Relief Work in Mumbai

26th July seemed like just another day in Paradise till the clock struck 2. That’s when the Lord opened the gates of heaven or should we say turned on the shower knob. Kehte hai, “Bhagwan jab bhi deta hai, toh chappar phad ke deta hai.” The heavens thundered and the rain poured putting Mumbai completely out of gear. While most of the city was struggling to get back on its feet, iVolunteer’s very own Mumbai volunteers rose to the occasion. As soon as calamity struck, our volunteers came forward, rolled up their sleeves, dug into their pockets and cupboards and reached out to people they hadn’t ever met or heard of. In the bargain, they inspired their friends and colleagues to do the same.

The action began with Upasana, our young volunteer at Salaam Baalak, and her mother, Mrs. Shalini Parasrampuria, who got in touch with us on 27th morning knowing fully well that iVolunteer and its network would use its resources to help affected people. They got into action and by July 28, exactly two days after the flooding first began, started collecting clothes, purchased 150 kgs of dal, 50 litres of oil, 1 carton of candles and 2 cartons each containing 12 matchboxes.

Our volunteers’ efforts spread around through word of mouth and their actions inspired their friends, family members and others to help out. This domino effect of sorts resulted in Mrs. Parasrampuria convincing her friends to give clothes, which came to a total of 7 bags. Her other acquaintance donated 50 kgs dal, all of which was given to the NGO Aasara. Subsequently, her friend, Trupti, chipped in by contributing 225 meters of plastic sheets, an item urgently required to use as a roof top and protect uncovered relief material. These plastic sheets were supplied to IHDP, the Dahisar project of CCDT.

Amidst the bustle, Ms. Trupti’s father-in-law donated 200 kgs of rice for Aasara. Aasara’s coverage in relief work included far flung areas like Ambarnath, Ulhasnagar, Shahd Kasara, Vithalwadi, Kalyan (E), Kalyan (W) and Kalwa regions and therefore warranted a high amount of relief material. Another inspiring pair was Upasana’s 11th STD friends, Aditya and Abhishekh, who donated Rs. 1100 and Rs. 1000 respectively, from their own pocket money, which Mrs. Parasrampuria used to purchase 200 kilos of rice to be distributed in Kalyan through Aasara.

Following this, we had Mr. Abhijeet Banerjee and his friend, Mr. Prashant Suvarna donating clothes for the NGOs Aasara and CCDT, respectively. Mrs. Neha Shah added to their collection more clothes as also a carton of candles. To meet some of the long term relief material requirements specified by Aasara, Mr. Ashish Jain generously donated chairs, a Television set and Godrej cupboard. This furniture was needed by for one of their shelter homes for boys. The final donation came in the form of notebooks – 150 in number – thanks to Ms. Ruchi Mehta, who willingly passed this on to IHDP.

iVolunteer also acknowledges and thanks our volunteer Supriya and her friend, Anamika for volunteering with ‘Our Children’ and assisting in a medical health camp. These girls went from door to door taking stock of the damages and relief material requirements in Bail Bazar, which was one of the worst hit areas. Our thanks also go out to Mr. Ajit Singh Matta who helped in a health camp at Chembur.

In addition to our supportive volunteers, help came from two corporates, Intelenet and Hindustan Level Ltd. (HLL). The Intelenet employees organised a clothes collection drive in the office through which they managed to collect four boxes of clothes for IHDP. HLL donated 50 kgs of Atta, 150 tubes of toothpaste, 150 toothbrushes and 300 bars of soap, all of which were passed to Aasara and Snehasadan.

Thus, through collective effort, we were able to reach out to 3 large non-profits:
	Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT): works towards providing marginalized communities with social relevance through programmes of development, integrated health services, social education and community development. Their projects:
	Integrated Health and Development Project (IHDP): Operational in Ketkipada and Dharkhadi areas of Dahisar, it reaches an approx slum population of 36,000.
	Project Child: Community, home based programmes for children and youth infected or affected with HIV. The children belong to economically weaker section of society.
	Ankur-Asmita: for children at risk who live in the red light areas of Kamathipura and Worli. They have a night shelter for adolescent girls, a day care programme for children and a number of other community outreach programmes.
	Aasara is a shelter for the street children in Mumbai. It has Contact Centres in Thane, Kalve, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai, as well as a 24-hour residence for children in Thane and a 24-hour residence for girls in Kurla. It also has a Night Shelter for youngsters in Vithalwadi as well as a Mobile Unit that deals with urgent needs such as providing food, medical help, initial assessments and contacts with hospitals, institutions and other non-profit organizations. They work with communities in Vidhyavihar, Thana, Digha (Navi Mumbai), Kalyan, Ambarnath, Vithalwadi and Kasara.
	Snehasadan is a non-profit organisation in Andheri that operates as a home for homeless children, who are on their own, on the street, either through choice or circumstances. Snehasadan has 16 homes, 400 children, 16 house parents, 2 contact centers at CST and Borivli, a crisis centre for women and children and an AIDS hospice for kids on the street. There are separate homes for boys and girls, each housing, on an average, 20-30 children. Snehasadan also helps develop technical skills and assists the kids in choosing their career path.

Kudos once again to the spirit of Mumbaikars.