Day 18- what being a part on an NGO is actually like
People have asked me countless times what it is that drives me to volunteer so much. To do so much social work or be a part of so many organisations and clubs. The initial reason was that I realised how much I truly have and how underprivileged some people are. It made me want to do something for them, anything. For the first few years, I remember being called “too young” to work for them, I needed to work on myself first. Fair advice, even if it didn’t agree with me. So the most I could do is clean out my stuff which I seemed to have an endless amount of that I really had no use for, and to donate every few weeks or so. I still do that honestly, but now I also have the freedom of being able to put in actual work. I’ll be honest with you. A big reason I love going to work now is not just to see their faces light up; it’s because I have so much fun in the process. The focus has somehow shifted from charity to building relationships. Whether it was with other volunteers, or the people we help themselves. A lot of times, we look at their plight from the outside, convincing ourselves of their misfortune. We forget to look at them as being other PEOPLE and not a case to be rescued. The first time I visited a slum, my first thought raced to looking at their living conditions. All I could see was a drain running on the side, cold hard ground to sleep on, unhygienic places, lack of opportunities. But that interpretation now seems like looking in from a glass window. Once I began talking to them, the kindness of the old ladies who sat at chulhas making rotis took over. We went inside to call them out with their plates so we could serve them the food we got. Instead, I found myself with three soft and warm rotis in my hand to share with other volunteers. Here I was, on my very first drive expecting to hand them food, and instead landing up with these people who despite their conditions had it in their hearts to feed a complete stranger. This one experience was the hook for me. I had soon forgotten that I was the one who was supposed to be helping. We ended up all sharing the food together and chatting with the people. Similarly, I found myself coming back once again to another such drive, this time meeting a bunch of kids who I saw take care of each other while their parents left them to go to work. Once again, I could not help but pity the small kids, some of whom didn’t even have pants or shoes on them, or barely-two-year-olds neglected by their parents. There’s no excuse for a situation like that, but the energy and playfulness of the kids was hard to resist. This again, was my first time visiting the place, but not once did I feel I was a stranger to them. Little kids jumped and shouted greetings to me while others asked me to pick them up. I don’t think I have ever received as many hugs as I did that day. They found happiness even in broken swings and liquid handwash. Yes, liquid handwash. An item so common in my house I barely ever pay attention to it. But then here come 50 kids begging me to let them wash their hands again, blowing bubbles out of soap and one short step away from just bathing in it. They rang their plates when it was time to give food, some 10 other kids jumped on a half-broken swing while asking us to swing them, while others posed excitedly for pictures. In the midst of all this exhilaration, the line between “us” and “them” vanished, and we were as much a part of their group as they were of ours.
Whether it’s learning a stranger’s life story or stopping and sharing a bite with them, whether it’s playing Holi with little kids or dancing with them; being a part of an NGO is so much more than just helping. It has a way of making you appreciate the smallest things in life, and takes you off the high horse of thinking that privilege has any kind of say in what kind of person you are. At the end of the day, we all need a little support in our lives, and I’m glad that I have the opportunity to be able to give that kind of support, even in a small way, to someone else.