HAILEYBURY COMMUNITY ACTION VOLUNTEERING
SPRING 2024
NEWSLETTER “MY ROOTS OF SERVICE” BY ELLA R. My passion for service finds its roots in the remarkable life of my grandmother, Meera R. The secret flame that has fueled my 80-year-old grandmother's service since 1967 has been the satisfaction she derives from helping those in need - a flame I am proud of carrying forward. My grandmother's impactful journey has spanned across both urban and rural India, addressing causes such as health, education, women's empowerment, juvenile delinquency, and environmental initiatives. My grandmother draws a lot of her inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi's wisdom on social work. He believed the primary motivation for social workers should be the well-being of those in need, without any expectation of personal gain. To date, my grandmother has always taught me that helping those in need is our duty and not a route to fame. She also follows the empowerment of communities principle of Mahatma Gandhi. Empowering people to take charge of their destinies contributes to meaningful and sustainable impact. Take for instance, her work with tribal communities. Instead of just building toilets for the poor in the villages - she taught the members of the village the importance of hygiene, privacy, and safety resulting in the villages using the toilets properly and working hard to build more for their community. Instead of just planting trees for the tribal folk in India to help them secure continual food - she educated them on why planting trees would benefit them and taught them the process of planting. Through this, the women in the tribe fell
in love with the process and learned how to cultivate seeds, develop a food bank, and improve the nutrition of their children.
Other projects my grandmother has worked on include: Organising free cataract clinics for elderly people who cannot afford the operation. Educating remote tribal people on how to harvest rainwater. Organising local veterinary service for street cows that had ingested plastic from garbage on the street. Setting up of a womens cooperative enabling women suffering from domestic abuse to earn and save their income. My deep-rooted passion for service comes from my grandmother, who may seem extraordinary at first, but for my sister, Lyla, and I, her story seems to represent what humankind should make the norm. Recently, my sister and I conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro, not merely for the challenge but driven by the profound purpose to give back - The ‘secret flame’.