Exploring The ABC Of Community Service with Anahita & Toshani

Anahita Dubey (Grade 10, Delhi Public School, Mumbai) and Toshani Sharma (Grade 9, Cambridge International School, Bangalore) had nothing in common – at least that’s what they thought – until they met at TribesforGOOD for a project around Education. For two people with no experience in structured social impact projects, both outdid themselves with every step of the process and ultimately, found a collaborator in each other.

The journey of these young ChangeWarriors is a testament that any aspiring changemaker can explore creating a social impact in 3 simple but crucial steps – the ABCs.

Awareness of Privileges

Toshani shared with us that her trigger point to act for the greater good was when she witnessed a group of young children in the slums around her neighborhood picking up construction tools instead of books. She saw that none of them were dressed in uniforms, which further indicated that they were missing out on education. On the other hand, Anahita grew up watching her parents donate pre-loved items to those in need, and thus, she imbibed the idea that helping others was a natural thing to do.

Both of them not only recognized their privileges but also knew that they had a responsibility to take action. When they landed on the TribesforGOOD website searching for a summer program, they stumbled upon a “golden opportunity” to provide education to underprivileged students. While Toshani found that this was the most effective way to address the inequality she witnessed, the project also became another meaningful way for Anahita to contribute to society, in addition to her blogs, which were already benefiting many of her peers.

Becoming a Changemaker 

Signing up for change-making is easy, but the real challenge lies in effectively implementing it. It starts with the mindset to be a changemaker. The hungry-to-help teens went through the holistic grind any changemaker undertakes at TribesforGOOD: understanding the depth of the problem area chosen, exploring ground zero to meet people who need societal support, preparing to offer them that support with the utmost empathy, and finding more ways to engage with the wider community.

“I actually thought there would be 20-30 students over e-meet looking through ppts, doing some activities and that’d be it. I didn’t think there would be so many interactive sessions. Our mentors were always with us especially when we had a workshop. They were very friendly and flexible too. The project was way better than what I expected it to be,” said Toshani when asked to contrast her thoughts before and after the program. 

Anahita added that she thought she had signed up for plenty of lectures and a certificate but the program turned into a transformational experience throughout. She narrated how it took a while for her to fathom her interaction with women survivors of human trafficking. The glimmer of hope she had seen in their eyes provided her with further encouragement to pursue her project. 

Collaborating With Breakthrough Strategies 

Toshani and Anahita had clear objectives as ChangeWarriors 

1) Conduct workshops to impart English learning skills through reading comprehension.

2) Execute a community project to create a greater impact in their local communities. 

Both acknowledged that the workshops involved immense teamwork with fellow teammates – overcoming nervousness and interacting with peers, setting up discussions, segregating work, preparing content including changes at the behest of mentors, maneuvering the language barrier with the workshop participants, and so on. The team strategized how to execute multiple workshops that would meet participants’ goals, factoring in all constraints such as internet connectivity, capabilities & interests of the participants, and language familiarity. 

Anahita summed up the beauty of teamwork, “We learned that despite differences if you have a common goal, you’ll find a way to make it work. You might even end up making something beautiful out of it.” Check out how our ChangeWarriors at TribesforGOOD execute fieldwork. 

The multifaceted youngsters did phenomenally well with their community projects – recording audiobooks for visually impaired people, yet another commonality they hadn’t seen coming. For Toshani, this was her means to dive deep into the world of disabilities, an area that had caught her attention for long. And for Anahita, an avid blogger, the community project was a chance to serve a group of people she hadn’t given much thought to until then. 

Anahita turned her own blogs on student-related topics into audiobooks for Mitra Jyothi, a Bangalore-based Trust catering to the development of visually impaired individuals. Toshani not only recorded her audiobooks for Samarthanam, a similar non-profit in Bangalore working for the disabled, but she also fundraised over INR 9,000 for the studio team to invest in a high-quality microphone. Having received much appreciation from the respective teams, the girls affirmed that they plan to continue their association with the NGOs by working on more audiobooks. 

Through this journey together, Anahita and Toshani didn’t fail to notice that they were similar in many ways: common interests in blogging, debates, working for visually impaired people, and of course, serving more people with their privileges. And with that discovery, they came to their next breakthrough strategy — collaborate beyond the realm of TribesforGOOD and explore new & unique ideas in change-making; something they plan to do soon.

We look forward to hearing from them on their next moves for the greater social good and wish them well.

Begin your change-making journey by signing up for the upcoming cohorts of our Global Challenges & Social Justice Program.

Pitch us your idea today! Not sure which theme to pick, email us at mandeep@tribesforgood.com to book a 20-minute consult.