Yasar Arafath - Primary Short-listed Nominee - Social Volunteer Awards 2021
Yasar arafath is a social entrepreneur from Malappuram, who is an enchanting person with varied perspectives and innumerable capabilities. He is currently pursuing his B tech in Mechanical Engineering and is one of the co-founders of Arise, an NGO which is a breakthrough in the field of volunteering for youngsters. As a former District Volunteer Secretary of NSS Technical Cell Malappuram, his volunteership is truly a model to be emulated. The deft touch he has in bringing up new initiatives makes him an adept at volunteering. Moreover, he is the director of Quadreo Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. As such, he is a social volunteer and plays a significant role not only in Arise but also in various organizations spread across the country. Human engineering is a concept deep-rooted in his mind, and is always interested in being a storyteller, exploring various lives.
VOLUNTEERING FOR ME
In my opinion, volunteering is the idea reflected in the minds of each volunteer. It is that act which is shapeless and beyond definitions.These range from self satisfaction to collective joy through simple deeds and efforts.
VOLUNTEERING JOURNEY
I would like to give a two way response for this. Firstly I have never thought about the age in which I started reflecting a positive influence in the lives of others. Like how I said before, volunteering is one's potential for others and in that sense I think limiting it to just numbers would not be ethical. However, in the sense of social volunteering, the idea reached me only a few years ago, approximately three years where my experience took a new form with organisations and team efforts. The new form was very much pleasing and the first organisation that I worked with is,that which give birth to a million volunteers for the country and the world inturn - National Service Scheme. My inspiration to join National Service Scheme was purely out of curiosity and that paved the way for volunteering as a passion.The activities associated with, the people whom I came across, the spirit which holds my heart, the brainstorming ideas for betterment, the peace of mind that I enjoyed are all the contributing factors that lead me to the path. My inspiration for volunteering is not just confined to a particular thing, but there are a lot of factors which contributed to my life as a volunteer. And the reason for why I choose volunteering is still unanswered, as I am still on my track exploring the newer scope of volunteerism.
VOLUNTEERING STORY
In my perspective, every individual is a volunteer at some point. As such, everyone starts volunteering from a younger age without even knowing what it actually is. Volunteering can be done in many ways. It can be in the form of a help offered to someone or even a smile. In school and college days, youngsters come across a different perspective of volunteering. In my life, volunteering started during my college days. When I started my college life, I entered one of the best social volunteering platforms, which is known as National Service Scheme. That was the start that paved the way for the volunteer in me. I was an active volunteer and gradually I started loving NSS. As I was an active volunteer I got a lot of opportunities to attend many camps. During the first year itself, I attended a mini camp, a Nature camp and a 7 day camp. Apart from that, I got a chance to attend 2 State camps. When I entered second year I got selected as the volunteer secretary and with that I got the biggest chance to become the district volunteer secretary of Malappuram. From there, I got a lot of opportunities to not only work with my team mates, but also to work with other organizations and diverse groups. With the college volunteering I also worked for the Malappuram Coordination Team. My volunteering circle started to expand and along with this I attended a training session of Kerala Youth Volunteer Force, which helped me gain a lot of contacts .From there I stepped into one of the greatest NGOs named THE GULMOHAR FOUNDATION (TGF). After joining TGF I experienced a different type of volunteering .From there my point of view about volunteering started to reshape. Also I got an opportunity to be a part of 1 or 2 projects of TGF. One was" Bottle Up Challenge", which was done in our college.It was a challenge against plastic bottles.For that, we distributed some steel bottles to nearby schools.And the other one was "Climatic Ride"which was a cycle ride. When I was working in TGF as an active volunteer I got an opportunity to know more about other NGOs .Along with this I started to take sessions at NSS camps,schools etc. While I was taking sessions, I started becoming a part of many organizations and worked well there. As I have got a good v olunteering experience ,I just felt something missing somewhere. From that I got inspired and started to think why can't we make a change through a project or a platform for youngsters. So, as a project we started to think about a platform where volunteering skills of youngsters will be channelized for social benefit.And this is where 'ARISE' was implemented. We started with small works, but always wanted it to be different from a usual volunteering perspective. We started to think bigger and better and that was when we thought of making ARISE an NGO or Non-Governmental organization and we made it an NGO. Now I am one of the co -founders of ARISE and is still working in nearly 10 NGOs . Arise has now progressed with over 800 volunteers, nearly 20 incubated projects and over 5000 beneficiaries. Even though my NSS career has come to an end, I am still working for my college and for Malappuram district, exploring the newer dimensions of volunteerism.
