Winter is here but wall of kindness lacks donations

Despite fervour shown at start, residents presently neglect this source of charity

ISLAMABAD: The wall of kindness, an Iranian initiative that spread across the globe to donate clothing items for the poor, is losing its spirit as majority of the walls for the donations are left empty waiting for generous donors, during the onset of winter season, a time when such a donation is much needed.

The concept, first picked by a group of Rawalpindi's youth in 2016 earned a lot of appreciation and was adopted by every major city of the country. However, it seems the fervour shown by the residents in the spirit of generosity at the start is now dying within a short span of time. There is a dire need for this fervor to be revitalised as the harsh winter season approaches, and those who are underprivileged are in need of warm clothing for comfort.

Two years ago during winter it was common to see the walls of kindness full of a variety of clothes and other items in every other vicinity of the twin cities but from last year it seems as though people entirely lost interest in donating winter clothing through the wall of kindness, said Ahmed Ali a senior citizen of Rawalpindi.



"There are dozens of dedicated places, such as 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 items that can be of any practical use in winter to the poor and destitute", he said.

Simply reserving walls for charity items is not enough, we have to inculcate the idea of compassion and sharing basic necessities of life with others, he added.

“It was a good initiative indeed as those who could afford to share their blessings with needy people hung clothes, bags, shoes or even edible items to reach the needy as per their requirement,” said a businessman Talha Rizvi."This spirit needs to be reinvigorated as it seems the altruists are forgetting about this noble cause," he regretted.

A senior citizen Jahanzeb Khan said, "Our nation is great in the matter of helping others and loves to make sacrifices but it has a tendency to forget good trends and practices and we will have to keep them motivated for the cause."

Two years ago, I had hung my children’s sweaters and jackets on the wall of kindness in previous years but this time I do not see such a wall near my neighborhood, 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 shame or embarrassment, therefore it must be carried in the same spirit as it was seen at the time of its introduction, she suggested.



This Wall of Kindness was not just a trend settled by young Iranians in the city of Mashhad. It was in fact a remarkable idea to help people. It was the winter of 2015. The economy was hard hit due to sanctions imposed by international community over Iran.

The situation was grave as unemployment increased; it was not possible for many to buy new and warm clothes. Without any doubt, the wall symbolised unity of the community with the central idea to help the person in need with essence of empathy altruism.

This attempt caught attention of various other social activists and the initiative made its way to Pakistani cities. Though new ones are being created in several cities, Karachi, Quetta, Sialkot etc. they remain unused in most of these cities.  

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2018.