By Inish Merchant | Director - Fundraising
It’s not often that you think to yourself that ordinary people can do amazing things. Or at least, that’s how our lives used to be before our volunteers came along. At MAD, passion is what drives us forward, and our volunteers and children have always been at the forefront of demonstrating that to us.
Looking back at 2013, the year was no different. Our children, and our volunteers, kept surprising us every single day. And driving us forward with their infectious passion and dedication.
For example, at Bal Sahyog, a center in Delhi, the following conversation unfolded between a MADster and a child:
"Aap teacher ho?" (Are you a teacher?)
"Main MAD volunteer hun." (Yes, I’m a MAD volunteer.)
"Aap padhate ho?" (Do you teach?)
"Haan padhate hun, par kabhi-kabhi." (Yes I do teach. Once in a while, though.)
His eyes began twinkling and tad came the reply "Main bhi ek din MAD mein padhaunga." (One day, even I will teach in MAD.)
Meanwhile in Chennai, two girls walked up to a teacher, and asked her how much was spent on conducting MAD's Dream Camp (an outbound camp that focuses on building and developing skills and confidence).
Her efforts to tell them that it was something they needn't worry about were unsatisfactory for the children.
On asking them why it captured their interest so much, they answered that a few girls from the center would like to save the money that they get and repay us.
On being asked 'How?', the reply was this: “Akka (sister), whatever we get from our parents, we will save and pay you.”
Their teacher was shell-shocked.
Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, a volunteer had to shift to Mumbai in the middle of the year for work. He was at work one day, just like usual, whe he received a surprise all the way from Chandigarh. One of his students from MAD, Rani, had written and sent him a postcard describing the city and told him how happy she was in her class. Needless to say, he was overjoyed beyond words.
And there are many more. The teacher from Nagpur who went to class with a broken leg for a month, or the girl from Kolkata who dreams of being a graphic designer or the girl from Bangalore who attended a self-defense workshop and wrote a post-it note saying that from that moment onwards she would ‘choose to be bold’.
Fact of the matter is, everyday that we get to hear these stories, it becomes easier to do what we do. Doesn’t matter if one is a child, a volunteer, a donor or an employee. What we do, and who we are, changes lives. And there is nothing in this world that is more motivating and more driving and more rewarding than changing lives.
At Make A Difference we’re all geared up to change more lives in 2014. So we say: Bring it on!
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