Edhi Funds Collection- Reflection
It is self-evident that when you go the extra mile, you encounter difficulties and hurdles. When our group tried to collect donations for the Edhi Foundation, the same thing happened to us. Few people denied giving us a single penny thinking of us as some scam. Even one of them asked us to show some legal document. We dealt with such people and did not let them de-motivate us. We did not lose our hope in humanity.
After realizing that it is a hard task, our group sat down together. We jotted down all the ways which we could adopt to make this thing happen and to actually get some funds at our hands in the end. Our different members came up with different ideas. The experience of collecting funds was not new for some of us but we normally do so in our universities for our societies but it was a totally new thing too for a few of us. All were having doubts with them but one thing stayed constant was that we didn’t lose hope in humanity.
One of our fellows had the experience of collecting donations but just through the family members. This time, he, had to go out of his comfort zone and contact strangers for donations. He could not go out because of the strict lockdown in his area. So, he contacted people online and used his personal social media platforms. This is how we went the extra mile just for the sake of Humanity. Yes, we did not lose hope in humanity.
The day we started collecting donations for Edhi Sahab, it was a whole different feeling. The whole team was energetic. Everyone started collecting funds at their end. We collected the funds individually as well as in groups. First, we made a post which we circulated in our groups, suggested to each other how can we make it more productive. One person saved all the funds and kept track of them. The other person was saving all the receipt. We, all, were working as a team. All the struggles were because we didn’t lose hope in humanity.
At first, we made a list of those people in our contacts who normally do charity. We called them and told them the whole situation and requested them to donate. Some people denied our request totally and some paid attention in the literal possible way just because of the cause that we had with us. From the point when we did not know how to even start this procedure, we reached that stage where our group was flooded with messages of screenshots mentioning the donations people did. Our group member Omer’s cousin from Switzerland donated a total of 28000/- Upon thanking, his response was just “It’s A Must”. Collecting funds was not an easy task because many people had been facing financial issues due to COVID but still, we didn’t lose hope in humanity.
After collecting a sufficient amount of money, we rested for a while and reflected. Our group members Omer, Ajlal, Inam, Noorul Ain, Mehran, Noor Fatima and Jawaria did the reflection. We learnt that there will be some people who will reject you but there will also be some who will encourage you for a good cause. Instead of giving up, we should try to encourage the people to take a step and play their part. We got to know the feelings of those people who are at the receiving end and not at the giving end. We were able to do this all just because we didn’t let our spirits die and we did not lose our hope in humanity. Yes, Humanity Does Exist.
We confess that we faced humiliation, rejection, and people’s reluctance. But, we had the willpower and the intrinsic motivation to keep moving forward.
Our experience helped us to understand what Winston Churchill said: “Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” When one door closes, another opens.
