YOUVA novel charity work inspiring all
Hyderabad: They engineer their way through the myriad roads of Osmania University and assemble in the morning opposite the Law College with an assortment of breakfast items. Sandwiches, soups, tea and coffee, ragi, noodles, boiled eggs, fruit salad and bread & omlettes. Morning walkers and anyone who passes by invariably stops for a bite and the volunteers of Youth of Osmania University Volunteers Association (YOUVA) gleefully cater to them. The proceeds go for charity.
It is a ritual of a sort that the team from YOUVA take up the initiative every December for a few days, as is the case this year on Saturday and Sunday for the benefit of the needy. The beneficiary this year is Sunita Krishnan's Prajwala Foundation. Founded by students of OU Engineering and Technology College in 2013, a strong 232 members buoyed by the co-ordination of Prof. Shyam Sunder, UCT Principal, Prof Basava Rao, HOD of Chemical Eangineering, Prof Syeda Sameena Fatima, Principal of UCE and Prof. Uma Maheshwari, Training and Placement Head go out of their way to give back something for society.
H Raj Kumar, president of YOUVA, said, “The food is prepared by the students who bring portable gas cylinders, induction cookers, utensils, and other utilities from their home. The stalls are set up for these and they also use nearby empty classrooms.” During winter, YOUVA distributes clothes and blankets to the homeless in the city. The students work in their free time. "As we have more than 200 volunteers, every time there are at least few of them who are free who can manage and perform tasks,” said Raj Kumar.
Other tasks undertaken throughout the year are cleaning of OU campus, spending time in orphanages, technical education in govt. Schools like Jama-e-Osmania and Bagh Amberpet and tree plantation. "There are no specific donors or sponsors for our NGO, it's mostly the volunteers who donate or the alumni or walkers or professors. These small donations help accomplish big tasks,” said Raj Kumar.
BY Asna Khundmiri