So how does it feel to give a new life to someone? Or, how will it feel to give a life to the one who has lost all the hopes of walking again? One can find no one better than students of Bombay Scottish School in Mahim, Mumbai to be able to answer these questions. These students are on a mission to provide artificial limbs to people from remote villages of the backward Vidharbha region.
This is very heart-touching and generous on the part of these students to come up with an initiative wherein they’re going door-to-door collecting funds in order to give life to people who haven’t even come across in their lives.
As many as 156 of these students from 9th to 12th standard have so far collected more than 43-lakh rupees through crowdfunding. The funds, which have poured in from 1,428 people from across 165 towns in India, will not just offer the villagers the prosthetic limbs, it will give them mobility and a “new shot at life” too.
It is surely going to instill them with new inspiration and will motivate them to restart their lives once again with newer spirits.
Dr. Sunder Subramanium of the Freedom Trust NGO, who is coordinating this project, touched by the efforts of these children said, “It’s heart-warming that these young children have taken this initiative such to such a height”.
The cost of each limb is around 10,000 rupees and students themselves have set a target to garner 20,000 rupees each. Approximately 100 students have comfortably reached the minimum amount mark and four of them have even gone on to cross Rs 1-lakh in just 10 days.
These efforts indeed deserves everyone’s appreciation as at a very tender age with their hard work and dedication these students have gone on to accomplish what would look impossible if looked from a distant place!
Nonetheless, it is rightly said, ‘when there is a will, there is a way’ and the strong will of these 156 odd students is acting as a guiding force for them. Their efforts are going to translate the lives of more than 400 people living with physical disability.
As the campaign ends on November 19, students hope to collect Rs 50-lakh.
Here is what some of these students have to say about their experience:-
“I was worried if people would even hear me out, but once I started sending messages, the response was great”; said Ansh Patel a class XIth student.
Sanchi Kamat, a class XI commerce student who has collected Rs. 1.28-lakh, is surprised and amazed at how strangers helped as she said, “about 80% of funds I received came from people I didn’t know.”
Maryam Mozayan, who has raised Rs 1.34 lakh as of now said, “Helping people makes me happy”.
The help, said Dr Subramanium, is more than what the kids can imagine. “Patients come crawling in our camps. But thanks to such an initiative like this one, they will go home back on their feet.”
Indeed, these kids from Bombay Scottish School are in the right direction and every school should take inspiration from this and replicate this initiative and help handicapped people of other regions all over India. The act of donating artificial limbs will transform the lives of many and these student deserve all the accolades for their kind act.