Fruits of sewa draw Briton to help quake-hit Nepal

AMRITSAR: Inspired by sewa (voluntary service) offered by the Sikh community to rebuild his flood-affected village overnight, Jim Winksworth, an Englishman, is now helping victims of earthquake-hit Nepal by building shelters for them along with a group of Sikhs from the UK-based NGO Khalsa Aid.
Talking to TOI from Nepal on Tuesday, Jim said that his village Burrowbridg, a sleepy English village in Somerset, had no contact with the Sikh community and had no knowledge of sewa until February 2014 when chief executive officer of Khalsa Aid, Ravi Singh, called him to offer to help his flood-devastated village.
"The whole village was in shock and trying to deal with the floods and I didn't pay much attention to this guy who called and offered to help. I told him we needed all hands he could spare. Imagine my shock the next morning when the whole village appeared magically inhabited by these tall, bearded guys with turbans looking for me. Within minutes they had taken over. From organization to physical labour to paying for the valuable sand we needed, they were doing it all," he said. The Sikhs' sewa resulted in a friendship bond between Jim, a pub owner, and Ravi, an agriculturist. Jim was part of the team that built homes in flood-hit Bosnia and even visited Ravi Singh's quaint village Mundian Jattan in Hoshiarpur.
And now, for the last two weeks, Jim has been in Nepal on behalf of Khalsa Aid, using his experience to build shelters for the Nepalese people.
Ravi Singh, who is currently in the UK, said Jim had been working tirelessly to make sure that the shelters were in place before the monsoons arrive. He has also been instructing local people and other volunteers so that they learn valuable skills and the job is done in time, he added.
The bond between the community in Burrowbridg and Sikhs has deepened and strengthened with each passing day, said Singh, and added, "We now count among our volunteers and supporters people who had not even heard of Sikhs until last year."