‘Wall of kindness’ awaits donors in winter
islamabad — The wall of kindness, an initiative that spread across the globe to donate wearing stuff for poor, is losing its spirit as majority of the empty walls are waiting for generous donors in the much-needed winter season.
The concept, first picked by a group of Rawalpindi youth in 2016, earned a lot of appreciation and was adopted in every major city of the country. However, it needs to be revitalized in the harsh winter season to provide comfort to the needy.
Two years ago it was common to see a variety of stuff hanging from the wall during winter in every other vicinity of the twin cities. But people started losing interest since last year in keeping the tradition alive and donating warm clothes through the wall of kindness, said Ahmed Ali, a
senior citizen of Rawalpindi.
“There are dozens of dedicated places called Deewar-e-Mehrbani to serve the cause of humanity in the twin cities but majority of them are either totally ignored or do not have worthy items that can be used in winter by poor and destitute,” he said. Simply reserving walls for the charity items is not enough, we
have to inculcate the idea of sharing basic necessities of life with others, he added.
It was a good initiative as it provided a platform to those who could afford to share their blessings with the poor people to hang clothes, bags, shoes or other necessary items, said a businessman Talha Rizvi. “This spirit requires to be reinvigorated as it seems the altruists are forgetting this noble cause,” he regretted.
Another citizen, Jahanzeb Khan, said: “Our nation is known for helping the poor but it has a tendency to forget admirable traditions. We need to keep them motivated for the cause.”
“Two years ago, I hung old sweaters and jackets of my children but this time I don’t see such a wall near my neighbourhood,” Shumaila Kareem, a resident of Rawalpindi, said.
The biggest advantage of this practice is that the donors and beneficiaries remain unknown to each other and there was no sense of humiliation therefore it must be carried on in the same spirit as it was seen at the time of introduction, she suggested. —