No Ulterior Motive In Ceylon Slum Work

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32274, 17 April 1970, Page 14

No Ulterior Motive In Ceylon Slum Work

Many people in Asia still it is immoral to take advant-; believed that Christians did a B® a person’s poverty in; nothing without an ulterior th^ r wa y a ” asingam explajned motive, said the Rev. B. that on i y a bout 10 per cent Rajasingam, superintendent o f the population of Ceylon of the Central Methodist Christians Mission in Colombo, Ceylon, j n j be area o f Colombo in in Christchurch yesterday. which he and his staff of 25 He admitted that in the work it was not unc ommon past the. church had done see men and W omen ranserious harm in buying sacking rubbish bins for people over to Christianity. scraps of food . Of his own work among the Famll ies of six to 10 live in tiny shanties built of a few planks and iron sheets. Up to 30 families might share a tap and perhaps 20 families a toilet, he said. To meet the immediate needs of these unfortunates the Central Mission in Colombo had established a child-minding centre, teenage clubs, recreational facilities and hostel accommodation for 70 boys. A large hall was available for some of the hundreds of men and women who nightly sleep in the streets of Colombo. There, issued with a pillow and a mat, they would be given a sense of simple security and basic comfort, said Mr Rajasingam. The mission’s complex cost $lOO,OOO and was opened in December. One-third of the money came from InterChurch Aid, to which New Zealand subscribed. This is Mr Rajasingam’s second visit to New Zealand.

slums of Colombo, Mr Rajasingam explained it was not done with the aim of winning converts. “We try, in terms of love and action, to express the Christian religion to anyone irrespective of religion, race, caste, or language. “Our facilities are not there as a sort of bait to get these, people to convert. I believe

Women’s Golf.—Miss E. Proc- , tor, the Thames Valley-Bay of .Plenty Russell Grace reserve I for the last two years, has been named in the Auckland team to (defend the women's golf trophy at Gisborne on May 5-7. The other players are Mrs D. Blacke, Miss S. Herring, Mrs E. Steel, land Miss N. White.