Helping to Be the Change

Parul Gupta

Have you ever thought about helping needy people by getting involved in social work, but
never figured out where to begin?

Do you know of a dedicated NGO that is making a quiet difference in many lives and
would like to spread word about their work?

Do you feel passionately about social issues like lack of education or healthcare facilities
or the unsustainable exploitation of our environment and want to find like-minded people
to start a change movement?

It was just a short while ago that a group of us friends, still in college and restless for
change, created NGO Post to address these needs. NGO Post (http://ngopost.org) is a
web-based community of people interested in social issues. It is the place to read about
what people are doing to make a difference to the world around them, to get inspired, to
discuss ideas and even connect with people who feel about and want to contribute to
certain causes. Two years down the road, the collection of information has grown to
1500+ articles contributed and read by more than 13000 members from around the world!

You can be a citizen journalist by sharing articles on the site, either by finding and
linking good articles published elsewhere or writing your own. The user community
further enriches the information through inputs in follow-up discussions. With topics
ranging from categories as varied as healthcare, education and environment, anything and
everything to do with social work can be posted on the website. Users also vote for the
stories they like and bury not so great ones like spam. This leads to a democratic filtering
mechanism which is indispensable for an open forum, letting readers quickly identify
good content without wading through screen-full of bad posts. Further, the supporting
social networking features help individuals and organizations to interact and work
together.

The dream is also to make NGO Post the information-hub of social work. One of the
common problems seen in the social sector is that of "reinventing-the-wheel" - many
different organizations spend a lot of time and energy in solving essentially the same
problems without knowing about each other. By sharing resources, knowledge and
solutions to common problems, we can all become so much more effective!

The biggest reward of our efforts has been in the small success stories where information
and interaction on NGOPost.org has translated into real change on the ground. NGOs
have found voluntary help and funding avenues, people have found contribution
opportunities. NGOs have come together to share knowledge and best practices. Our
favorite example is where Edwellian Society - an NGO based in Gurgaon - was looking
for help in designing a course curriculum for mentally challenged kids. Many readers,
including a rehabilitation expert, Dr. Meena Jain who runs Sambhav foundation in
Bangalore, stepped forward to help in different capacities!

So come, as Gandhiji said, let us be the change we wish to see in the world! And let’s
bring our neighbors too.

(For feedback and suggestion or if you would like to get involved, please send an email to
contact@ngopost.org )

How to Start Volunteering

(Posted in NGOPOST by Rajesh Golani)

Most people think that volunteering means going to school and teaching or working with
slums or going and doing some health checkups in unhygienic places. It seems more like
a serious affair which requires lot of commitment and saying no to all the cool things that
you might do in life. Of course volunteering requires some amount of commitment, but it
is not as boring as you may think. There are numerous fun ways to volunteer. Also
volunteering does not necessary mean that you have to spend some fixed time every day
or every week. There are opportunities available from one off volunteering effort to a
weekly effort. Below I have tried to categorize some of the volunteering possibilities
based on time you can spare. So if you are thinking of volunteering and dont know where
and when to start, one of these could be your starting point.

I can’t commit anytime, I want to volunteer once in a while when I get time.

Organize a Blood donation camp in your office. This is the simplest thing to do. There
are NGOs like Sankalp (http://www.sankalpindia.net), you just have to give a call to them
and they will do the rest for you.

Collect toys from your building and hand them over to the Toy Bank. Toy
Bank (http://www.toybank.co.in) is an NGO which collects toys and distributes them to
various orphanages and schools. You could also spend some hours on weekend in Toy
Bank in sorting the toys, and gift packing them.

Take children to parks/educational tours. Kilikili (http://www.kilikili.org) is one

organization which organizes such events for special children. There are numerous
schools like Ananya (http://ananyatrust.blogspot.com), which are looking for people who
can take children for one day half a day education tour to some factory/park/museum.

I can spend couple of hours to spare on weekdays

Spend some time in gift wrapping toys collected for distributing to less privileged kids
through Toybank (http://www.toybank.co.in).
Extra coaching to Residential schools like Deena Seva Sangha, Nele.

Spend some time with old people in some of the Old Age Homes in the city, Om
Aashram, Little Sisters of the Poor and Anand Aashram.

Take spoken English classes to community women for 2 hours a day whenever you are
free at Makkala Jagriti.

Spend time with special children at the Sunshine Centre for Autism. Work with children
from the Shrishti Special Academy and Association for people with disability.

I can work only on weekends

If you like teaching, Prerana (http://www.vidyaposhak.org) could be the place for you.
Prerana is an Institute which supports higher education of poor meritorious students along
with counselling them for choosing their courses.

Reading books for blind children, recording cassettes for Blind children. An organization
called Samarthanam (http://www.samarthanam.org) works on this.

Vidyanikethan runs a program called "Teach the teachers" wherein you and go and teach
the teachers on various different subjects

I can’t travel I want to do something from home

You can translate books or documents/books/comics which are not available in local
languages.

You can try to design projects for children which help them in understanding concepts
better, like a project or exercise to teach multiplication or solar system. It can be
anything. This is required by lot of NGOs who are involved in teaching.

You can write for NGOPost.

I want to do something related to art, performing

There is a group called WEMOVE, which does theatre solely for fund raising for various
NGOs.

You could make films for various NGOs, which would help them in their fund raising
drives.
I am a NERD, and want to do something related to computers

There are numerous NGOs who need help in setting up their websites, and putting some
basic Content Management Systems in place. They are ready to do work, you just have to
guide.
Maintaining PCs and networks for NGOs. Becoming a System Administrator for some.

I want to do marketing for NGOs

Numerous orphanages, children’s organizations, TB patients, make a variety of things,

starting from Greeting cards to handbags to candles. Just pick some of them and put it at
the office reception for sale. Or you can invite the people and they will come to your
office and put the stalls (in lunch room??)