The youth can be a great force

Five rupees. Just a mere five rupees. That’s all Mission 5 asks from its willing donors. A student’s initiative which emerged from one of Bangalore city’s college has gone on to inspire people, young and old in many parts of India. The plan was to help the disabled and deprived by collecting Rs. 5/-. In these past years the team has done a lot of commendable activities.

To get an idea of the kind of work they do for instance as part of their New Year celebrations Mission 5 took the kids from Kannada Adarsha Mahila Makkala Samsthe to see Gemini Circus. Team Mission5 also visited an orphanage and celebrated 'Sankranti' with children also called Kite-flying Day and engaged in Kite Flying with the kids. Also on January 10, as part of a new project, Prayas - to encourage co-curricular activities among children, Mission5 conducted the first 'Sports Day' programme for kids at an orphanage.

Mission 5 started on February 2, 2007 by a group of five young students of Garden City College, Bangalore. The students named the group ‘Mission 5’ because they aimed to fulfill a set of 5 objectives with just Rupees 5/-. Their objectives were the aim to support the disabled and deprived to lead a better life, with major focus on providing ‘Light of education’ & ‘Right to childhood’ to underprivileged children.

These students are on a mission to usher in a new era of social development that defies the notion that one has to have lots of money and time to partake in or bring social development. The initiative, close to completing three years, boasts of a team of 20 active members, hailing from over five countries, doing their bit to bring smiles on the faces of the underprivileged. After two years of remarkable service to the society, 'Mission 5’ was finally registered on February 2, 2009 as a charitable organization under the Government of Karnataka. Mission 5 endeavors or respondents have spread to many places outside Bangalore. They have two branches in Bangalore, GCC branch and SFS College branch and three active branches in Hyderabad - VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Bachupally.

For its noble idea and its implementation, Mission 5 was chosen as one of the best 'Citizen Hero Initiatives by CNN IBN and was telecast on a special programme on January 26, 2008 (Republic Day). MISSION 5 story was also telecast on DD News on December 27, 2009.

In an exclusive chat with The Morung Express, Ashok Shah, one of the founding members of Mission 5 shared the views and agenda of Mission 5. Formerly a GCC student and currently working for a website portal as a writer, Ashok reveals that the aim of Mission 5 is to bring positive changes in the society and especially make efforts at providing a possible good life and education to the underprivileged children. He narrates that as college students he and his friends faced hurdles in the form of both money and time constraints. Hence they thought of creating magic with jus Rs. 5/- from each willing student in the college and planned on doing activities during weekends. They began with supporting an orphanage and providing stationery, play materials, basic requirements like slippers, etc. “Our aim is to motivate and encourage youth partake in social development n do good with just Rs. 5/- from an individual” he says. Ashok hopes that the youth across India will learn and imitate from Mission 5. He also states that many students from Nagaland have been part of the project. He mentions that currently also Naga students in GCC, Bangalore have also been contributing to it regularly. Ashok concludes the interaction by leaving a message for the youths of Nagaland that the “Youth is a great force. Just take a little time out of this rat race for pursuing short-lived fun and good career, and devote to the underprivileged. The smile you can bring on their faces is priceless and their blessings will remain with you forever.”

One just has to contribute an amount as nominal as rupees 5 to bring positive changes in the society and devoting little time everyday or every weekend.

Mission 5 is currently supporting :

• Two orphanages, (Kannada Adarsha Mahila Makkala Samsthe and Jeevitha Anathashrama)
• Two old age homes (Shree Shirdi Sai Vrudhashram & Home for Mentally Retarded and Sai Krupa Vrudhashram)
• One school for the visually challenged children (Sri Rakum School for the Blind )
• One school for the underprivileged children (St. Anthony’s School)
• Funding the education of 19 poor children (3Help 1Child - an educational project of MISSION 5 - sending 19 children from across six villages to school)

To know more, visit their blog: http://mission5.blogspot.com/

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.