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Bigger Than Life. A Movement - A Move Which Is Meant For The Underprivileged.
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Bigger Than Life A Movement - A Move Which Is Meant For The Underprivileged...
BIGGER THAN LIFE is a project started by a group of enthusiasts, a set of ordinary people who believe they can create extra ordinary possibilities in the lives of the underprivileged kids of Bandra streets. These kids are homeless, orphans or with a single parent, deprived with the basic necessity of life which may not be food, clothing and shelter but....LOVE.
How it all started? This project began in March 2011 when on a Sunday evening Avi, a Volunteer saw a few underprivileged children at the Carter Road promenade being taken care of by foreigners. This incident inspired him to take up ownership towards such children and he along with a few volunteer friends began conducting diverse activities like drawing, singing, craft, sports and life skills development activities thus exploring the talents of the children residing near the Danda slum. BTL envisions building a community centre for these talented children. They are in the process of tying up with several NGO's to facilitate resources for them.
Why is the movement named ‘Bigger Than Life’? An average human life span is around 75 years. Considering this, any ordinary life style would be – birth – school – friends – studies – work – marriage – kids – retirement - enjoying a good time with close ones - death! Well, as good human beings, we always think of doing something for the community or for the ones in need but due to various reasons, pull ourselves back and don’t want to get out of our comfort zone. We always want to do something Bigger, something extra ordinary. Hence the name Bigger Than Life as this is something which is definitely BIGGER than our normal life.
How we do What we do? Go to a place where you see a need for the underprivileged kids. Invite people around that area to come forward & support, Monetarily or Voluntarily. Make Leaders within the project for different tasks. Make a set base of Volunteers & meet the kids once a week and just do some basic games / activities to build a relationship for the first few weeks. Create a funding channel. Once the kids start relating to you, approach schools & get the kids enrolled in education. Go to another location, see the need & repeat the above 5 steps. Simple!
Achievements so far! BTL managed to get more than 100 Volunteers out of which 30 are regular and committed. The 6 slum girls who were admitted in St. Josephs Convent school, Bandra last year have all passed and moved to the next level. BTL also supported financially and voluntarily in the successful operation of Arjun, a 8 year old street kid suffering from Umbilical Hernia. BTL has 30 kids at the moment, both boys and girls of all ages. BTL is taking care of the accommodation and food supplies for a few families every month. BTL opened another similar movement in Mahim and is taking care of 6 kids and aims in accommodating them into boarding’s for formal education.
Off target! BTL also took the kids to a Zoo lately and all had a fun time, thus got to know each other better. Even though BTL is not an NGO, the functioning is very organized, planned well ahead of time and the delivery has always been more than the expectations. BTL volunteers undergo a lot of training to learn and understand to make the intricate functioning of the movement smoother. There is a lot of perpetual marketing which goes on behind the scenes to keep getting Volunteers, kids and funds. Each Volunteer has been given a task and they diligently do it during the week to make the ‘once a week’ session successful.
Volunteer’s Speak Pooja, A high-spirited H.R. Professional “This project has made me come out of my comfort zone. I have learnt a lot from these children” Payal, A Journalist with TOI “According to me BTL is about children dreaming, singing, dancing, playing and being cheerful everyday. Its about the commitment and integrity of a group of people who believe in themselves. They are facilitating these children to live their childhood and dream BIG!!!!!!! BTL is a movement which serves as a stepping stone enriching several lives.”
Volunteer’s Speak Kris, A Drummer with The Mavyns “BTL has taught me to think out of the box and exemplify in action my purpose in life.” Miten Salot, An Entrepreneur “Bigger Than Life is sowing seeds at an early stage of life in these kids so that they transform into better human beings, something that they will cherish for the rest of their lives, something that cannot be explained in words!”
Volunteer’s Speak Sunny Virmani, VP with The Largest Digital Entertainment Co. “BTL confirmed the living truth that it is better to serve others than to be served. That serving fulfils our deepest yearnings and desires. That loving others is truly what God wants us to do.” Avi, A Multi-Faceted Professional “I want the children to sleep with dreams and wake up fulfilling them. They are extremely talented and intelligent. I want to showcase that to the world. My wish is to remove the word underprivileged from the dictionary of Mumbai city. Nothing is impossible, Nothing is unachievable. Let’ s make a difference!”
What’s next! Any plans for the future? By March 2013, Bigger Than Life plans to grow Bigger...It aims to: • To create BTL in at least 2 more suburbs • To create more than 50 leaders for different locations. • To have at least 50 more kids participate in different centers • To accommodate more than 20kids in schools and boarding’s • To create more tie-ups with companies for funding.
BTL Speaks “On a Saturday evening, you are sitting at your favourite place sipping hot coffee thinking you always wanted to do something for someone in need, something nice...maybe it’s a dream, maybe a desire...you don’t know. You don’t have a channel to help you get what you want! Well...Bigger Than Life, with all its humility wants to say that We started off the same way, but the only thing we probably did was that We just did it!
God has made us in His image as He made the ‘underprivileged’. It is we who’ve given them this name. They breathe the same air, eat the same food, dream the same dreams, so what makes them different than us! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! If you believe this, join us in this cause of wiping off this name from the dictionary. Let us be a people who will come forward to support with all that we have. Let’s create a future for the kids. After all, If you do what you can do, God will do what you can’t do!”
To support the cause Do write us on biggerthanlife1@gmail.com or Call on 9967655569 You can also visit us every Saturday 4.30 pm @ Bandra - Carter Road Promenade Thank you!!!
