Young generation of Andhra presents model worth emulating

His friends liked the idea, and together they started Young Generation in September 2019.

GUNTUR: Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” This quote was enough to motivate a group of students to start Young Generation, a not-for-profit that helps poor children at orphanages and slums. Sk Sadhiq (20) is a B.Tech (food technology) student of Vignan Deemed-to-be-University in Guntur who mooted forming the group. His friends liked the idea, and together they started Young Generation in September 2019.

Without much idea about social activities, the friends initially visited orphanages and old-age homes in Tenali and Guntur.“We were just a bunch of students who didn’t know how to set up or run a full-fledged organisation. But our aim was to help people and contribute to society, which has always been our driving force,” Sadiq said.

Sadhiq, a BTech student, and his
friends feed elderly destitute

“So we visited orphanages every week, and provided the residents food, clothes and other essentials. After a few visits, we understood what the children needed. By this time, several classmates and faculty members got to know about our work and joined us.”What started as a small initiative is now spread over multiple cities.The group now has around 200 members, and branches in Tenali, Ongole, Chirala, Nellore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

With the help of their college management and several officials, Young Generation has now decided to broaden its services and take up programmes such as ‘Naari Shakthi’, ‘Green Yatra’, ‘Pashu Samraksha’, ‘Pusthak Sangraha’, and ‘Hum Honge Kisan’.Sadhiq added: “During our visits to orphanages and slums, we observed that several girls and young women are unaware of menstrual hygiene even at this day and age, and many can’t afford to buy sanitary napkins. Naari Shakti aims to help such women.”

Through the Green Yatra initiative, the group wants to take up plantation drives and mobilise youngsters with the help of social media.The ‘weekend farming’ concept portrayed in Mahesh Babu’s Maharshi motivated the group to moot ‘Hum Honge Kisan’.During the Covid lockdown, the team claims to have fed 17,000 people.