These pictures are aerial views of an important city, taken five years back. Since then I have been to this city a few more times. The recent pictures also reveal the contrast between the two types of housing and amenities.
This is probably true of cities in developing countries, where urbanization is taking place at a faster pace than what the facilities can cope with.
I know of this contrast existing in developed countries. Mr. Dave Andrews, of Brisbane with his family has been involved in responding to the needs of housing of low in come group. Dave used to be Delhi in the late seventies and early seventies primarily involved to help young people who were caught in the hippie culture and were drowning in substance abuse.
Dave after returning to Australia decided to live in the sub-urban Brisbane, where housing, civil amenities and educational prospects of the low- income families were terribly disturbing.
After thirty years of working with the local churches, civil authorities, philanthropists, Dave got the the local administration to persuade the builders to make affordable living accommodation for the low income group as a mandatory requirement before they would be given permission to build in the developed areas of the city.
I have been recently reading books and articles Dave wrote, which encouraged me immensely to believe that a single voice is never a feeble voice. There is a prophetic appeal when one or few people campaign for the needs of the disadvantaged and it unsettles those who have been hitherto indifferent to the needs of others. Alone voice soon becomes loud enough to prompt others into action.
I wonder whether we are familiar with the social needs of our community. I realized that my income has gone up by five times in the last ten years. The income in the church we worshipped until recently had gone up by seen times. And yet, the commitment to social causes has increased only marginally.
Our daily prayer is that, 'Let Thy kingdom come'! The Kingdom of God is of love, mercy and charity.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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