Khudi: An initiative towards hope!
Khudi is a principle of progress that specifically highlights reflection. Indeed, it is through self-reflection that we can learn from our past experiences, avoid any sort of hiccups in the future and come-up with mind boggling solutions for problems that have been bugging for years.
The name of our campaign was primarily coined after this principle of progress; however, it also refers to “oneself”. Hence, by saying “khudi”, we are also indirectly implying “do it yourself; don’t wait for others”. Now, naming can perhaps be much easier than actually doing justice to its core value. And, before embarking on this mission, we completely understood the intent/extent of this project and thus, invoked our vocation within to resonate with the scope of this idea.
Covid19 has wrecked havoc among millions throughout the globe and disabled the mightiest of economies. Now, daily wage workers or people of slums who were already struggling to make ends meet, this situation further exacerbated their plight. Lockdowns, shutdowns and irregular governmental interventions has intensely added malnutrition to its bucket. “The pandemic and global recession may cause over 1.4% of the world’s population to fall into extreme poverty,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.
Since the blessed month of Ramadan was near, and given that we were already contemplating upon a social idea, we eventually decided on conducting Iftar drives every once in a week to distribute food among the underprivileged who fast for prolonged hours yet not having adequate enough to feed their entire families. Not only that, we were also driven to add towards containing the spread of this novel virus by adding Covid kits (soap & masks) to the overall package.
Therefore, tasks were delegated among all group members — poster designing, surveys, social media campaigns, fund collection, operation management, market research & so on. Firstly, social media campaigns were initiated with all necessary details to create digital awareness and collect funds. Secondly, surveys were conducted by visiting few of the slum areas of Lahore — Johar Town, Iqbal Town, Sabzazar, Gulshan Ravi etc. The sole purpose of this research was to increase awareness and raise voice for these people wherever possible.
Tasks Assigned:
- Surveys: Ahsan & Araiz
- Social Media Campaigns: Everyone
- Fundraising: Everyone
- Market Research: Sadia, Araiz & Isma
- Operations: Ahsan
Product Breakdown:
- Rice
- Juice
- Fruits
- Soap
- Pair of Mask
All these products were packaged and served to the deserving people residing in the slums of Lahore. Volunteers were attracted to be a part of this noble cause and transport was arranged to ensure smooth/effective commute to all these places.
Collecting donations was the major challenge during this process. Although, social media was an effective approach (merely for transparency), but almost all the donations were collected from close peers and family members. Perhaps, not much strangers are willing to donate to a foundation that is just built without having any reliable authentication/accreditation from government or any relevant private organization like PCP.
So far, three Iftar drives are conducted targeting on average 60 people per drive. Later, we had to face lockdown issues and everything was kept at hold. Anyways, this project was not specifically designed for Ramadan only, and we are looking forward to continue this mission by using ration as the main source. Every month, based on the donations of course, ration will be distributed after locating deserving families (specifically those who do not have a source of income like widows, divorced, unemployed and caretakers).
Again, we will try to reach as many people as possible but it is entirely contingent upon donations. Our campaigns are still intact and we are anticipating to extend our approach. Looking forward to make a difference and rejuvenate hope in these unprecedented times.
Never undermine the impact of your efforts, these are the individual waves that eventually cause the entire ocean to ROAR!
#khudi #kuchkro