CRY Volunteers North

For CRY, the health of children has always been a major focus, and this year, they planned on documenting what all issues the children of the East Delhi PAG faced. Over the past few months, the CRY volunteer team in the East Delhi PAG had already been working intensively on increasing health awareness- from developing a questionnaire on personal hygiene and open defecation, to their visits to local PHC (primary health centers), Government hospitals, etc.- the team had been very active. On 5 th May, 2018, a day before the World Health Organization’s Hand Hygiene Day, CRY organized a Health Care drive at the East Delhi PAG, in Ghaziabad. Continuing since the World Health Day, this project focused on teaching children the importance of health care and personal hygiene. Managed by Himanshi, a CRY intern and her team of co-interns, the drive began early morning with six doctors present at the location. The event kicked off with the children interacting with the doc...

Although this particular chapter in my life is from August 2017, I hope it helps others to understand how we, as humans, can create an impact in our own little ways. I was looking at NGOs for my internship when I came across CRY. Interning with them meant joining a Public Action Group (PAG) situated in the suburbs of the city and helping the children there. I took it up as a challenge. As expected, the initial days were difficult- I was constantly juggling between teaching the kids Mathematics & English and basic day to day etiquettes. Never had I ever done anything like this before, and the task started to look daunting to me. However, it did not take long for me to adjust. Within a week of working with the kids, they became my friends- I knew their names, what subject they liked, their strengths, their areas of improvement etc. Every day, I went with only one motive in mind- to teach them something new. The one thing common in all these kids was that they want...

The logo of CRY has always intrigued me. The bright colors have always assured that positive change is possible. CRY works for upliftment of children and provides them with education and a life that every child deserves; all of which I got to experience firsthand.   Working with the children made me realize how blessed I was to be born into a family that gave me all the opportunities, which I never had to struggle for. But watching these children not get the same opportunities was disheartening. Working at CRY taught me to use my privilege for the betterment of their lives. SWATI, where I taught, gave me an experience of a lifetime. I was able to reach out to so many children at once - listening to them, talking to them, and trying to understand them. Each child had some talent hidden within them, waiting to be discovered; all that they needed was someone to recognize them. They were strong kids with dreams in their eyes. They only needed to be heard and guided...

From dreaming about change to finally achieving it, one such journey was explored by a Gurgaon CRY volunteer Mohit. ‘It grieves me to see kids begging on the roads and tackling addiction.’ Mohit, a young adult like us, felt the need to do something about it. And that’s how his started his journey with CRY. Mohit’s time with CRY was an adventurous one. His dream of doing something for the underprivileged came true here. He started teaching and educating at one of CRYs’ PAGs, trying to make the children independent. CRY was a platform where he loved to share his time, ideas and space, knowing that all his efforts were bringing a change. As in all new endeavors, he faced difficulties in the beginning, but that did not deter his spirit. The best thing during his tenure with CRY was his ‘initiative’. For three months, Mohit took up the responsibility to teach the kids alone. This injected self belief and confidence of teaching within him. Working with CRY groomed hi...

Barely two days after completing my summer school course from King’s College London, I stepped into the Swati NGO at Tigri. From being around students scrutinizing international policies, I was suddenly surrounded with children discussing the latest episodes of daily soaps. The change was quite drastic. I contemplated over this change, trying to figure out the role education plays in one’s life and whether these supremely talented kids would ever be able to get opportunities which would do justice to their capabilities. That was last summer.             This month, a huge poster in my college caught my eye; it was of Child Rights and You. Immediately, I started reading it carefully, trying to figure out how CRY was associating with the college. It was then that I got to know that the Mock United Nations Society had been able to partner with CRY. “Interesting!”, I thought. The rather bland “Interesting!” got transformed into an “Oh my ...

A foul stench invaded my nostrils, as I barely dodged the towering pile of garbage which blocked the narrow road, obscured behind the blaring red “Prince ki Rasoi” board. I stopped to observe its contents, carefully holding in my breath, and was unpleasantly alarmed by the diverse variety it proffered- rotting vegetable waste, polythene bags fluttering aimlessly, a rodent carcass or two, a hint of excreta. I instantly averted my gaze, a knot tightening in my weak gut. The miniature garbage dump stood haughtily in front of a cluster of jhuggis (temporary establishments) which were abuzz with activity. Two little kids emerged from the tiny houses, clad in the magnanimous entirety of pink and purple underpants, solely shielding them from the 8 degree harrowing Delhi winter. The biting cold was visibly the least of their concerns, as they whizzed past me and disappeared down the meandering lane- their wide grins stretching all the way up to their tiny ears. They left loud amus...

‘CRY is a family to me.’ Shubham’s journey at CRY has been an amazing one. CRY provided him a platform to fulfill his desires of educating the children. Shubham joined CRY in 2013 as a volunteer. His dedication led him to become the volunteer head of the North Region. He incorporated certain rules pertai ning to strictness for the volunteers and with the application of those regulations; he made a benchmark for others to be like him. He said- ‘I don’t want others to be like me. I want them to be themselves by doing something extraordinary and creative, apart from what I have done.’ He suggested the volunteers to come up and engage children in fun activities. Doing this enhanced their morale to learn more. Shubham’s experiences in CRY made him a responsible and optimistic person. He was able to understand the emotions of the children. As a person, CRY helped him develop in all aspects. His work injected motivation for other volunteers to do something inn...