By Volunteer Chandamita Bora (FHI Guwahati) & Siddharth Dash (FHI Jaipur)
A profound, perspective changing epiphany about oneself is the best possible gift one can ask for in their years of growth and confusion. Working with Fly Higher India – FHI has brought out exactly that. It therefore is one of our priorities to do more and better with the organization in 2020.
One elementary but effective way to do more with FHI is to spread awareness by word of mouth about the organization and their work. To try and enroll more people to help the cause, not only people in the locality or city of the volunteer but any wherever FHI operates. Enrollment can be greatly increased with running campus ambassador programs in colleges. Campus ambassadors can help screening out ideal candidates for the organisation and can also conduct smaller scale events on behalf of the organisation.
Another way we can achieve a lot more with FHI is by focusing on imparting habits and skills crucial to the development of children at a tender age. A habit of reading books is one of those crucial skills which holistically develops a child. All of us have numerous storybooks and novels kept away and covered in dust in our homes, with no longer enjoyable to us. We all grew up hearing those stories under moonlit skies from our grandparents, hence they hold a very sentimental value in our hearts. The marks of drool that sneaked into the pages when we fell asleep reading them, are still pretty evident and drops of aqua cluster around our eyes reminiscing those carefree times. It would be very heartwarming and wholesome to let the children in need have a glimpse of what those cherished times felt like, so that they also have a memory close to their heart they can reminisce when they’re older. If each volunteer donates even a few old books, we can collect a good number of books to provide to the kids we meet in each event. As few as five books in a children’s home could mean so much and make them usher in joy.
Indeed, some things are too dear to us to ever be given away, but if they aren’t getting the appreciation they deserve where they currently are, shouldn’t they be handed to pairs of glittering eyes where you’ll see stars shining brighter than in the sky? Children’s minds are very impressionable, and it’s the best time to teach them morals and ethics necessary to sustain life. Books like Panchatantra, folk tales, superhero comics will reassert into their hearts that good always prevails over bad. To make words an inseparable part of their world, we can encourage them to learn a new word each day termed as “word of the day”. It need not necessarily be in English, regional languages should be paid equal heed. It will improve not just their vocabulary, and also their reading and writing abilities. Along with WOTD, there can be a phrase of the week. The volunteers can come up with their own versions of this activity, considering the possibility and relevancy of it. I believe, books are the best gift a kid can ever receive and this act might impact a few lives in a great way.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
In a gloomy world with all the happening things around us, sometimes seeing the bubbliness and innocence in children is the respite we crave for. With a deluge of overwhelming events and misery, volunteering helps eliminate it at a grass root level. However insignificant it may be in the world, it surely is significant for us and for the kids we’re helping out.
Here’s to a great year ahead for the kids and volunteers to fly higher and higher in life with FHI.
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