Why Lakshyam is the best Volunteer Organization in India?

There are so many amazing NGOs that are doing some phenomenal work in India, these NGOs work hard in the field to bring about change in a hands-on approach. Different NGO's work in different ways for their own causes to achieve one common goal, making this society a better place to live in. Few NGOs work for the education and rights of underprivileged children residing in slums, orphanages and shelter homes. Some NGOs work to eliminate hunger & malnutrition. Some NGOs work to improve the conditions of senior citizens in India. Some NGOs work for improving the conditions of animals. Some NGOs work altogether for the betterment of environment and plants.

I had recently volunteered at a NGO, LAKSHYAM. Since its inception in 2004, LAKSHYAM has established itself for the welfare of the society, and mankind at large. Engaged in a number of social welfare activities like child welfare, health, education and women empowerment, Lakshyam has rigorously aimed at implementing effective and innovative solutions to improve quality of life of the not-so-privileged communities. Lakshyam's ‘Butterfly Program’ provides Remedial Education Centers for students, in order to fill the gap in the government education system. Lakshyam ‘Toy Library’ aims at delivering toys and books from the privileged kids to the not-so-privileged ones. Till now, over 2,00,000 toys and books have been distributed across India. Lakshyam's ‘Rooh Program’ tirelessly strives to educate the women of India and empower them with the confidence to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Following are the various objectives Lakshyam aims at:

• To help rural women learn easily employable skills
• To grant a financially independent status to rural women
• To help women protect themselves from domestic violence
• To help women attain the independent stance and say in the household by means of financial independence
• To give children a conducive and progressive environment for their development without any short comings
• To provide free-of-cost remedial education to children and give a fair access to education to all
• To help children choose the right career path and ensure the availability of fair opportunities to all
• To see rural India grow with its ethnicity and pristine beauty
• To create a cycle of giving back. Where talent, in stead of flowing towards urban cities, gives back to its home
• To save drowning neighborhoods from the plight of poverty
• Promote education and fill in the gaps created by money
• To attract well-educated teachers and provide standard education to children dwelling in rural areas

I had volunteered at Lakshyam’s Ghaziabad centre. The centre has children with age group ranging from 4 to 12. All these children belong to not so financially developed families. Also these children lacked primary education. But here at Lakshyam, these children are provided with all the necessities comprising of lots of stationery, books, clothes and uniforms. I had an amazing experience spending time with students. Teaching them various subjects like English, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, Computers and Hindi was completely a unique experience for me. The children were very sweet and cooperative. And they had the zeal to learn new and interesting things. And I was amazed to see how some girls had remarkable dancing skills.

Overall I feel blessed to have worked with LAKSHYAM the best Volunteer Organization in India. It is always good to do something for the well being of our nation. I hope to stay in touch with this organization and do my bit whenever required.

Women and Child Development: Making World a Better Place

Introduction

Women and child development has become the buzzword today with women working alongside men in all spheres and children are expected to get influence by their environment at different age level.  Women development can be defined as a process leading to enhancing women’s control over financial, human and intellectual resources. In any nation, women development can be assessed by their involvement in social, economic and social fields. Similarly, child’s development is the process of growth of child from dependency to increase independency. It is important that parents take every step necessary to ensure that their children grow up in environment where their social, emotional and educational needs are met.

Issue

As is a widely known fact, the condition of women in India as well as the rest of the world personifies pitiful. We have a high rate of female feticide and at the same time the discrimination against girls in India has been going on since ages now. Even today, there are several sections of the Indian society where the girl child is treated as a burden. Leaving behind the educational and medical front, girls in India lag far behind in receiving affection as well. Also, being the second most populated country, India has a large number of youths crowning its resources. However, this resource is misused one as well.

There are various problems faced by women and children together – Undernourishment which means lack of sufficient calories in food leading to weakness, lower work efficiency etc., Malnutrition which means lack of sufficient ingredients such as vitamins, proteins etc. in the food leading to illness, less weight of child at birth, high rate of child mortality etc., Limited Education as the number of school going children is still far from satisfactory.

