping.
Distribution opened my eyes in a different way. I continue to struggle with the language barrier and these times make that barrier particularly obstructing. Of course, I learned a long time ago that I don’t need language to create a connection with someone. But it does speed things up. And I don’t always have the time to create that connection without the help of a few phrases.
Our first stop, before the families spotted us
As we arrived at underpasses – where families live – children came running already knowing we had our bags full of food. Anyone who’s come to India or seen Slumdog Millionaire will know that poverty and need are omnipresent here. You cannot stop at an intersection without having children rapping on your car window. Today, we got up close and personal with that need and with the same children and mothers who rap on our windows. The underpasses are home to these begging families who barely have the necessary clothes on their backs. Despite the biting cold, the children are barefoot. The mothers shiver under their summer-weight dresses and semblance of a blanket. The noses are runny, the hair ratty and unwashed. One boy’s face is completely burned from playing with a fire cracker. Another mother’s face is also all wounded and pussy. More than food, these families need a bath, hygiene and care. I see why Jayeshbhai and Anardidi were first – at the start of Manav Sadhna – compelled to invite street children to their homes for warm showers and clean clothes. But the challenge is that cleanliness is not good for the business of begging.
We hand out our sandwiches and biscuits. We struggle with the knowledge that we are not satiating their basic need for nutrition and a full stomach. They ask us for blankets and warm clothes. Despite the onslaught of children, we attempt to connect with the people instead of simply providing a hand-out.
In one corner of Nizamuddin, we stopped by a few shack homes with children playing in front. After speaking with the children and the mothers, one child, no more than 2 years old, grabbed Preeti’s hand to guide her into his home. She was so moved by this humble invitation.
We finished our day in Lodhi Gardens, a beautiful posh garden not far from our main distribution sites at Nizamuddin. Before sitting down to share and reflect on our day, I hand out a remaining package of biscuits to three people sitting on a bench chatting. After almost needing to push children away, it’s a change to need to almost push the biscuits onto people. This brought home the idea that more than answering to people’s material needs, we were out to address their need for appreciation, connectedness and love. Everyone needs those.
[...] several experiences connecting with the less fortunate (sharing a moment and acknowledging their human-ness), Sunday, I played with touching “people like [...]
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