By Kiran Altaf - Christmas is bringing tons of felicity for everyone, ah, but for some of the families, Christmas is going to bring lots of surprises, their wishes are going to come true.
By Kiran Altaf
Everybody is busy doing shopping for the Christmas, people are buying gifts for their friends and family and new couples finally have got some to spend with each other. Everybody is glad, not because they are planning family trips, but yes they’ll have some rest from their daily tiring routine, some people are expecting their wages with bonuses, kids can’t wait anymore to hold their pretty red bags on Christmas day (after all, they’ll have some money from everyone).
Christmas is bringing tons of felicity for everyone, ah, but for some of the families, Christmas is going to bring lots of surprises, their wishes are going to come true. We all work to earn to fulfill our wishes, but there are so many people who work for the society in simple words, for us; like police officers, military groups, security guards, postmen, cleaners, bus drivers, etc. and all those people who live far away from their families are planning to spend time with their loved ones. After ages, they’ll be more felicitous to see their families on the grounds that they’ll be able to see and hug their kids, mum, dad and relatives.
Like everybody else, a group of girls (me and my friends) on the Monday afternoon in the Cardiff Met University cafeteria was gossiping about the Christmas related activities going on, in Cardiff city centre and how everyone is going to spend time with their families.
Every year in the Cardiff, behind the city centre, local businesses, usually organise a big event known as “Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland”. In Winter Wonderland, there are so many stands of traditional food, swings, including an Open Air Ice Rink and the spectacular Star ride; all the stands are timber frame log cabins and fully adorned. It’s the 15th year celebration of the Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland and this festive is situated in Cardiff’s iconic Civic Centre and it will remain open till 5th January 2015 as its 7 weeks festive event which started from the 13th November 2014.
I have been to the city centre and also to the winter wonderland with my friends, everybody was enjoying themselves. You could see the families laughing and enjoying themselves as they watched the youngsters having fun. Seeing them brought a smile to my face as the sights before me lightened my heart and spirit. The place shone brightly with all the lights and laughter heard at winter wonderland, attracting more crowd.
Though seeing all this magic take place, nearby I could see a lady dressed in rags, in this brutal cold, smiling as she sold her beautiful red roses. But I could see the sorrow and pain in her eyes hiding behind her beautiful smile. Not being able to stand seeing someone unhappy in such a lively place, I approached the woman and asked her why she’s not enjoying herself like everyone else. I know my question was a bit personal and I didn’t know the woman, but it was too late to take it back. Not expecting the woman to answer it, I started to turn away before I embarrassed myself any further. But then, she murmured something and hearing that, there were tears in my eyes, she said: “my child, I am here because my family is at home. I come here every night to sell my roses so I can make enough money to buy my family something wonderful for Christmas”. Listening to a foreign accent, sorrow in her words, my heart went out to her. I found out that her name was Mariana.. I bought a rose from her; “Mariana” a beautiful name, don’t you think? Knowing that I was able to help Mariana, even just a little, made me feel good about myself.
On our way to home, Mariana wasn’t the only person on the street trying to earn a penny for her family. I came across a man, Mareyus. He was playing a beautiful musical composition on a harmonium. I could see glowing hopes in his eyes, he was hiding his pain by having a big smile on his face. He was looking at everyone’s face and he was expecting to get some pennies from them, but here is the crucial reality that we are willing to spend money in bars and lodges but not to donate a single penny to him. Everybody is busy bout their own satisfaction and enjoyment, but we genuinely don’t care about poor people who are looking at us for a penny that might change their life.
Seeing all these people on the streets on such a beautiful night, opens your eyes to reality. You see some seed, some having fun and being happy along with their families and acquaintances, but to see those in the shadows, those who have to work extra hard just to put a nice meal along the table for their families.
You’d find so many examples around you, they are not only the one who is working in this brutal cold; with the current economic system and unemployment skyrocketing, there are so many people who are losing their homes, they are struggling to manage food for themselves and for their families. Recently I got to know that in Swindon, a man sold his dresses to buy a Christmas tree and gifts for his kids. He is a single parent of two children and jobless.
In the UK, thousands of British families will be depending on the charity this Christmas as the rates of poverty in the UK is continuously going up. It has been estimated that more than 2000 working households will be looking for the support from the voluntary organisations for food and other necessities; now can you imagine the number of people, who are unemployed and don’t have even enough money to buy food for themselves.
The recent report published in the Guardian on Wednesday, around 4,500 children will also be required assistance as a consequence of severe poverty. Do you think those people are really going to celebrate the Christmas twinkling and are they going to follow the tradition, set by us? I would sincerely like to know how many people actually going to donate something for those poor little kids? Guess what according to the poverty level, it would be countable and wouldn’t be enough to see sparkles in the eyes of poor kids.
Trussell Trust supplies says that, 37% of all food bank aid in the UK. Since April, it has issued more than 900,000 parcels; by the end of its accounting year, this should be more than a million at current rates. As TT supplies about a third of all provision, that’s about 3 million parcels in a year. Presuming that all the other food banks operate in a similar way, half the recipients only ever have one parcel. That’s 1.5 million people. Of the remainder, some have two or more; occasionally, people are supported for longer, but I have no figures for this. I reckon we could reasonably say 500,000 people have more than one parcel – i.e. altogether, 2 million people need food bank help this year.
It is worth fundraising or seeing what you can manage to help. Even if it’s not big fundraising, perhaps there will be children very grateful for a Frozen doll, coloring books, paints etc.- stuff that kids love that aren’t overly expensive but may miss out on.
I did my part that day to help someone’s Christmas be extraordinary for them, it’s time for you to do yours. It doesn’t have to be by giving money, it can be the littlest of things, like helping an elderly person, or stopping animal abuse.A quick guide of gifts for the poor families from the salvation army website:
0-3: dolls, teddy bears, cot mobiles, baby clothes, bath toys, CDs of suitable music and nursery rhymes, puzzles
3-5: dolls and action figures, cars, lorries, DVDs and CDs (music and nursery rhymes), colouring sets, pencils, crayons, books, puzzles
5-9: educational games & toys, stationery (colouring sets, pencils, crayons, school sets), CDs & family friendly DVDs, books, puzzles, wordsearch, crosswords
9-12: games and toys, stationery, CDs, DVDs, books, T-Shirts, hair accessories, gloves, scarves, hats
13-16: CDs, DVDs, books, make-up and toiletries (please try to ensure non-allergic ingredients if possible), gloves, scarves, hats, T-Shirts, hair accessories
The options are many, you just have to be the one to take the first step and let your horizon widen, who knows, you might be making someone’s holiday better.