#EdhiforAll
Are you done with the Eid shopping? If not then you would definitely be winding that within a week or two. How is this month, Ramadan, going, for it would be quite cumbersome to control the uncontrollable thirst under the dazzling sun? You must have a plethora of dishes in front of you with your mouth watering when you are about to break the fast. Did the experience of fasting ever compel you to think of the paupers, the insolvent, the people who have been physically fasting for years? Are they privileged to have three meals a day? Was their wish to wear new and tidy clothes on Eid ever fulfilled? The answer is no. No, they don’t have three meals a day rather have to hold their stomachs tight before going to sleep. They have to quench their thirsts with their tears. They have to wear old, torn, and untidy clothes on the Holy occasion of Eid. These are the thoughts that you get when you think about it.
Thinking about this makes you feel hopeless and helpless but you can be a perpetual source of hope for someone. You can bring a smile to their faces and wipe the unpleasant tears from their stunning faces. You can start the chain of kindness and goodness by donating even a 10/- note you have in your back pocket of which you are oblivious of whether there is one or not. This is how you change the way you think, not by thinking, but by doing.
Recently our batch 190 at Amal was introduced to the fundraising project we had to do for 2 weeks to help get donations for the Edhi Foundation. At Amal, we have built a stronger bond with Edhi Sb since usually the content features real-life examples from his life. So when we heard that according to Faisal Edhi Sb, after his demise, the donations were dwindling, it was a real shock for us. The idea that something that Edhi Sb had started with so much compassion and built on mere passion could be struggling disturbed our hearts a lot.
We were supposed to carry out our activities in our circles but our team spirit compelled us to work as a batch first. We came up with posters, the Whatsapp statuses for the whole batch, and decided to help each other as much as possible. Due to the Covid situation in the country, and most places closed it was not possible for us to go out and collect donations physically. So, instead, we decided to utilize our social media networks and spread the word through them. All the circle members put multiple Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram statuses to convince people to donate. We also tried to trend our hashtag #EdhiForAll to raise awareness among the people and spread all that made us love Edhi Sb.
Although it is much easier to disseminate information online, it is equally difficult to catch the attention of the audience and convince them, especially for monetary donations. But, it was not the only lesson we learned from this week’s activities. They helped us realize the fact that whenever we try something new, there is always a possibility of failure and pain and despite all of this when we do hard work only then we can feel heavenly bliss hidden in it. Before this, we had never collected funds or donations so it was quite daunting. We asked many people for help, only 47 out of more than 500 people donated. Still, that made us happy and we were able to feel how much Edhi Sb worked hard and how rejection feels like. As one of our fellows put it,
That spirit of doing something significant for someone else was unmatched. I realized how blessed we are to be able to have what we want and to be able to help others. I am definitely going to continue this act of kindness in the future to play my part effectively.
In addition to our Online endeavors, our Circle member Hamza reached out to two schools in his area;
As full strength of the students in the schools are not coming due to Covid so we placed our money boxes at their main gates. For this purpose, we had to talk to the school administration to convince them.
We had decided, as a group to exhaust our personal contacts during the first week of the activity, and now having done so our aim for the next week is to target business organizations and community centers. We have learned a lot during this one week, both as individuals and as a circle, now we are looking forward to implementing all that we learned to our activities for the second week of the Edhi Fundraising.
You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.
-Khalil Gibran, The Prophet
