The NGO sector in India is a culture of its own. Personally having lived and served at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad over the past four years, I have lived closely with such inspiring people. They have committed their lives to serving community and humanity, often at an expense of tending to their own needs.

A few weeks ago I was invited to do a Co Create Art session with the Drishti Human Resource Center. It was going to be their annual gathering with NGO heads from 13 different organizations, from across the country.
I was excited because I was getting a chance to serve those who are otherwise continuously giving of themselves to others. I particularly wanted this session to be an opportunity for our friends to be received in the same spirit with which they tend to others needs. To offer them a non-judgmental space to share their difficulties, their inspirations, to be heard and welcomed with love.



Over three hours, we sat in silence, happily messed up our hands with pastels, visualized, wrote, thought about our deepest fears, strengths and weaknesses, and expressed them all in form and color.
It was moving. As many expressed in our closing circle, they found even the moments of silence deeply profound; they had not given themselves the time to look within since years. Prema* shared a moving story about how the love she never received while growing up, drives her to passionately offer love to children in her crêche. Vipul* shared how gratitude makes him complacent and he always judges himself, feeling he doesn’t give ‘enough’. And Rahul, who is only 22, feels lucky to want to serve and observe fewer needs, unlike this other classmates who are chasing material dreams. But is also in fear of financial stability, which seems to be a concern for many.
They found solidarity for their own fears, answers and resonance to their own questions and experienced acceptance, as each one shared stories through their beautiful art-works. My biggest satisfaction was in the promise given to spend more time tending to their own need for love and care.

They re-discovered the child within, that day. Now they wanted to continue to love and nurture it. Deeply fulfilling.

15 years of Drishti’s committed hard work has today become a family of 13 different NGOs. The NGOs are supported with counselling, advisories and resources; woven into a beautiful network of heart-centered individuals who are deeply passionate about their work and purpose.The organizations have inspiring stories: A school for close to 600 mentally handicapped persons in Ujjain, an aged gentleman full time running an eye-specialty hospital, a toys on wheels facility and crèche, village schools, training and providing professional opportunities to rural youth, farmers rights and so many more.

One day I hope to bring beauty into their spaces. I feel grateful for my work :)
* Names have been changed.
 

Posted by Lahar Mehta on Feb 5, 2015 | permalink