Lockdown: Youngsters in Hyderabad take charge to help needy
HYDERABAD: In a city like Hyderabad where partying and late-night outings are common for the youth, some youngsters are also socially responsible involved in helping others during this pandemic. Marpu foundation is one such youth-run community formed to create potential young leaders in the community by engaging them in community services.
Founder and president of Marpu Foundation K Raghu Vamsi a second-year BBA student at Loyola Academy, believes that young people are full of solutions to the world’s greatest challenges especially during this pandemic. He is also Karmaveer Chakra Awardee as he shared, “Our team decided to help the stranded daily wagers, migrant workers, and physically challenged individuals when we found that at least 30 per cent of the families were left stranded due to either poor implementation of relief by both the central and state government or lack of manpower to identify and resolve.” The members of the foundation mainly provide food provisions/groceries to the families.
Marpu foundation has provided more than 16,000 meals to fight hunger while providing ration to 2750 needy families. They distributed masks and sanitizers to 5,000 people and trained 12 major slums by conducting workshops on prevention of Covid-19. Juzer Sabuwala, a pharmacy student at Sultan-Ul-Uloom College, is another youngster from the city who added, “I started my work by feeding people during the lockdown with the help of my family and friends. We realised the most affected people were who couldn’t beg and where highly dependent on their daily wages.
Along with my friends we distributed ration to almost 500 families.” We also distributed face masks and hand sanitizers to sanitary workers and police officials, he added. They also addressed their queries through video calling. The co-founder of Rubaroo Monisha Vemavarapu, a women-led organization focused on working for and with young people said, “Rubaroo’s alumni came together to support in mobilising and engaging other young people by creating groups advocating against issues online.” “These groups facilitated action supporting the different issues that emerged amidst the Covid-19 crisis.” She added. Rubaroo has also been fund raising to support on-ground relief work for community kitchens, providing ration and relief to people in need, and also fundraising for community spaces around them.