Dear reader, this missive comes to you after an eight-month long lull. Away from public gaze, I am in the process of learning, relearning and unlearning. I am immensely grateful to my loyal readers who reached out during the sabbatical. I shall share professional life update at an appropriate time. In this write-up, let me walk you through my journey of being a Good Samaritan.
Why Volunteer?
Consider doing a social experiment sometime soon. Find a genuinely needy fellow/family. Help them with whatever you can (without pulling out your camera/phone). Leave the spot quickly and feel the contentment afterwards. It is an enriching experience because you leave your imprints behind without advertising about it. You facilitate the road for someone stuck due to life’s unhappy realities. Volunteering makes us happy and a better person. Devote your time- the most precious gift, and feel the immaterial reward.
As a community leader and a change agent, I feel individuals are impacted and communities transformed with sharing and caring. Volunteering has to be altruistic. You can’t volunteer because you feel obligated or guilty.
Benevolence, an act of kindness, is a godly trait. Volunteering is the finest example of benevolence. We all face rainy days or a season of trial, but as Winston Churchill puts it, we make life by what we give.
Volunteering helps hopeless people find purpose in life and its impact heals them. Service has the power to cure. The company we are surrounded with carves the way for who we become! Volunteering has paid me in so many ways that money can’t meet. Impactful contribution to the particular cause, I strongly feel about, makes me healthy and hearty.
The Trigger
Circa 2014. Flood waters had drowned most of south and some parts of Srinagar and Bandipora. The deadly deluge hit the Himalayan territory. Up North in Baramulla, I watched the flood fury helplessly. A week later, when the troubled waters receded, we snaked and sneaked to help the trapped.
I was a college-goer with youthful passion but zero resources. I, along with some likeminded fellows, thought about the possible damage the ferocious flood has done to the mental health of school-going children. I tried to convince students to gather at a particular location for a fun team-time. 150 students turned up, mostly from flood affected villages.
I invited a counsellor from Baramulla Writers Forum (BWF) who briefed students on how to stay sane and strong in tough times. Under the banner of Gaash Welfare Trust, my brainchild, we conducted General Knowledge (GK) Quiz contest on (Children’s day) November 14- It marks the birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister, Chacha Nehru ji, the most prominent leader in India’s nationalist movement.
In the afternoon, we concluded the program with the prize distribution ceremony. Later that evening, as they boarded the bus back to their shelters, I noticed a different aura – promising, chirpy, bright and bubbly folks with fresh faces. I noticed those budding blooms were patting each other’s back and living this couplet:
Tundi-e-baad-e-mukhalif se na ghabra ai uqaab
Ye to chalti hai tujhe uncha udane ke liye
The intent was to pull them out of the flood shock and help them understand how unfavorable winds help us fly higher. The agenda was to help them resume their studies. Twenty schools signed up. The outcome was amazing. We were able to reopen fifteen schools in our education zone. The pass percentage was 99%. The impact it created gives me immense pleasure, even now.
Fast forward to 2020. Wuhan Virus caged the globe and students were back to square one. Covid-19 posed countless challenges. The scholars admitted with a US based not-for-profit called Kashmir Education Initiative were hugely benefitted. They did exceptionally well during the health emergency. In March 2020, I decided to volunteer for the great cause and hundreds of volunteers, continue their service and add value to the lives of our scholars for the greater good.
Why Kashmir Education Initiative?
A cursory glance through KEI’s website gives us a sound idea of how this welfare agency is expanding and penetrating deep to find solutions to archaic and ailing education system of Kashmir. KEI has been able to dive into lives of the underserved and it caters to what German Sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies calls Gemeinschaft (Community).
Earlier this year at its Kashmir office, I completed a brief academic Internship. I found the bonhomie between the staff amazing and everyone enjoys, what I call, professional liberty to execute their projects, duties and assignments. At KEI, team work makes dream work.
Students from marginalized quarters of our community are brimming with potential. All they need is support. The goal of KEI mentorship is to not let the child be a victim of financial, social or political constraints. KEI has a solid approach to provide identity to their “scholar”. The target is to transform the scholar to a contributor, confident and competent fellow through skills and academics.
Cribbing and crying is not the solution. I wish everyone would devote as much time improving the world as they devote complaining about it. Before venturing out to assist service and volunteer, have a learning approach and be part of something fulfilling.
At KEI, we establish the connection with our mentees, build their self-esteem, refine their skills, incorporate learning styles and tips to improve academic score, and then finally exit after a proper future planning.
This process, structured professionally, takes nearly a year. Mentors share anecdotal experiences and provide life lessons and career insight. KEI acknowledges the voluntary service of its mentors and rewards them with bucketful of thanks and a certificate of appreciation in annual Meet and Greet event/s.
Outro
The key reason of volunteering in education sector is very personal. I had to discontinue my studies for a year, soon after I finished my schooling, due to financial instability. I know how it feels to not have access to resources, money and mentor.
Today, if I am able to get just one drop-out back to school, I celebrate it as an achievement. The lofty concept of “I will change the society” is a deflated promise. Nobody does that.
Individuals don’t move mountains. All we can do is to remove the bottlenecks from the road to excellence and help someone in smooth passage. I steal an hour every fortnight for my Mentee. It is always a learning experience when millennial meet Generation Z.
Access to quality education can change our fate. I am a firm believer that education shatters glass ceilings, breaks stereotypes, and creates an equitable society.
The path to progress goes through education only. Banyan Tree, our National Tree, with its deep roots and large protective canopy is a powerful metaphor for a resilient ecosystem that grows stronger across generations.
KEI, undoubtedly, is that gigantic umbrella protecting Kashmiri children from the harmful habits, events, places and people. It is a place for disparate, diverse and different voices. Volunteering comes back to you in different avatars. If you help a man climb a mountain, you will also reach at the top of the summit.
That is its beauty. You gain so much more than money or an experience for your resume. You gain the satisfaction of knowing that you are giving back to your community and you are part of something bigger than yourself.