By Volunteer Sweta Singhal, FHI Guwahati
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”
-Elizabeth Andrew
Time and again, it has happened that people find themselves facing situations that are beyond their control. Pandemics, natural disasters, wars, famines, and what not have wreaked havoc upon human society since ages. Such situations leave our society crippled and leave behind the necessity to restructure it as we ourselves try to regain normalcy.
It is in such situations that we find ourselves turning to help from not only the government but also from humanitarian organizations. In such crucial times, non-profit organizations play a pivotal role as they come up to lend a hand in rebuilding human society and reaching out to the affected masses.
Volunteer groups have a much more resilient impact as they reach out to not only the ones who need help but also the ones who are willing to give it. They bring together two sections of the society so as to restore normalcy, reduce suffering and bring forth the difference that we seek in order to retain balance. They help in creating a bridge between the affected and the ones who are willing to help those affected.
From raising funds to saving human lives, volunteer groups and humanitarian workers do it all. They work at the ground reality and try to reach out to every single person impacted. This work at the grassroots helps in reshaping the world as we know it. Rehabilitating individuals, supporting them with funds and other necessities, educating the underprivileged whilst also providing them with a sense of security, these organizations have turned into an indispensable requisite.
The prevailing pandemic, COVID-19 itself sheds light on the work done by such organizations. Various organizations have come up to help raise funds for the infected as well as the medical professionals. Many groups have undertaken the responsibility to make ample food available to the poor and the needy. The distribution of masks, sanitizers and other necessities has also been another focal point. These are but a few examples of what volunteers can do for the people around them in times of crises.
Being a part of a volunteer group has also shown me how the group can help in raising one’s spirits in such crucial times. FHI has been instrumental in reaching out to its volunteers and is taking up initiatives to keep them on their toes, literally. From little sessions of doodling, exercising and dancing to spreading the message of positivity while quarantining, FHI looks towards a better tomorrow, with its volunteers who can nurture the youth they reach out to. This has been a very important step in these trying times as the world faces the pandemic.
As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
Let us all strive towards a world filled with love and happiness and make this dream a reality.
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