When you see the children picking rags, sleeping on the streets, working instead of studying, newborn girl being abandoned by her parents and poor infrastructure as well as low educational standard in government schools, you must have felt ?I wish I could do something?? There are some youth who wish to do something for these deprived people. But most of them do not involve in volunteering work because of three major reasons?not knowing where to start, the fear that it may be too much of responsibility and concern that it cannot be done with their limited time availability.
Youth for Seva? (YFS) is a platform that provides answer to all these questions. Formed in April 2007 to fill this gap so that youth with an intention to volunteer and with different time commitments can easily find meaningful opportunities to serve the deprived people. Youth for Seva is a project of Hindu Seva Pratishthan, a well-established voluntary organisation in Karnataka, which has been in the forefront of social service for nearly three decades. In its first year of operation, YFS attracted over 600 volunteers that constituted around 300 IT professionals, 200 college students and about 100 people from other backgrounds. Apart from students and young professionals, housewives also serve as an integral part of the voluntary force as per the convenience of their time availability. The projects are run directly by YFS as well as by other NGOs.
YFS volunteer mentor children at orphanages and destitute centres to meet their aspirations. In slum areas they teach spoken English and computer skills to high school and college students. Housewives have taken the initiative to teach the slum children who do not go to schools. For the help of children having disability the volunteers visit their schools and homes. Some of the children in these centres prepare files, candles and learning aids, which are sold in charity sales. The volunteers help set up such charity sales in their respective companies. The volunteers also facilitate foundations and corporations to adopt government schools. A school kit, which includes a school bag, books, pencils, pens and geometry kit, is given to children in the slums and government schools in order to help them with their ongoing education. In the year 2008, YFS schools kits reached over 4000 children.
The prominent NGOs associated with YFS include Adamya Chetana, AET Orphanage, Anatha Shishu Nivasa, Aruna Chetana, Deena Seva Sangh, Government Home for Destitute Boys and Girls, Keshav Seva Samiti, KIDWAI Cancer Institute, Lions Sewa Bharati Hospital, Nav Chetana, NELE, Non-Formal school for school dropouts, Sahana Charitable Trust, Samarthanam, Sewa Bharati, Sewa in Action, Shrushti Academy for Special Learning, Sri Krishna Orphanage, Yogakshema Trust, SOCARE, etc.
(FOC)
