Monday, Oct 28, 2013
Mumbai: Better known as Machine Gun Preacher, Sam Childers, a former gang biker turned preacher and protector of African orphans, has received the distinguished Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice 2013 in Mumbai.
Childers, who now dedicates his life and resources to rescue children in the war zone of South Sudan, said at the award function held on Sunday evening, “This award belongs to the thousands of children in war-struck Sudan, and in many other parts of the world, who live a daily life with the constant fear and threat of attacks. I thank the Harmony Foundation profusely for this honour and would like to dedicate this to my wife and all my associates at Angels of East Africa in Sudan, who tirelessly continue to rescue and rehabilitate children caught in the crossfire of the rebel atrocities in the area.”
Abraham Mathai, President, Harmony Foundation, quoted Mother Teresa, who said: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
This is equally true today, where communal conflicts and societal issues challenge human advancement, Mathai said.
“We at Harmony Foundation strive to restore belief in compassion and egalitarianism... By acknowledging these individuals and organisations, we hope to highlight and reinstate faith in tolerance, social equality and peace in our society,” he said.
Bollywood star and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sena received the award for her efforts towards achieving social justice through her association with charitable projects and NGOs.
Currently in its sixth edition, the awards, endorsed by the Missionaries of Charity, the organisation founded by Mother Teresa, were also presented to Father Cedric Prakash, human rights activist, Diep Saeeda, Lahore-based human rights activist, Dr Sudarshan Hanumappa, social worker and tribal rights activist, Arunachalam Muruganantham, who helps poor rural women by inventing machines that curtail the costs of feminine hygiene products, and to Maulana Mehmood Madani for her fight against terrorism. Also honoured was the Indian Rescue Mission, an NGO that rescues girls from the sex trade.
The Harmony Foundation was founded by Mathai in 2005 and the first recipient of the International Award was Baroness Caroline Cox, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords in the UK, followed the next year by Dr Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Ansar Burney, former Human Rights Minister of Pakistan and Member of the UN, and the Dalai Lama, who was given the honour in 2010.
By Pamela Raghunath Correspondent
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
