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CRY, According to Rippan

Excerpts from Rippan's last interview (1994), in which he discussed CRY, its past and its future with Shivani Maheshwari.

On why CRY was formed: CRY was officially registered on January 28, 1979, in response to the unjust situation of children that we see every day. Children living in the most inhuman conditions, deprived of the most basic means of sustenance. Children living unsheltered on our city streets, or working 10 hours a day as the bonded property of money lending landowners. Children who do not know what it means to have a childhood. It stems primarily from the need to restore the dignity of a child's life, to give him or her every opportunity to grow and develop.

On people who care: We also realised that there would be others like us, people with full time jobs, and family responsibilities, who could not dedicate their whole life to child welfare, yet wanted to, and could help somehow.
The real task was to bring together these people and transform their individual contributions - of skills, time, or money - into resources that would help neglected children.

On how CRY got its name: It came about when a friend of mine and I were looking through a dictionary for a name for the organisation. We had decided to include CR in the name for Child Relief and then came across the word 'CRY' and we thought it would be very appropriate since 'Y' would stand for 'YOU'. Because CRY essentially believes that everyone of us is gifted with resources - professional skills, spare time, the ability to raise funds or materials. And, most important, the desire to share with those who are less fortunate. By supporting the work of other organisations, you can touch the lives of the children they serve. 

On the objectives of CRY: The chief objective is to restore to Indian children their basic right to food, shelter, health and education - in short a future. It aims to provide comprehensive support to development efforts working for socially and economically deprived children, women and communities. CRY works towards its social objectives through two routes, viz., direct assistance to development projects all over the country through its Development Support Unit; and awareness and sensitization programmes for the public through the Youth Wing, and in particular the Communications Division.

On what an individual can do: If you care, I think, you will want to do something. There is no questionabout being lazy about writing a cheque. There are so many ways you can help a child. If you can't give money, you can at least teach the daughter of your domestic help. I don't think anything we have done is too exceptional. Anybody out there can do it too.

On CRY's support to projects: CRY has supported 80 projects, but you must not get caught in numbers. They are not important to see quality. We don't help just with money. We try and provide complete support. For instance, we started a materials bank in 1992, as a channel for a select range of materials, from areas of abundance, to others in great need at a nominal cost. We also conduct training programmes for our projects in the field of education, health, project management, environment and agriculture. The word funding is often associated with someone who merely writes a cheque. But we go much beyond that. Our relationship with the project does not end by just providing them money. We believe projects are hampered by lack of resources, and so we do what we can to help them with these resources. 

This in turn enables them to focus on the real work, which is already so difficult. It is in this spirit of partnership that we work together for children. So CRY maintains a close relationship with its projects through a combination of project visits, and mandatory quarterly reports from the project partners.

On the importance of Youth: The influences we receive at an early age determine our social attitudes. So we have been making efforts to mould these attitudes, and sensitise children to situations of injustice, more particularly, those faced by the disadvantaged child, through the programmes of CRY's Youth Wing. It is an opportunity for us to listen to what children feel and want for their world.

On CRY's plans: Right from the beginning we have been flexible. We respond to a situation, and find new directions. So I can't give a blueprint and say this is what we are going to do. We have always responded to individuals needs. You see, money is just the means for us, not the end. Our efforts will be to create as much awareness about the situation of children as possible, and motivate them to do something to change this situation.

On whether CRY has made a difference: Yes, I think we have. We have helped over five lakh children till now. But again numbers don't count. Even if we have changed one life, it means a great deal to us.