GUWAHATI: A church in Mizoram has come to the rescue of a bunch of needy schoolchildren whose families are struggling to buy them books and uniforms.
The Bethlehem Vengthlang Presbyterian Church in the state capital of Aizawl stacked books and uniforms, so such children can come and collect them.
It took up the project after noting that a lot of families, battered by the pandemic, were struggling to send their children to school.
The church received the books and uniforms for Classes I-X as donations after it had made an appeal to churchgoers to come to the rescue of children from underprivileged families.
“For two years during the pandemic, the children could not go to schools. Their uniform particularly lay unused. During the Sunday prayer service, we had made an appeal to people to contribute books and uniforms, so we can help the needy children,” Robert Lalnunmawia, who is a member of a committee of the church that conceived the project last Saturday, told The New Indian Express.
He said the church had kept receiving the contributions. It is an ongoing process, he said.
“The church committee had made this proposal. It said anyone in need can collect the books and uniforms,” Lalnunmawia said.
Till Sunday, the church received 775 books and 370 sets of uniform. The numbers of books and uniforms collected by needy children are 379 and 168 respectively.
“People’s income went down during and after the pandemic. Many families are finding it tough to send their children to school. This is the reason why we took up the project,” Lalnunmawia said.
If funds are required to continue with the project, the church is ready to release money. During Covid last year, it had spent over Rs 10 lakh in helping the poor with food and vegetables, he said.
After news about the distribution of books and uniforms went viral on social media, a lot of people contacted the church to offer donations in cash but it has not yet taken any decision on this.
“We’re not doing anything great. We are just trying to help the needy with the support and cooperation of people,” Lalnunmawia added.