Indian Community Women Come Together to Share Christmas Love and Joy with the Needy

A group of women within Jamaica’s Indian community have come together to spread love and joy during the Christmas season by distributing care packages to the needy.

The group, known as ‘Sharing and Caring Indian Women in Jamaica’, has been collecting donations from local businesses and individuals and preparing packages for distribution to the less fortunate.

The initiative is being supported by the wider Indian community, including the Prema Satsangh organisation, a Jamaican-Indian institution located at 10 Henderson Avenue in Kingston that promotes Indian culture locally.

The first activity took place on Sunday, December 10, when community members in and around Henderson Avenue were presented with care packages.

Packages were also handed out to residents on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Avenue in downtown Kingston on Sunday, December 17.

That corridor, incorporating the section of Tower Street between Church Street and lower South Camp Road, was renamed in honour of late Indian social reformer and politician, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

The packages presented included non-perishable foods such as peas, crackers, oil, mackerel and flour, as well as personal care items, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath and laundry soap and tissue.

The women have also distributed special packages to mentally and physically challenged persons.

On Thursday, December 21, approximately 350 care packages will be handed over to the Missionaries of the Poor, a Roman Catholic charity in downtown Kingston, for distribution to the needy.

There will also be a party with the singing of Christmas carols.

Coordinator of the initiative and wife of the Indian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Zingcharwon Rungsung, tells JIS News that the idea to help the needy came up during a WhatsApp conversation with women “who just wanted to spread a little love”.

“It is Christmas time. So we reached out to our brethren and we started working with the Indian community,” she says.

Mrs. Rungsung points out that the group had set a goal of serving about 500 people, taking into consideration the short time that they had to collect the items.

“In five days our goal was met, and with that we are able to serve over 500 people, and that brings immense pleasure,” she tells JIS News.
Mrs. Rungsung says being able to assist the needy has given her and the other women involved in the undertaking a feeling of immense satisfaction and fulfilment.

“It’s not just about us… but about sharing the little that we have, because if our hands are so tight holding on to what we have, it will never be empty to receive what is in store for us,” she states philosophically.

“The more we give, the more we get; and this is the season of giving, so a little goes a long way,” Mrs. Rungsung adds.