A Right to Enjoy

A majority of us seem to believe that the economically disadvantaged need to be helped with food, clothes, money, medicines, education and so on. These according to us are the basics of every human and need to be met before other wants like recreation can be met. But we forget that the disadvantaged are like us and would like to experience the state of happiness we undergo when we indulge in a preferred activity but we, with good intentions, unknowingly deny them that state of pleasure and enjoyment because we believe that for them it is a luxury and when basics are missing, why should luxury be given is our reasoning.. Why should it be so? Why cannot those who do not have enough for 3 meals a day, for those who do not know where their next meal will come from and if at all it will come, also not experience joy in doing something as simple as walking on the beach, taking a bus ride, dancing to live music or watching a movie?

This was the thought that crossed the minds of some youth in Patiala and they decided that as a part of JGW 09, they would treat some economically disadvantaged children to a movie. That is just what they did and some 25 children went to watch Salman Khan’s movie ‘Wanted’ at Tagore theatre in Patiala. To those who organized the treat, the reward was the happy faces of the children as they watched a movie with popcorn and other eats thrown in. It must not have been easy for these youngsters, convincing parents to part with heir children, especially in the case of girls but their perseverance paid off and 25 happy children watched with delight as Salman Khan pranced about on screen. “They also have a right to enjoy”, was the inspiration for this treat and we must do all we can to ensure this, is the message for us.

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.

Daydream to Dream Day

This is the title of a wonderful event held in Bhubaneshwar during the JGW 09. This was a special event for children and as the name suggests, it was an event where the organizers worked towards making the daydreams of the children come true.

Children from Sikharchandi slums of Bhubaneshwar, were taken for a joy rinde in a car, met with the famous Oriya actor hari Hari Mohapatra, went for a movie, lunch at a restaurant, ice creams at an ice cream parlour, gifts, chocolates and all that children love, especially those children who can only dream about some of the experiences they were presented with.

The number of volunteers who engaged in this event were 11, but the children who found their dreams come true were many.

Such a Dream Day, was also a part of the JGW celebrations at the Rotary Doll’s Museum in Rajkot, where entrance fee was waived for children during the duration of the week. Due to this, more than 8000 children could visit the museum, many of them from needy families. As the Project Co-ordinator of the museum Deepak Agarwal writes,

“It was satisfying to see children from lower strata enjoying the place , their astonishing eyes, priceless smiles, we thank JOG people for spreading the idea of Giving.”

But we believe that we at the JGW team need to thank those who have taken initiatives like these to spread the Joy of Giving.

JGW: Images

It may sound cliched but it is true that images do speak louder than words. While we have written earlier about the tremendous interest the Joy of Giving Week generated in its year of inception, and the impact it has had in terms of raising our collective consciousness towards giving in general, a video, the link to which is copied below, reinforces all that has been said earlier. It summarises what India can be when we come together for a cause, each one of us, collectively, simply to experience the joy, the Joy of Giving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nn9JODHC2g

In case there is a problem in accessing this link, please do search for joy of giving week on YouTube and there are many videos one could watch,all of which will hopefully inspire us to come together to make the Joy of Giving Week 2010 bigger and better in terms of contribution of time and resources to those who need it.

JGW and CHILDLINE

One of the invisible but enduring benefits of the Joy of Giving week, has been the linkages established between the corporates, the NGOs, the government and the private individual. All have come together to contribute time and resources, to make a difference in society. The benefits of such a linkage will hopefully be long lasting and continued.

Connections like these are what enabled CHILDLINE to organize events across India during JGW 09. CHILDLINE, a NGO, runs a 24 hour telephone Helpline for vulnerable children in distress. Initially begun in Mumbai, it currently functions in around 80 cities in India. They do need resources to help them going and the organization leveraged the opportunity provided by the JGW to raise resources and to spread joy amongst the disadvantaged children. They organized events for the whole week in cities as varied as Jammu, Gorakhpur, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Ahmedabad to name a few.

In Kolkotta, the NGO partnered with Park Hotel to host a party for children in need. In Delhi, Park Hotel again partnered CHILDLINE and raised funds through tambola and ‘Cheesecakes for a Smile’ campaign.

Ahemdabad had a complete week of outings for children who visited many places ranging from the zoo, to the Shatabdi express at Gomtipur Station to the Sabarmati Ashram. Art and craft, dandiya, drawing etc were also organized for them.

Even the small town of Gorakhpur found altruism was in full strength as small merchants and businesses came forward to print leaflets, donate resources and host tables to raise money for CHILDLINE.

Jammu had painting competitions with the involvement of Zilla parishad officials and in Mumbai, the corporates came out in full strength to support the initiatives of CHILDLINE duing JGW. Tata Tele Services, Mphasis Software, Deolitte both encouraged their employees to contribute and also patronized the cafeteria set up in these organizations by volunteers of CHILDLINE to raise funds during JGW.

But the icing on the cake was of course the contribution of Mr.Adi Godrej, who very magnamiously contributed 4 times the bid amount of Rs17,000 made by a student of ISB, who won that opportunity in ‘Shadow a CEO’, again a JGW event. The student who got the opportunity to 'shadow' Mr.Godrej, had chosen CHILDLINE as his NGO to contribute to. A wonderful way of ensuring that more children in distress continue to be helped, in the process also contributing to many smiles. Spread the joy; in the Joy of Giving Week 2010.

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.