On the 14th of December 1990, the United Nations declared the 1st of October each year to be International Day of Older Persons. A day dedicated to those people who are rich in their own history, who can teach us things no one else can, and deserve respect for the contributions they have made to the world we live in today.
The theme of the 2013 commemoration according to the UN, “The future we want: what older persons are saying” has been chosen to draw attention to the efforts of older persons and place the issue of ageing on the international development agenda.
So, we ask the question, ‘What do you want from old age’?
Respect? Friendship? Or simply comfort and affection from your family in your later years?
The statistics from India suggest we can ‘look forward’ to a rather different reality.
Over 30% of older people in India experience some form of abuse (HelpAge India, 2012). We must ask ourselves, is this what we want as we progress towards the twilight of our own lives? Should we not strive to be better, and behave towards those who have cared for us in the same way that we would hope to be cared for ourselves?
We feel the answer to that second question is a resounding ‘Yes’, and so do a number of the Indian NGOs that you can find on LetzChange. From supporting an elderly person in distress to helping elderly single women to attain their rights, there are a number of inspiring NGO projects caring for India’s elderly on LetzChange, trying to make old age a period of life defined by safety, security, and purpose rather than abuse, neglect and poverty.
This International Day of Older Persons, why not click through to the LetzChange Facebook page to join in the conversation, or visit letzchange.org to discover and donate to an NGO project caring for India’s elderly.
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