Developing Capabilities

We, who have been working behind the screens for JGW, feel overwhelmed at the manner in which the concept of the Joy of Giving Week has caught the imagination of all. We have no words to express our gratitude as companies, colleges, schools, individuals, NGOs all came forward to participate and participate wholeheartedly and meaningfully. One such thoughtful participation, is by the Sheraton Park in Chennai, which chalked out a programme for the week, from 29th Sept. to 3rd Oct. 09. Their programme, the schedule which is copied below, as you can see, focused on developing the capability of and empowering the individual, in such a manner that he or she would be better equipped to handle their lives, including their work. Nurses and domestic workers were put through a training programme to develop soft skills. The training concentrated on personal hygiene, safety standards, telephone etiquette, basic communication, grooming and so on. For those working in NGOs, the training was in Basics of Finance including Taxation.

Such training would have gone a long way in developing the confidence of the participants and enabling them to believe more in themselves. This was a really thoughtful gesture and a wonderful celebration of the Joy of Giving Week.

Give Everyone

The joy of giving can't be defined or measured. It can only be felt,
again and again, in more ways than we can imagine.

These are the words used by an enthusiastic student from Aurora College Hyderabad, as he wrote to the JGW team about his experiences. The students of Aurora Degree and PG College, took it upon themselves to popularize the concept of the Joy of Giving Week in their city. Displaying great organizational skills, the students divided themselves into groups and allotted tasks for each group, and no task was considered too small for the students. So while some wrote addresses and stuck envelopes to inform all about JGW, yet others were in charge of collecting material that was being donated to be distributed to various NGOs working for those in need. The envelopes carried a message exhorting the receiver to ‘spread the joy of giving, and spread smiles.’

JGW began in this college much before it was formally ushered in on the 27th of Sept. 09. The students began their initiative on the 19th of Sept. and continued with their collection drive till the 30th, after which the goods collected were handed over personally to previously identified NGOs. The students felt they learnt a lot through this experience and look upon it as a learning one for they learnt to work as a team, to plan, to implement and then to evaluate. But perhaps the most important learning the students got was the realization that real and lasting happiness is to be found in spreading joy and smiles by giving generously and working for others. To quote a student again, “Be a part of something big, in your own small ways and put a smile on several faces including yours. Give everyone.”

Spreading Smiles

When one goes through the enormous amount of feedback received from participants in the JGW 09, one wonders which of these should be written about. We have in an earlier post, spoken about measuring the impact of JGW.
http://joyofgivingweek.blogspot.com/2010/04/measuring-impact-of-jgw-09.html

Is the impact to be measured in terms of resources raised or is it to be measured in terms of people reached out to and to the smiles that lit up faces. This dilemma continues to haunt while choosing events to highlight. Much as we would like to write about all those who went out of their way to participate and make the JGW a success, it is just not possible.

Do we then choose to write about the big events wherein celebrities participated, the media was in full attendance and a lot of resources were raised, or do we focus on the small events in small towns wherein individuals came forward to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate and the reach may not have been much, but yet the impact felt was tremendous? It is the latter stories that touch ones sensitivities and inspires one to also contribute towards spreading smiles.

Just such a story has come our way. On the 2nd of October 09, a group of people from the city of Bhubaneshwar, decided to spend a day at an old age home. They write about the smiles that met them at the home, the sheer joy the inhabitants of the home displayed at their unexpected visit and ‘forbidden delights’ as the food they treated the residents of the home to was called. The visitors learnt of the deep grief most of these old people had and of their longing to be loved and welcomed. As the inhabitants shared their touching stories with the visitors, stories of abandonment, of despair, the latter found that “they had no words to console.”

Did the visitors then go away with sadness ? Not really for as one of them observed, it was only when alone that these old people were sad, otherwise the solidarity and good cheer they displayed was infectious. What then was the lesson learnt? To spread smiles and joy and devote time and give of oneself to the grandparents at home.

Truly a wonderful celebration of Gandhi Jayanthi during JGW 09.

Safety First

Joy is multiplied manifold when education is combined with entertainment and appreciation and reward. Adults the world over, work towards inculcating intrinsic discipline in their children, hoping that they do something because it is good for them. As adults, some of us follow rules without being reminded to and some of us, well.. follow rules only when we fear being caught. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than on our roads.

This was addressed in Pune, by a bunch of 40 committed volunteers, who took to the roads in Pune to appreciate and reward those drivers who maintained road discipline and safety. Called Roadstar: Positive Ticket Campaign, it aimed at identifying those who followed traffic and safety rules without being reminded to and they were “recognised and rewarded for their positive contribution and influence others to adopt similar behaviour.” Those identified were rewarded with appreciation certificates and a discount coupon ranging in amounts from Rs5 to Rs20. These coupons would entitle them to a discount on their insurance renewal. Launched on the 19th of Sept. 2009 as a part of the Joy of Giving Week, this campaign reached out to more than 1000 people at 5 main traffic signals in Pune and was so well received that it continued much after the week had come to an end..

