A seed needs sunlight from heaven above and caring and loving hands to tender it with water and manure. As the seed receives light and love from nature and man, it offers up to the earth its own identity, merges with the soil and brings up a shoot. The root goes down, deep into the earth and the tree comes up, nourished by the root. The tree in turn sustains and gives shade and fruit to all creation – to man and beast and bird. The imagery of a seed sprouting into a tender sapling has volumes of messages to communicate.

Every act of serving and giving involves sacrifice, like the sacrifice of the seed to the earth. People of goodwill share their time and financial resources to a committed good work. Zerah Foundation is of the people to serve the people in faith and integrity — people who are in need of a better quality of life.

Every human being is born equal with equivalent rights to food, clothing, shelter and education. There is enough on planet earth for man, beast and bird. There is enough for every man’s need but not enough for every man’s greed. Except man, every other living creature takes only what it needs from nature’s lap. Sadly, man, the summit of creation robs his fellow-creature of his basic rights to life and learning and makes this world a poorer place to live in.

Each man and woman is born with certain talents unique to his or her nature. Most often, in the burden of life’s bare necessities of working for rice and roti, these talents get nipped in the bud. To quote the English poet Thomas Gray,

“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.” (From “Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard”) It is here we need the support of foundations like Zerah – To realise and nourish the budding talents of the youth, to engage them in positive and purposeful study and work, to achieve their goals and fulfil their dreams. It is to empower these young talents, to make this earth a better place to live in.