Childhood Reclaimed: The Story of Sevai Karangal

[This post is submitted to ISB iDiya forIndichange contest and written to raise funds for Chennai-based NGO Sevai Karangal. I have written about this group on previous occasions:

1.  Chennai Wedding that MAKES ADIFFERENCE (When a wedding reception became a fundraiser for the kids)\
2. Children of HIV+ve Parents=Island of Joy (the group’s work with HIV infected children at SIP home) 
3. Adios Chennai, Hyderabad Calling (How Sevai Karangal impacted my life in Chennai)]

Yes, I like to write about Sevai Karangal as many times as I can. No, I am not on their board of trustees nor do I volunteer with them actively. But the constant facebook notifications about their various events, the fact that many of my Chennai friends celebrate their birthdays and other special days via this organization at children’s homes, the many photographs that get uploaded on to their site on a weekly basis, the fact that over 1.5 years I have known many of the active volunteers and have watched them in action—that consistency, reliability, the absolute humility of the hard-working volunteers, the genuine smiles of children, the way kids enquire about their favourite people from the organization makes me enjoy writing about them.

Volunteers with kids at a home

And this piece is special. It commemorates their 5-year anniversary. On April 4, 2008 few young folks—Thilak, Nanda, Loganathan and Prabhu came together to set up an organization whose mission very crisply put is: “To identify and assist orphanages, old age homes and destitute people by providing financial, educational and material support & to create awareness among people to serve the community.” I have yet to see an NGO that has managed to implement its mission as well as this group has done.

At the moment of writing, Sevai Karangal supports 16 homes, including an old age home, for whom they have raised close to Rs 10 lakhs over the last few years, been the source of joy and care for 400 kids, and facilitated about 565 volunteers to give their time and love to the various homes. The organization has no paid staff and runs solely on the support of volunteers.

They work in the following way:

1.  They identify homes that need support and then conduct a needs-assessment. Verify if those needs are genuine and then raise money for the same. Sometimes, it may be getting water treatment equipments so that children have safe drinking water. Sometimes, it may be collaborating with a corporate to build a block in a home. Sometimes it is buying notebooks and textbooks and geometry boxes at the beginning of the school year. Thus they always convert funds raised into material donations.
2. Then they begin to ensure the children are well-taken care of by both facilitating volunteers to visit and spend time with the kids as well as through sudden visits. I was once meeting with Thilak when he requested if I would accompany him for a sudden visit to a home nearby. We went in and spend some time with the kids while Thilak looked around for water samples.
3. Scores of Chennaites celebrate their birthdays and anniversaries at the home by sponsoring the dinner or full-day meals or donating money for certain needs of a particular home. They also spend the evening with the kids—playing, singing, and laughing together. It is heart food for both volunteers and the kids. A volunteer who has celebrated her/his birthday also pulls in other friends and family members and starts a chain of joy till all members of a family or closed friends circle spend most of their the leisure days with the children. I can’t count the number of times I have been invited to join a birthday celebration of a friend at one of the homes while I was in Chennai.  For the kids, it has become multiple parties in a year, meeting their favourite people again, making new friends and of course, the visibility makes the caretakers more responsible in their work. 
4. Some volunteers work with the Navigator program to provide tuitions, career counselling and social support to the kids. They give weekly tuitions, help in homework, math and science workshops, and an ear to listen to the many problems kids have. This program was founded and headed by Sasirekha and day-to-day operations supervised by Ganga Dharan.
5. Children also go into nature through the social treks where expert trekkers take the children on easy mountain treks or beaches. Children love these treks a lot and volunteer trekkers enjoy these trips more than the usual rigorous treks at times. These social treks are conducted via Chennai Trekking Club. 
6.  Diwali is usually celebrated in a big way by the organization and volunteers raise money to buy kids new clothes, crackers and sweets and a hearty meal. Other festival days like Christmas and New Year’s are also celebrated. 
7. The group has initiated a tree plantation program to inculcate in volunteers the importance of taking care of our environment and finding joy in planting and growing trees.  This program is headed by Kamlakanan and supported by Vadivel and Dhana.

Dhana, Thilak's wife joining a game at a home

Thilak is one of the most active members of the group. I had written about his wedding to Dhana in an earlier “ChennaiWedding that MAKES a Difference” where the couple put in great thought and care to reduce costs and converted their wedding reception into a fundraiser for the homes. Immediately after the wedding, Thilak and Dhana spent all their time hosting special meals in every home that the group supports so that the children enjoyed and participated in the happiness. These two are also much loved and almost every volunteer I have talked to mentions Thilak and Dhana in course of their conversation.
 

Vadivel with Thilak and Dhana and the kids of a home

Young Vadivel, who works as a software consultant is another very active volunteer for the last three years. In the last couple of years, he has stopped going back to his native town to celebrate Diwali with his family. Instead he raises funds and donates large sums from his middle class salary for the children and enjoys the day with them. Last year alone, he and his friends raised Rs 92,000/- for the children during Diwali, making him one of the major fundraisers for the group. He celebrates his birthday and almost all special days at the home. In between, he is also an avid marathoner and trekker. This is what he told me: "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. So Give to life the unique beauty of your own special making. Allow ourself to feel how good it feels, and to see what a Positive difference the real we can make for everyone.  Because Performance always comes from passion & not from pressure...so i'm always Being Passionate and Love what i'm doing & Doing what i love!!!"

Dhevi is comparatively new in the group and has volunteered for about a year. When I talked to her, I could hardly ask her the next question for the joy she felt in relating her volunteer work with Sevai Karangal was boundless. She excitedly related what she felt and why she thought this work was important and how we could multiply inspiration and spread the spirit of volunteerism.  She related an episode that moved her greatly.  She and her parents had gone to an Old Age home for a special occasion and an 82-year-old woman held her hand and thanked her for coming. “At least you folks came, my own family has abandoned me.” And then she messaged me with more quotes. More than her messages, it was her infectious and genuine joy that spilled through the phone and messages that touched and inspired me.  

Ganga is a relatively quiet guy—sharp but humble. He has volunteered with the group for about 3 years now and is a reliable fall-back-on guy. He leads the navigator program and feels that teaching is one important thing that we can do to help channelize children’s energy in a positive way. Besides a lot of his leisure time, Ganga also donates a considerable amount from his salary.

Not all can volunteer with the same force. Sasirekha was very active six months back but office and personal pressures have kept her away, she related sadly.  A year back I had found her cooking for the many kids happily and finding joy in serving them. She also initiated and planned the Navigator program. It is volunteers like the ones I have profiled here and those who have not been named who  make Sevai Karangal tick.

Sevai Karangal Volunteer with a Child in a Home

For the judges of ISB iDiya contest and potential funders—I, Bhavana Nissima, vouch for the credibility and sustainability of this group. I find the logic of their mission to be brilliant. They have not built yet another child home. Instead, they have learnt the art of supporting, sustaining, and strengthening existing ones. And in doing so, they have beautifully and simply created and multiplied the spirit of volunteerism in the city of Chennai. They deserve your funds and visibility. If you have questions or concerns, do contact me: bnissima at gmail dot com.

For all my readers, if you wish to support Sevai Karangal you can do one of the following:

1.       To donate, visit here.

2.       If you wish to volunteer or celebrate a special occasion at Child/Old Age home, contact here.

3.       To join their facebook page, click here.

(All photos courtesy volunteers of Sevai Karangal)