While those rewarded would have definitely felt thrilled, what of the volunteers who co-ordinated the event ? What were the lessons they learnt and what was their reward? They learnt to deal with strangers and build good interpersonal skills but more important they learnt that being intrinsically motivated to do something is infinitely better for good work does get recognized. As for their reward, what can be better than seeing the look of puzzlement change to incredulous surprise be replaced by sheer joy on the faces of those rewarded. That was their reward; the joy, the Joy of Giving.

Spreading Warmth

It is surprising to discover how a small group of committed people can spread joy, when they choose to do so. Of the many stories that have been shared with us from all corners of our country, here is one from Ahmedabad, where a group of 7 students from The Calorx School, under the guidance of 2 teachers, managed to reach out to 350 people. The event, called 'Bringing Back Warm Smiles', raised Rs10,000 which was used to buy blankets that were in turn distributed to those who needed them, in and around the city. Some blankets were also sent to those affected by the floods in Andhra Pradesh.

What was the reward for those whose only thoughts were to spread some warmth in other's lives? That is best expressed in the words of one of the volunteers: "I would like to tell you that it is a great moment to see joy on the faces of people whose hearts you have touched. We were very happy with our hard work."

And so were the teachers who were involved in this for as they put it, the students learnt to manage and organise the event, learnt to care, but most important, learnt to empathise with those in need. And snug in their own beds, the students must have felt joyous that they had managed to protect others too from the cold. That is joy, the Joy of Giving.

JGW and Earth Day

Today, the 22nd of April is Earth Day and we at the JGW team are proud that as a part of JGW 09, many initiatives have been taken to nurture our planet. Last year, in interior Maharashtra, during JGW 09 the Forestry Department, undertook some activities to protect and nurture precious resources of our planet:

Some interesting things done in Maharashtra by kids were:
3288 kgs of castor seeds were planted alongside sewage canals
1,67,727 cloth bags were made from used cloth and distributed
94324 Notebooks were made of old unused pages of notebooks.

Remarkable effort on the part of theose who conceptualised these ideas and motivated children to carry them out, especially considering the little time they had to plan and complete the enormous task they had undertaken.

Some other innovative ideas were:
Kids from Buldhana district got 5517 pledges from the elders to donate their eyes 5517
In the Aurangabad Circle 19.5 liters blood were donated by officers and staff.

The adults and the children who were an intrinsic part of the whole excercise, are so enthused and derived so much joy from it all, that they have already begun to plan for JGW 2010 and this time they plan to involve all the Zilla Parishad heads to co-ordinate and follow-up on spreading joy by giving of themselves to others, during JGW 2010. In India, a majority of us look down upon the government and think that those who work for the government are indifferent to the needs of our society. We do hope that our perception changes for stories like these rebuild our faith and sustain our hope for a better future for our country.

Joy of Giving Week (Sept. 27th to Oct. 3rd 2009)

a child’s delighted laughter at a surprise gift
the smile on the face of an elderly relative at an unexpected visit
the blush on the cheeks of a woman when she receives a red rose
the deep sleep of those in an orphanage in warm clothes
the look of relief on the neighbours face while holding his hand outside an ICU
the tears of joy on the faces of the displaced when given a shelter
the gesture of thanks from the weary villager after giving him a lift
banishing silence from the hearing impaired’s life by donating a hearing aid
helping the impoverished lead lives of dignity by enabling them to earn a living
the musical chirping of the birds on the trees we have helped nurture

All of this is our reward, a reward that is a joy and one that has come our way because we have given, we have given our time, our money and shared freely our skills and services .
The happiness is a result of our giving voluntarily, because we want to give and that is why our reward is “twice blessed”, blessing both the giver and the receiver. It is because of this, that the act of giving needs to be celebrated universally for it is the one act that spreads universal happiness (Sarvaha Sukhinobavantu) Would we like to continue to experience this joy ? Of course. And how do we make it possible ? Simply by reaffirming our commitment to giving.

That is what the Joy of Giving Week is all about; a week long commitment to giving, to sharing with those we love and those in need, our time, our resources and our joy. September 27th to October 3rd, all of us in India, will come together to celebrate the Joy of Giving Week, a festival where we share and give, and measure our worth not by how many gifts we have received or how much we have spent on ourselves, but by how many lives we have touched in unexpected and pleasurable ways.

Why do we have the Joy of Giving week ? How do we give ? To whom do we give ? Why should we give ? What do we gain by giving? How do we get others to give? When do we give? How can we continue to give? Who is giving?
All these questions and more will be answered in the weeks to come as we build support for this wonderful initiative to spread immeasurable joy by giving. A story to inspire us:
A woman who was traveling alone in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveller who was hungry, the woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveller saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation..The traveler left, rejoicing in his great fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman."I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."The woman smiled, "The joy of giving! (Author unknown)