Volunteer and Donor Voices

Name: Tushar Desai

Age: 45 years

Country: Singapore

Occupation: Marketing Consultant

Q1: Why do you choose to volunteer?
Answer: To give back something to society, by supporting a cause focussed on children across India

Q2: Do your friends/ family/ colleagues volunteer as well?
Answer: No

Q3: When did you begin volunteering with CRY?
Answer: End-2009

Q4: Why did you choose to volunteer with CRY?
Answer: Based on CRY's focus on the rights (influencing the improvement) of children across India - directly and indirectly

Q5: How do you volunteer with CRY? (List skills/time put in)
Answer: Generate awareness among my peers/ friends, supporting CRY in formulating a plan to formally do fund-raising in Sinagpore

Q6: Has volunteering with CRY made a difference to you/ your life? Explain.
Answer: I haven't done any hands-on volunteer work (on the ground) yet, though just based on my efforts focussed on fund-raising planning, I have come to understand one thing - that I need to do more and that I want to do some on-the-ground work!

Q7: Can you share an incident/anecdote about your experience that is meaningful to you?
Answer: I am happy that I have managed to generate some interest within the CRY organization, to explore the possibility of setting up an office in Singapore, to do fund-raising formally here, from among NRIs and corporates based in Singapore - this only drives me to provide more support to CRY's efforts

Q8: What is your take on the situation of children in India?
Answer: All living beings need (and have the right to) the tangible basics of life on a sustained basis - food, clothing, shelter, education (roti, kapda, makan aur gyaan), besides the intangibles of care, nurturing, love, respect and 'a voice'. Children are no exception, in India or anywhere else in the world. There are scores of children in India who struggle to have many/ most of these basics which many of us take for granted/ waste at many times. Our role, as 'priviledged' humans should be to directly/ indirectly support activities which grant them these tangible and intangible basics, so that they can eventually improve the lots of their own communities/ future generations.

Q9: Why do you think it's important to ensure child rights?
Answer: See answer to #8 above

Q10: How do you see your volunteering time creating a difference?
Answer: Though I don't live in India currently, I am unable to do hands-on work for CRY; my hope is that through supporting fund-raising activities in Singapore, I can at least generate monies which CRY can utilize to provide the above-mentioned basics to more and more children in India

Name: Kutticode Muralidharan

Age: 54 years

Country: Kuwait

Occupation: Administrator

Q1: Why do you choose to volunteer?
Answer: As a human being I have a moral obligation to the society to serve & help deserving & needy individuals or groups.

Q2: Do your friends/ family/ colleagues volunteer as well?
Answer: Yes they do- My friends & my two daughters

Q3: When did you begin volunteering with CRY?
Answer: 1999

Q4: Why did you choose to volunteer with CRY?
Answer: I was quite moved & depressed by seeing some innocent children when I visited one of the orphanages in Trivandrum managed by the famous Kerala poetess Mrs. Sugathakumari and hence decided to work for the betterment of deprived children

Q5: How do you volunteer with CRY? (List skills/time put in)
Answer: By involving in the activities of FOCC in Kuwait for fund raising and active participation in conducting CRY Chess & Cricket tournament in Kuwait. Have never looked at the clock to account for the time spent in volunteering.

Q6: Has volunteering with CRY made a difference to you/ your life? Explain.
Answer: Yes indeed. Makes me feel that life is meaningful when others are happy.

Q7: Can you share an incident/anecdote about your experience that is meaningful to you?
Answer: A visit to an old age home where I saw aged parents whose children were wealthy & living in so called high society status, conveniently pushing them to stay at old age homes.

Q8: What is your take on the situation of children in India?
Answer: Child labor still prevails in India and deprived children are to be protected by the Government of India by providing education and proper care.

Q9: Why do you think it's important to ensure child rights?
Answer: Because every individual has equal right in this universe

Q10: How do you see your volunteering time creating a difference?
Answer: A feeling one cant explain

Q11: Please share your vision for Children.
Answer: Children should be protected from being exploited and they be given proper education, shelter & right to live.

Q12: How do you see CRY helping you make this vision possible?
Answer: I do believe CRY fulfills the trust & faith entrusted upon them by millions of their supporters.

Name: Pawan Chaudhry

Age: 50 years

Country: Kuwait

Occupation: Port Captain

Q1: Why do you choose to volunteer?
Answer: Service to humanity.

Q2: Do your friends/ family/ colleagues volunteer as well?
Answer: My Daughter

Q3: When did you begin volunteering with CRY?
Answer: 2004

Q4: Why did you choose to volunteer with CRY?
Answer: I have maximum trust in CRY

Q5: How do you volunteer with CRY? (List skills/time put in)
Answer: Event management, Buy for CRY stall, 100 hours per year

Q6: Has volunteering with CRY made a difference to you/ your life? Explain
Answer: A visit to our supported project in tribal areas in India was a very humbling experience and now brings me immense pleasure while volunteering.

