Tales Of the Tribe- Rithu’s Compassion for Stray Animals
“It was during my 9th grade, that an interest in the well-being of social community sparked. I remember we used to do a lot of these bake sales, and manage to collect funds to donate to the local orphanages.
It felt great and so fulfilling. I distinctly remember, 2 friends and I held a bake sale, and together we raised a large amount of money — that we donated to The Home Of Hope. That feeling of helping somebody was so empowering.
Animal rights were also something, that became a concept I was fascinated by. In school, I wrote a bunch of papers on how animals are treated, what they go through, and how the coexistence of humans and animals will benefit everyone. With time I felt more passionately about it.
“I remember this one time, for a school field trip — we were taken to an animal rehabilitation centre. We saw injured animals there, in their raw and vulnerable form. It helped me connect to the cause so much more. My favourite part was — when we even got to release an injured, but healed kite, into the wild!”
With this memory etched in my heart and a fueled passion to do something for the betterment of our community — when summer came around, I knew I wanted to volunteer and do my bit.
It was actually through my mom and dad that I found out about TribesforGood. It was after joining TribesforGOOD, and putting my vision into words — to a mentor who was there to help me onto the world of social change-making — that I could finally see my dream materializing.
Mandeep and I spoke about the things I was passionate about — Education and Animal Welfare. We then discussed the goals I had, and eventually the paths we would adapt to reach the same.
For the welfare of stray animals, we set up a fundraiser for an NGO we were supporting. We understood how important it is for NGO’s to not worry about being able to ‘afford’ to help an animal in need or not.
We started rigorously marketing and sharing our fundraiser, through word of mouth and social media — and in 3 days, we managed to raise the whole amount!
That feeling that I could do something, all on my own to contribute to the aid of those on fours, was quite literally one of the best feelings! That success was just the push I needed, to get the ball rolling — and now it is my goal to bring ‘contributing to the community’ a concept that is followed by all!
- I have so many things I want to do — I want to start my own podcast where I can speak to other changemakers and converse about ideas to make this world a better place.
- I want to develop a website for my current fundraising project and raise more and more funds to help the NGO’s relentlessly working for a multitude of causes.
That day, at the animal rehabilitation centre, I saw animals at their worse — and that provoked a spark of change inside of me. That’s when I thought that it was time for me to do something.
I hope that that doesn’t have to happen to everyone else before they realize how much our world needs their helping hand.”
Fundraiser Link (completed): https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/helping-paws
You too can become a Young Changemaker like Rithu. Apply Now to be the change!
