I am sure everyone must have heard about CRY (Child Rights and You organization). If you are in Seattle, you might have attended atleast one of their Holi or Dandiya events, or volunteered or attended their fund raising plays or dinner gala. I have attended quite a few events over the years but i have never volunteered yet. I have lot of my good friends who volunteer for CRY. My lack of knowledge, i didnt know much about CRY and what they do. I was really impressed when I started learning more about what they do and how they help others selflessly.
I have been wanting to join this team and see for myself how they are able to do what they do, given that all the volunteers have a full time job. So after months of making up my mind finally the day came when I was able to attend my first CRY volunteer meet. As they say better late than Never !
The first meet was a special one. I say special because I was able to witness this positive energy, this enthusiasm and synergy between the volunteers which was amazing. Skype call with CRY's Dr. Rolee, who runs Dr. Shambhunath Research Foundation (SRF) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
The whole call revolved around asking and getting to know better how SRF works and what they do to help underprivileged children. Dr. Rolee shared a story of an unfortunate girl who was sold by one of her family members. I had goose bumps when I heard the details of how this girl was saved. The real struggle began after that when her own family was not ready to accept her back. The societal pressure was so high the parents were almost disowning their daughter. But thanks to SRF and Dr.Rolee and her team members who handled this sensitive situation. They provided unconditional support to the girl child with proper counseling. The SRF also went a step ahead and made sure the man responsible for this action was put behind bars. The accused had some support from the mafia which made the whole situation even more difficult. Nevertheless now the accused is in prison and the girl after 8 months has regained her confidence back and her zeal for life.
The SRF doesn't stop there, they make sure they still stay in touch and offer the girl the love and support to continue her education. This was just one small glimpse of our conversation. But that Skype call touched my heart in more ways than my words can describe.
The CRY team is so warm and friendly I almost forgot it was my first meeting there. They gave me a warm welcome and treated me like one of their own. I love teams where there is no hierarchy and everyone is treated equally and this was a great motivation for a new volunteer like me to join their team.
Please visit their website http://cryseattle.org/ to know more.
Maybe not all of us have the financial ability to donate money for a cause we believe in but what we can do is spend our precious time by working with an organization we have faith in and get ourselves involved and help in whatever small way we can. After all in the end what matters is how we lived and loved and not we what made and owned !
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