Hands For Help — beginning my journey towards Humanity
While reading Edhi sb’s biography yesterday , not only I found some key ways for success but also came across a few incidents in Edhi sb’s life which served as mind opener . In second chapter there is an incident when Edhi shb as a child gets badly beaten by some elder boys for telling them not to harass a mentally handicapped person.
He tells them “If you have no good to give him, give him nothing, but do not use God’s favors to you against him who has received none.” We often come across such situations in our daily life but how many of us show courage and take a step forward to stop harassment and support mentally handicapped people!
I’ve seen a similar situation last month when I was crossing the Hailey bridge with one of my friends ,where a woman, sitting on the stairs of Hailey was disparaged by duty guards. Anyone could tell by just looking at her that she was under some Trauma.
Her hair was not combed and she was wearing a tattered dress. The baby in her lap was crying his lungs out probably because of hunger or sickness. We heard the duty guard continuously telling her to leave the stairs and find some other spot. I told the guard to let the lady stay for a while and she’ll go after few minutes but he paid no attention ignoring us as if we didn’t exist.
He was being ridiculous and called the other duty guards saying VC sb has forbidden to let any stranger sit like this and blah blah. At the end she had to leave crying and tormented. We went after her and asked if we can help her. But she was under some trauma and so we called a rickshaw and took her to” Darul Aman”
I think it’s our social responsibility to be empathetic enough to understand some situations. Laws are made to protect people not to add to their sufferings. In Pakistan underprivileged people have poor medical, social and educational services.
To play my part and help the underprivileged people this winter I had planned to Collect warm clothes and distribute among the most needy people because our small gesture will be a boon for poor people. Winters is the toughest for homeless, destitute and underprivileged. Dozens of people die of cold in winter because they can’t afford warm clothes. I’ve been planning to start this project for quite long but my introvert nature was the biggest hurdle. I don’t have a lot of friends so it was difficult for me to start it. Also, Time management was another factor.
Recently, I got an amazing opportunity to participate in an intense leadership program called the Amal , and we were given the task to start something we’ve been planning for long but couldn’t accomplish due to any factor.
It catalyzed my desire to work for under privileged in Pakistan. So, I decided to raise funds to buy winter clothes and to collect used clothes and distribute them among the needy. There were a lot of difficulties in starting this project as it is really difficult for a single person to start a winter drive project.
Therefore I did some research and asked a few people who’ve been involved in such projects and some of them recommended me to join some NGO which is involved in such work. But the next question was which NGO to join .Next step was to do some more research to find the NGO’s involved in such work.
Therefore, I joined an international NGO “Hands for Help” for this purpose. They already had the plan of a winter drive. It would make my work easier. We have already stared the collection of clothes.
I realize joining Hands for help is very beneficial for me as it will help me play a part in the growth and development of society. I’ll learn new skills like team work, cooperation and raising and redistributing funds. These skills will play a significant role in my CV. Also it will make an impact on my life. After completing this task I am going to start a blankets and food campaign.
