Back then when I was a CFS student in International Islamic University Malaysia in Gambang, I was a subcommittee of the Welfare Bureau under Mahallah Fatimah Representative Committee. There were various programs that we had organized and conducted under the guidance and supervision of our fellows. One of the programs that I remember is the 'Box of Love' program. I can say that this program closely related to SDG number 2 i.e zero hunger.
The objective of this program is to provide food for students in need, free of charge. The concept is 'from students to students'. Concisely, this program was to inculcate and instill a sense of empathy and care for others in students' selves. A donation box was being placed by the Welfare Committee at the pantry of each floor in the mahallah. Students who wished to donate may put the foods or drinks or snacks inside the donation box. And then, whoever feel that they needed foods but insufficient of money to buy it, they could take the food from the box for free.
As for the challenges to execute this program, before we launched it, we have to think about the strategic place to put the donation box and how to let students to acknowledge about this zero hunger campaign. To come up with the solutions, we had decided to place the box at a place where students usually go or visit to ease them to donate or take the foods. On top of that, to let the students acknowledge about this program, we had constantly distribute the posters and reminders to the groups of hisbah and mahallah that whoever wanted to donate or take the foods, they were free to do so. While, to encourage students to participate and donate, the committee had promised to reward the students who contributed, with starpoints.
After launching it, the 'Box of Love' program had become a success. Plenty of kind-hearted and generous students donated and plenty of them took the foods for free too. The program indeed worked out as we expected, and even better. It received some unexpected and great response from the residents of Mahallah Fatimah. The efforts and strategies that we had made to make sure this program would turn into a success were perfect. From this program, I've learned that teamwork was critically important to make a program doable and being executed well.
Obviously, this program had positively impact both parties of students. The students who contributed were able to develop empathy and generosity in themselves while the other party of students were able to enjoy the foods and drinks together without being left apart. As we acknowledge, those who are in need of food and basic necessities, they will not openly tell others about it as they are shy and do not want to burden anyone. Therefore, by coming out with this brilliant alternative, these students won't have to be ashamed to ask or take the food anymore as it is always available at the pantry on each floor of the mahallah.
Through this program, I personally realized that there were actually various platforms and alternatives to help those in need, and it was not difficult to be executed. Furthermore, I also realized that it is such a great ni'mah to have enough food to eat, enough garments to wear, and a place to live. It was dawned on me that we should always be grateful with every single thing that we have and we should not complain on anything that Allah has given us because there are more unfortunate people out there who can't even afford basic life necessities.
If I were given the same opportunity to conduct this kind of program again in the future, I'd love to multiply the donation boxes and distribute more of them at different places, so that it could be reached to more students. I feel contented to be part of the committee of this campaign as it really opened my eyes of the new things I haven't known before. I learned about teamwork and critical thinking and gain new experiences that I'm sure will benefit me in the future. Alhamdulillah!
No comments:
Post a Comment