Love Buckets

As we step into the life of the people of India we enter into a totally unpleasant and hurting life scenario. Life is so full of misery and sorrow that once in a while we believe the lie that God is cruel, but we must remember He has a plan for all and promises to make all things good. These Love Buckets are a gesture of our love and care for the people around us who are suffering and need a helping hand. We take this as our duty rather than a commitment to our dear and near ones who encounter these hardships in life.

In our mission to transform the lives of our kinfolk, we have been conducting these small distributions, giving away things very much needed for our daily life. As we hand over these small buckets we are passing on the message that we all are one and that God loves you. If we can transfer this great message then surely our mission is accomplished.

We had a wide love bucket distribution in various parts of India and these are the figures:

Mumbai, one of the densely populated cosmopolitan cities in India. It is the heart of poverty. People from the villages have moved into this great city in hope of finding work to fill their stomachs. But, as we enter into the lives of people in the tall buildings and illuminated roads, it is far beyond our speculation. The actual lives are in the slums where as many as 18,000 people crowd into a 0.4-acre area.

We had the opportunity to distribute love buckets among the people of these slums. These people have no particular source of income, they do all sorts of odd jobs, even begging. We were very much hurt by seeing small kids almost 2 yrs or above moving about begging to get a meal. This scene really was so touching. The people were very grateful to us for giving them these love buckets.

We had another distribution in Gujarat, mainly in the slums and small relief camps. The earthquake that shook parts of Gujarat in 2001 and the mass communal riot that tore apart the streets of Gujarat still leave those blood stains in the life of people. Most of the people have lost everything in these great disasters and have still not come out of the after-effects. Hunger and unemployment are so prevalent even now.

In Andhra Pradesh, a love bucket distribution was held in various parts of Vijayanagaram and in its outskirts. Here, people are mainly farmers and they earn a living by cultivating their farms. Most of the people have no land of their own and work under the mercy of landlords who make them work but pay very little. These people had this sort of life for many generations. These people are set to the four walls of their village not aware of a fast-moving world outside.

Another love bucket distribution was in parts of Tamil Nadu. Here the people have been farmers for time immemorial, but nature has always played the role of a villain; always in the form of floods or drought. Being farmers the climatic conditions play a crucial role in their living. These people have no stable income and poverty has become their livelihood.

We distributed love buckets in Kerala in a village called Kaviyoor and also in a tribal area called Mangulam. Kaviyoor is a village where people are mainly farmers. The area is surrounded by water during the monsoon. During that period the people move to relief camps. Their major source of income is farming and the monsoon is a threat to their lives. Mangulam, is a tribal area in the Idukki district of Kerala. Most of the people are farmers or woodcutters. The people still follow traditional methods of farming and are not yet in touch with technology or the fast-moving world outside.