Assalamu aleikum. Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Mother Teresa charity says ties children for safety *Teresa's nuns defensive about tying up children --- (1) Mother Teresa charity says ties children for safety 31 Jul 2005 14:32:30 GMT Source: Reuters By Krittivas Mukherjee NEW DELHI, July 31 (Reuters) - A charity founded by Mother Teresa said on Sunday disabled children at one of its homes in India were restrained for their own safety, after a British television reporter filmed children tied to their beds. Britain's Five News, in a programme to be broadcast on Monday, said it had uncovered "serious shortcomings" at a care centre run by the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. It secretly filmed many of the 59 children -- aged six months to 12 years -- living at the Daya Dan shelter tied by their ankles to their cots at night, restrained while being fed and left for up to 20 minutes on the toilet by their carers. In a statement, Five News said it began investigating the home after hearing complaints from international aid workers. The global order of nuns said on Sunday its charitable homes only tied children when absolutely necessary. "Physical restraints are used only when absolutely necessary for the safety of the child ... for limited periods of time," a Missionaries of Charity statement faxed to Reuters said. "We value constructive criticism and admit that there is always room for improvement." A spokeswoman for the order, Sister Christie, told Reuters by phone from Calcutta: "It (the tying) happens only when we see the child could be hurt. It's about their safety. "The children are sometimes tied because they keep waving their hands and moving when being fed. Also they could fall off (the cots) while sleeping at night." Five News reporter Donal MacIntyre said: "I was truly shocked by what I found at the Daya Dan centre. There are strategies for looking after disabled children that minimise stressful situations, and, as a result of poor training and lack of resources, staff are resorting to inhumane practises such as tying children up." Five News said: "The shocking footage reveals that despite receiving millions of pounds in donations every year, there is little evidence of its investment at the centres Donal visited." Daya Dan was set up in 1998, a year after the death of Mother Teresa, who adopted Calcutta as the centre of her global charitable order that now runs more than 750 centres across the world. The Missionaries of Charity, famous for working among the sick, destitute and dying, said it was committed to serving the ideals of Mother Teresa and improving the quality of care in Daya Dan. Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa, who founded the order in 1950 in Calcutta, died in 1997 at the age of 87. (Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L31156279.htm --- (2) Teresa's nuns defensive about tying up children By Sujoy Dhar Indo-Asian News Service August 1, 2005 http://www.eians.com/stories/2005/08/01/01ter.shtml Kolkata, Aug 1 (IANS) Responding to a British TV film showing physically challenged infants tied to beds, the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) says it takes the steps sparingly and only for the child's safety and "educational purposes". "Physical restraints are used only when absolutely necessary for the safety of the child and for educational purposes for limited periods of time," said Sister Nirmala, superior general of MoC, the order founded by Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa in 1950. In its programme to be telecast Monday, Britain's Five News said it had uncovered "serious shortcomings" at a care centre run by MoC in Kolkata. British TV reporter Donal MacIntyre secretly filmed many of the 59 children aged between six months and 12 years at Daya Dan, a care centre set up a year after Mother Teresa's death in 1997, "tied by their ankles to their cots at night, restrained while being fed and left up to 20 minutes on the toilet by their care givers". Sister Nirmala told IANS: "Our homes continue to be simple, providing immediate and effective service to the poorest of poor. We continue to provide all that is necessary for the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of those under care and would continue to improve the quality of our care." "We thank you for bringing to our notice what you consider lapses in the quality of care and hygiene in this home. We value constructive criticism and admit there is room for improvement," she said. She said only those who work day in and day out with these 59 very special children really know both the demands to total self-forgetfulness as well as the joy at the littlest response and improvement in these children. "Dedication, love and care is something money cannot buy and this is the reason our dearest Mother Teresa encouraged people to give not just out of their abundance but their hearts of love and their hands to serve." Sister Paula Marie, who runs Daya Dan, said: "We would not do any such thing at all for no specific reason." "These are cases where a child has been found putting food into the eyes, face and mouth with both hands, leaving caregivers with no alternatives to tie his or her hands with a piece of cloth for the time the child is fed." Journalist Donal MacIntyre dubbed what he filmed at Daya Dan as unacceptable behaviour saying: "This is unacceptable in Russia, that is unacceptable in Romania, that is unacceptable in England - and it is unacceptable in Kolkata." MacIntyre said: "Missionaries of Charity received millions and millions of pounds in donation and they must do better." MOC runs more than 750 care centres across the world tending the orphans, sick, destitute and dying. http://www.eians.com/stories/2005/08/01/01ter.shtml *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." 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