KOCHI: Whilst other 16-year-olds binge-watch Netflix or spend hours honing a new skill, Anaanya Mathew, a student of Global Public School in Kochi, was bent on doing her bit during the unprecedented pandemic-induced lockdown. Upon watching the plight of daily-wage and migrant labourers in the country, Anaanya decided to help them in the best way she could.
“I wasn’t exactly productive at home initially. My mum would tell me to watch the news and do the required if I wanted to. And I’ve always wanted to,” she says.
Anaanya and her friend Hafiz Mohammed ended up raising Rs 3.9 lakh for daily wage labourers struggling in the country. “The labourers were scrambling to get back home. I saw videos of them being cramped in their quarters with barely any efficient sanitation facilities. Initially, I tried setting up a funding campaign via GPay and Paytm but that had a few hurdles. I then approached my friend Hafiz who told me about the crowdfunding platform Milaap,” says Anaanya.
However, the two students were clueless about what was in store for them. “We honestly didn’t expect more than Rs 30,000 and set the same as the limit. But it happened rather promptly–messages were being passed on to our friends and relatives–and before we knew it, we could raise `3.9 lakh,” she says. Milaap has already raised over `70 crore for various Covid-19-related initiatives, as per their data.
Anaanya will be coordinating with Nanma Foundation to deliver food kits to the labourers. “We were able to make 500 such kits. The rest will be transferred for essential provisions like oil and pulses,” she adds. Anaanya can be reached at 9895395700.