Development Programs by Government and NGO

For the social and economic development of women and children, Government and certain NGOs have launched various schemes and programs such as:

1.    Support To Training-Cum-Employment Programme (STEP):

The women are given training in sectors like agriculture, dairying, village and small industries.

2.    Swa-Shakti Project:

Swa-Shakti aims at increasing women’s access to resources for better quality of life by providing health and education services and imparting skills to women for income generating activities.

3.    National Commission for Women:

National Commission for Women protects constitutional and legal rights of women, recommends remedial measures, facilitates redressal of grievances and advises the Government on all matters affecting the welfare and development of women.

4.    Rooh-Women Welfare Program:

This is one of the programs initiated by LAKSHYAM NGO in New Delhi. Lakshyam’s program, ‘Rooh-Awakening Women Soul’, meaning the spirit, aims at strengthening women demeanor towards life itself. The program’s first step is to provide remedial education to children; second step is to provide an essential degree of exposure along with professional training and third is to equip the girls with popular platform to sell their skills. This program also targets developments in ways of financial issues by organizing various workshops that enable poor women to self- generate employment.  Health awareness campaigns are organized every now and then.

5.    Butterfly – Child Welfare Program:

Lakshyam NGO launched a similar program for children welfare named “Butterfly – Child Welfare and Education” that symbolizes freedom with wings of butterfly. This programs aims at imparting holistic education and well-round development and abolishing the term “underprivileged”. Students at Lakshyam are taught Hindi, Mathematics, English and Computer Sciences. It provides free of cost tutorials as well.

Why volunteer is important for an NGO

Volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. Volunteering and helping others can help you reduce stress, combat depression, keep you mentally stimulated, and provide a sense of purpose. While it’s true that the more you volunteer, the more benefits you’ll experience, volunteering doesn’t have to involve a long-term commitment or take a huge amount of time out of your busy day. Giving in even simple ways can help others those in need and improve your health and happiness.

 

 

Why working for an NGO can be extremely rewarding

 

1. You make strategies for the country/world

While in schools and colleges you plan to change a few things here and there, in an NGO your plans can go much beyond. You plan and strategize to change the country, the world. Your targets are not 1 week or 2 weeks but spread across years and decades. Lakshyam is one of the best NGO in Delhi which provides the training facilities for volunteer, and we have the best volunteer programs in India.

2. Better networking:

This is the best networking you can possibly get. In the corporate world your networks are based on mutual benefit, but in NGO it’s for a common goal. In most other types of networking ,your Network is a list of your acquaintances but, in the NGO world it is a list of people who become your best buddies,your mentors ,people you respect and people who respect you.

3.Lesser Egos:

It has been observed that behavior of people change when they are in a situation where they are reminded of moral values and idealism, such as near Schools, in churches and in temples. This is exactly why when you meet truly dedicated people in an NGO you will see their Guards down, people become much more open, much more ready to change and much more inclined to listen to all points of view. Suddenly there can be order in the chaos of an NGO decision-making process.

4. It opens your mind:

Try working with any NGO and you will see what I mean, you gain a sense of perspective and start seeing the impact of small things. You realize what is more important

5. Leadership:

The chances of being a leader or learning leadership are much more in NGO sector than any other. It takes about 4-5 years to become a team lead in an IT field but in an NGO you could be doing that the moment you join. It all depends on what you are willing to do .It is not necessary to even join them full-time.

More importantly, you can learn the meaning of true leadership very early on such as

Ø  Post does not matter as much as the work/role

Ø  Difference between enforced leadership and earned leadership

Ø  Importance of NOT being a leader sometimes

Ø  How to be a good follower

Ø  How to motivate people

While I did point out various Pros of working with NGOs, I am not discounting the exposure and experience you get in the corporate sector. This article is simply to point out some of the very unique takeaways from NGO sector.

My personal belief is that your learning and personal growth can be accelerated by working for an ngo. Remember when you join an NGO, you are not just doing it for giving back to society, but are also gaining much more.