When we talk about environmental issues, we often forget the people around us for whom we are trying to do something!! For me, since childhood, working for various children who are not as privileged as us, is always a priority and I feel it is duty for the people like us who talk about changing the "environment" as a whole.

The great thinker Laozi had once said, ?Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step.?. What he did not say was that every journey that begins with a small step will go for more than a thousand miles. When I read a post in the website of a well-renowned NGO in India, CRY, that said that if I could raise 40,000 INR, I could free all the children of a village from child labour, I decided to stand up and take action. I decided to start a fund-raising campaign to not only raise funds for the project but to also put the work of social advocates like that of Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi to the forefront of the talks of our society.

I started the campaign initially through facebook with a small target of only INR 12,000/-. Then I talked to people at all the family gatherings and parties I went to. I talked about how poverty still pushes families to sacrifice their children?s education to get three square meals every day. It is still a heartening problem but I told them the words of Laozi and how we can act now for a better future. They pledged along with me to raise the money I needed to succeed in the project. I had told them of the amount needed, and to my astounding revelation, I had managed to raise a lot of money with a resounding response of help and goodwill from everybody. It really softened my heart to think that we as a team could raise the children of a whole village from child labor and give them a chance at a new life. The response was so astounding that many has started asking ?when is the next fund raising event from your side?? Some of the family friends from other countries also (Oman, even distant Australia) donated for the cause. Finally I could raise approximately INR 46,000/- (USD 730/-) and donated the same to CRY.

This endeavor taught me many things, just like my other endeavors do always:

1)  it taught me that if there is a cause, there is a way to achieve that cause.

2)  it taught me that people still care about our country having been away from it for years and years now.

3)  it taught me that if I tried hard enough, I could achieve anything. Lastly, it taught me that if people believe in something, they will do anything to achieve it.

I am associated with CRY since 2011 (grade VIII) and previously I was associated with similar fund raising event for them, where I requested people to donate 2nd hand books and DVDs/CDs to me and then re-sell those to the group members at minimum price.  we had also door to door campaign for spreading awareness for unprivileged children issues  which was appreciated by many? But this time, the response was overwhelming and at the end we all have pledged to a greater contribution towards ?giving it back? to our society.

The entire list of the donors and few snaps from various fund raising events are attached herewith?At the end I would like to thank all the donors of great alumni association of IIEST UAE (BESU/B E College) and all the other family friends (outside of BESU alumni circle) to fulfill the target of making one child labour free village? Hope to have this kind of life enriching experiences very soon?

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