Awareness Drive at Chuna Bhatti, Kirti Nagar

DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE

• Total Volunteers = 15
• Households Covered in Door to Door Awareness = 80

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

- Francis of Assisi

Changing oneself is difficult. Changing someone else is arduous. Changing the masses is nearly impossible. And this is what we are trying to do at Chuna Bhatti slum cluster in Kirti Nagar. We are attempting to restore a park from its current abused state as a garbage dumping yard to a garden full of fruit trees and medicinal herbs and shrubs. However, we need locals to shun their habit of littering or garbage dumping in the park.

As a first step of this colossal ambition our volunteers began by spreading awareness among the locals. Our initial conversation was with a few people in the park. We were fortunate that these people showed immense interest in our mission. Some were quite positive that such change with everyone’s support is possible. And some even came forward to help us for our awareness campaign.

Our volunteers spread out in all directions and interacted with the locals of about 80 households. They elaborated on the purpose of our self-invitation to their place. The volunteers spoke to them about the park we had developed earlier in the area and even showed them the photograph of the same. That was quite helpful to garner their attention and consequently to present our case. We even spoke about how littering chokes their drains and it can be a cause of a lot of diseases.

As we had expected, some claimed they never litter, some even shut the door upon us and some were willing to be a part of the team. Some were quite happy their kids will get a nice place to play, others were visualizing themselves relaxing under a tree shade during blazing summers. Some even pointed out to issues of some locals using the park for drinking. Some suggested our efforts would go in vain. Some even signed a pledge that they will not litter. As a token of appreciation of their time, support and covenant, we gifted them some fruits.

We believe that change is possible. It may take some time but it is possible. We are not only going to involve the local community but we are also going to collaborate with a couple of other NGOs that are active in this area for past few years. Their experience shall be instrumental in helping us understand more about the locals. And a connive effort has the potential to yield tremendous results… even achieving the seemingly impossible!

Let’s do our bit for our city’s environment. Join us!