Q7: Can you share an incident/anecdote about your experience that is meaningful to you?
Answer: One of the parents accused us of unfair practices. But was able to weather the blame through honest discussion. Brought me happiness.

Q8: What is your take on the situation of children in India?
Answer: Needs immense work, to support lakhs and crores of unfortunate ones.

Q9: Why do you think it's important to ensure child rights?
Answer: As children, they have no voice. Its our duty to ensure that they are treated as humans.

Q10: How do you see your volunteering time creating a difference?
Answer: Betterment of society

Name: Varun Saxena

Age: 19 years

Country: Singapore

Occupation: Student

Q1: Why do you choose to volunteer?
Answer: I started working with CRY during my school and wanted to continue with it.

Q2: Do your friends/ family/ colleagues volunteer as well?
Answer: My twin sister volunteered with CRY as well. During my school years, there were 18 more students in the CRY Organization.

Q3: When did you begin volunteering with CRY?
Answer: I began working with CRY at the end of 2009 and interned in the summer of 2011.

Q4: Why did you choose to volunteer with CRY?
Answer: Working with Ms.Swapna Maini, CRY employee, during school was really a privilege. I wanted to continue working with CRY, and hence I asked Ms. Maini if I could intern in the summer.

Q5: How do you volunteer with CRY? (List skills/time put in)
Answer: During school, we had an organization to spread awareness and raise funds through events. Over the summer, I worked with Ms. Maini to improve CRY's involvement in Singapore.

Q6: Has volunteering with CRY made a difference to you/ your life? Explain.
Answer: Definitely. It has made me realize how lucky I am, and made me appreciate my education. It has also empowered me to use my education wisely, to help others who aren't as lucky. It has also made me appreciate my family, without them, I do not know where I would be.

Q7: Can you share an incident/anecdote about your experience that is meaningful to you?
Answer: When I started my CRY organization in school, I was scared and anxious of how it would turn out to be. After the first year though, we were able to contribute close to 20,000 rupees. Even though it wasn't a lot, I was happy we were able to contribute.

Q8: What is your take on the situation of children in India?
Answer: There are many children who don't have their basic rights. It is very important for us to work towards acquiring those rights for them. In addition to this, I feel education is a crucial part of a child's life. Every child should have a right to education, and in my opinion this isn't the case in India right now. However, there are a lot of people working towards these goals.

Q9: Why do you think it's important to ensure child rights?
Answer: Children deserve their rights. It should be something they can easily put their claim on.

Q10: How do you see your volunteering time creating a difference?
Answer: During the summer of 2011, I worked to establish CRY in Singapore. I linked CRY with the United Nations Association of Singapore. I feel this will benefit CRY in the future as they are more represented in UNAS's events.

Q11: Please share your vision for Children.
Answer: Every child has at least an option for education and has their basic rights.

Q12: How do you see CRY helping you make this vision possible?
Answer: CRY provides a medium through which I can communicate my vision. It provides me with the resources, guidance and focus.

Name: Shalesh Jindal

I just stumbled on CRY accidentally at one of its events and thats how i knew about it. I am a fun loving guy and could never imagine charity could be so fun! The DJ Dance Party, one of CRY events, which helped underprivileged kids by raising funds was just awesome. I made lots of new friends with different backgrounds. The feeling that you are making a difference to a children's lives by just volunteering for a  fun event is great. CRY is not just about raising funds but also about directing the funds at the right places at the right time in right direction. It has also made me realise how much disparity still exists in world. I strongly feel, children, who are our future, definitely have to have their basic human rights. I would definitely give CRY a thumbs-up!

Name: Arushi Datta

Being an intern of CRY during summer '10 was a very enriching and fulfilling experience for me. My work experience with the Global Operations team helped me understand the working and aim of CRY better, and it was very heartening to interact with people working towards a noble cause. A very special part of my internship entailed visiting a grassroots project, where I got to see and interact with underprivileged children and the real environment they lived in. Under CRY's guidance and support, the children have a promising future, a world apart from their lives before they received guidance. This was hugely motivating for me, and I felt proud to have been a part of CRY. At the end of my internship, I was very satisfied, as I felt I had helped towards furthering CRY's growth. I do hope that as a volunteer of CRY in Singapore, I too, can be an agent of change!

Name: Manasi Trivedi

Q1: Why I volunteer for CRY?
Answer: We are so privileged to have what we want and be where we are. I always feel like we need to give it back to complete the circle. We had it when we needed it now we need to pass it forward. I volunteer for CRY because I know how education can change a child's life. CRY helps fix the problem from roots up.

Q2: What do I understand about child rights?
Answer: Equal Child Rights should be a basic privilege and yet so many children are deprived of it. CRY does a good job of restoring these rights to underprivileged children.

Q3: The rewards of volunteering for CRY?
Answer: I know that when I wake up, I know for sure I'd have changed something. That feeling itself is the best happiness I can give myself. I met so many other volunteers and it is always interesting to see that irrespective of our diverse backgrounds, and experiences, we all work in unison towards a common goal - a better today and tomorrow