Project Paperback

By Soorya James

Edited by Namrata Caleb, Senior Editor, The Indian Economist

Everyone has a story to tell. It could be interesting, inspirational or just plain boring. You could be a hero, a villain or someone in the background. The choice is yours. This is my story about how I became associated with a non-profit organization called Dhakshina and it’s Project Paperback. I was living a quite normal life as that of any other  DU student who studied just before exams  as I was always busy juggling with work from different societies ,eating from shady but amazing eating joints, bargaining with every other ‘bhaiya’, discovering Delhi  and freedom. I always wanted to be a part of an organization that made a difference in people’s lives.  All  I needed was some inspiration to make that leap. I had first heard about Dhakshina from my roommate and a question arose in my head,’Should I join?.’ It was finally after five months that I decided that it is time for me to do something meaningful  in life and I became a part of this  wonderful group of young and passionate people , who were trying to change the world, because they still believed that human beings are capable of love, affection and responsibility.

Dhakshina is a youth run volunteer organization which works for a positive social capital development. We believe that we can get everything in life if we help other people to get what they want. With various projects all across India, Project Paperback which was started In Delhi has grown to be one of our biggest projects till date. The whole process comprises of collecting unused or recycled paper from various schools and organizations like Centre For Civil Society, which is then made into new books by differently abled children which in turn is then provided to the underprivileged students from MCD schools and educational institutions in Delhi. These are schools/institutions which have not received the adequate school supplies that they have been allotted and through our project all we have done is take one small measure to ease their tension. To satisfy our goal of providing vocational training, Dhakshina has associated with BalChetna in Sultanpuri which is an important unit of the Delhi Centre for Child Welfare(DCCW). The centre currently fosters 30 special children in the age group of 6-14 years. These talented tots who otherwise engage in numerous vocational activities such as saree decoration, hair band decoration, mask making and the making of Raksha Bandhan bands have been provided with yet another activity of book binding through the Project Paperback. They are efficiently guided through this entire process by our own team as well as a group of dedicated women at BalChetna. We wish to achieve three things : Optimum use of one of the world’s scarce resources, that is, paper, a means of livelihood for children who would not otherwise be given a chance to work or partake in any activity of this sort and of course, the dream of subsidized education for students in rural schools. You can  be a part of this movement not just by donating money but also by creating awareness, so feel free to join us in our venture and help us in any form, even spread the word about PaperBack  and Dhakshina to your family and friends. If you want to know more about us, please follow us upon http://www.dakshina.org.in/.

 If you are someone with a creative mindset, someone who can dedicate time for a better tomorrow, someone who is committed and passionate to make a change ,someone who finds joy in helping others and making others smile ,Paperback is the place to be. It is easy to dream, but harder to fulfill someone else’s lost dream.

So, do you want to feel the happiness when you realize that you are the reason for a kid’s smile? Do you want to ensure that every child in India is educated? Do you want to work with highly motivated people with varied interests but a common goal ? If you do, the good news is that Project Paperback is on a look out for volunteers. If you are interested, contact our HR Head, Susan Abraham : +91 9810881250. If you want to be the change you want to see, it is time to write your own story.