THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few young men in Changanassery decided to get together to do something for society under the banner of ‘Prathyasha’, a social service unit. Well, this might seem nothing out-of-box except for the fact that what prompted them was a community radio.
Radio Village 90.8, started in 2012, has touched the lives of Chethipuzha natives in many ways and the unit ‘Prathyasha’ is one of them. The first step towards setting up the unit happened with the airing of a programme of the same name. The programme which aired the plight of people who required medical assistance, namely organ transplantation and blood donation, caught the attention of many. Thus, was born the social service unit.
Vipin Raj, coordinator of the radio programme ‘Pratyasha’, says the idea of a social service unit popped up following the tremendous response the programme generated.
“The team behind the radio listens to many people who are invalid and ailing. Their woes moved us and we felt the need to do our bit to help them. It is our conceited effort that led to the formation of the service unit,” says Vipin.
Their effort seems to have borne fruit. Vipin says a survey done in the area has recorded a tremendous increase in the sale of radios during the past two years.
Collection Team
The Prathyasha team has already collected `43 lakh within five hours in Cherthala Municipality for a liver and a kidney patient. The villagers from squads in all wards and collect as much as possible. The counting is done in common places like church, temple or auditorium and the amount collected from every ward per day will be aired via radio.
Fr Sebastian Punnassery, director of the radio, says collecting funds itself was a Herculean Task. “We go to each ward and speak to people about the value of sharing. We formed a Jeevan Raksha Samithi which includes all panchayat members and other representatives. The collection date is announced earlier so that people can decide what to donate,” says Fr Sebastian Punnassery.
The team also believes in helping people irrespective of their religion or caste. “We believe unavailability of money shouldn’t deter the ailing from availing the best available treatment. We were able to distribute over `7 crore among 55 liver and kidney patients in 35 villages during the last two years,” says Fr Sebastian.
The efforts of the team has won them applause from all corners. “Every village achieved their target amount within five hours. It was dubbed the “five-hour miracle”. The last fund collection was on April 19 at Mezhuveli panchayat in Pathanamthitta district. A sum of `15,37,000 was collected for two liver patients at Mezhuveli village.
Varghese, an employee in the Postal Department, Changanassery says: “I am a listener of the radio and came forward as a Prathyasha team volunteer by listening to a programme called ‘Thanal’ which provides assistance to poor patients.
Radio Village 90.8 also airs a couple of other programmes including ‘Snehasancharam’, a venture for the benefit of physically challenged and
‘Arinjathum Ariyendathum’, a platform for listeners to express their grievances directly to the authorities concerned and ‘Ayus Chintha’ that feature doctors. The involvement of Radio Village 90.8 has helped win the National Community Radio Award in 2013.