Social service is believed to be a work which answers the basic necessities of people. Someone who comes with an interest towards service to people, and does something that brings smile and hope on the need’s face, it is not only a satisfactory thing but also which pushes you to pursue more on serving the need on regular basis.
Raghavendra, born and brought up in Hyderabad is a 4th year B.Tech student at Malla Reddy College of Engineering. He shares his experience with Youngistaan Foundation.
When did this intention of doing social service happen to you?
It was Sunday, August 15th, 2015; I remember the date for obvious reasons. I was you-tubing on Being Indian Channel, and yeah you know how lazy the Engineers are….. (Laughs Raghavendra). I then came across the Youngistaan video and usually skipped it.
“But seconds later, something that made me look back to it was, people cutting hair, shave and then talking with the homeless people which actually shook me and touched my heart. That is when I contacted the founder Arun anna”.
Why did you choose Youngistaan Foundation?
As I mentioned about the video on YouTube, I checked the official website of the Youngistaan Foundation. I was really impressed on various things they were working towards and found it interesting. The important thing was that they were doing the service on very regular basis which I haven’t seen anywhere. So I chose it (smiles Raghavendra)
What is your role at Youngistaan and could you please share your experience?
I am one of the volunteers for Feeding and Transformers program which happens simultaneously on every Sunday. We cook food, pack them and distribute it to the lowly. Meanwhile when we come across men with too much beard and hair, we do makeover for them through cutting and shaving, we help them with first aid, new clothes and more.
“we come across people who might not have taken an shower in over an year and their hair filled with maggots or insects etc”.
The whole objective is to ensure health and hygiene and hoping they get a job somewhere. It is a very satisfying program.
How as a person you think you changed with the attachment you built with NGO and with the people you’ve served to?
Initially when I joined Youngistaan, I was scared of homeless people as I had no idea on how they would react, but this organization gave me the platform to work with them and talk in very easy, effective and impactful way.
Can you share any specific incident/moment that you think was special to you in this organization?
Specific incident/moment at Youngistaan, every Sunday i make memories. One particular incident was, when I was in distributing food, I met a young lady whose age was around 65-70. She was lying on the foot path, I went to her, gave food packet and then she said from past four day, she was having nothing to eat. She felt happy and that made me felt touched.
Apart from this, he is a Trekker by Profession. His avid interest towards Trekking had made him to aspire to cover entire world. He wants to travel entire India before he reaches 25.