PROJECT ARISE
ORGANISATION ARISE
MISSION & VISION
VISION:
ARISE NEW BLOOD TO TROUBLESHOOT SOCIAL ISSUES BY EMPLOYING THEIR COMPETENCIES
MISSION:
TO PINPOINT THE SOCIAL CONCERNS AND GENERATE A COMPREHENSIVE ATMOSPHERE TO CONVERGE NEWER IDEAS FROM THE YOUTH TO PRODUCE A FINAL ELUCIDATION
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Arise is a platform created to engage the volunteering skills of youngsters from diverse places for them to develop themselves as well as the society in which they live. It is a matter of concern that youth in the present scenerio are not much concerned about the happenings around them. Inorder to overcome this grim reality 'Arise' rose like a phoenix from the society with a bunch of volunteers who have an aim, that is the betterment of society. This was the foundation where Arise was built. Presently, Arise has over 800 volunteers from all over India and this number is sure to increase as the time progresses. So, it is highly sustainable reshaping individuals to leaders and the leaders in turn creating more leaders. Arise wishes to add colour to volunteers' dreams through individual, group and team building activities. In addition, they can present their inborn talents, develop their existing skills and even learn new skills. One of the ideas that Arise put forward is to go beyond possibility, to explore and face challenges. The level of freedom Arise opens up to the volunteers is unlimited creating a sense of belongingness and acceptability in their minds. They come across a lot of activities in which they can showcase their leadership skills. Inorder to raise the level of confidence in the minds of volunteers, they are assigned various positions like interns, zonal coordinators, coordinators and much more on the basis of their ability. The goodness Arise reflects on to the society is infinite. The more volunteers come closer, the more they benefit. No volunteer is asked to take up an activity forcefully and this is where the soul of Arise rests. Volunteering is something that comes out of passion and it is this passion that can do good for the society. Apart from volunteers, Arise has a much bigger dream of creating social engineers for the society. Technically capable volunteers are moulded for the society where their imagination and idea execution could benefit millions. Their capabilities are channelized for the progress of every section of the society and one of the activities undertaken in this aspect is "Mission Safe Hands" that aims to place automated sanitizing machines at public spots across Kerala. There are diverse activities that range from environmental to health, individual to community development and a lot more. Arise is not confined to a particular idea. It has a wide variety of aspects and perspectives that is accomplished at various points of time. All that matters here is the choice of selecting volunteering as a passion. Overall, Arise is a platform that let the volunteers scattered across the world to come closer and arise to infinity.
LENGTH OF SERVICE
Our team ARISE was launched on January 1, 2020.The length of the project ARISE is lifetime .We are planning it as a long term project sustainable in nature.I used to work 2-3 hours per day and the working hours has been extended to 12-24 hours when the platform stands live for more.
ROLE IN PROJECT
The project "ARISE" is my initiative, an idea to create a platform for volunteers all over India to utilize their competence to create a better society. After working on it for a while, I decided to form a community for its proper functioning as I always believed that the only way to dissolve the limits of impossibility is to go beyond possibility. If I talk about the skills used and values added to this project, it range from communication to team work, being an example to my fellow volunteers to take initiatives at their field of work. I firmly believe that, to be an effective leader, one should have effective communication skills. So, we launched the communication intern program to enhance them to effective communicators. And by setting vision and mission for the organization, we are trying to make them have their eyes on the goal and can inspire and empower themselves as well as the coexisting fellow beings. It took a while to reach this stage, for our organization
had to undergo lots of changes and experiments to bring out the best for the volunteers, as I always believe in transformation, and being a co-founder of the organization, I always try to be a good example for them to follow. This project has brought lots of changes to me with regard to my abilities and has also helped the public reap the benefits. It helped me gain confidence and taught me how to be passionate, patient and inclusive.
IMPACT OF PROJECT
Arise is a platform for volunteers across India to explore themselves and find their true self. In that sense, the impact that Arise reflects to the society through volunteers is not fully quantifiable. However, there are some aspects which Arise primarily focus on. With regard to the quantitative data regarding the team, there are 4 founders, 13 chapters, 800+ volunteers, 28 district coordinators, 3 zonal coordinators, 13 interns, 2 internship mentors and over 5000 beneficiaries. Considering the number of incubated projects, there are around 20( O2 Challenge, Sink, Exalt, Isotita, Library Project, Project Waste Management, POEM, Tribal Project, Dolls of Hope, CALL, Edvantage, Learnify, Chuvad, Horegallu and Mission Safe Hands). The Skill Development Spaces include IPSD, Vatta Mesha, Wonder of Words, Who Am I and Let's Talk. While mentioning the number of campaigns initiated, it includes 4 major campaigns which are Donate for a Cause, Do for Chellanam, Plant a Tree and Live With Pride. To continue, Arise has also come up with a publication with the title being Padapp, of which the second edition is based on the theme 'Queer'.With over 25 collaborators, which includes Indian, international and regional organizations and NSS units, Arise is still in its track progressing better. It is indeed worth mentioning the events hosted like Volunteer Camp, The Social Hackathon and Annual Meet. There are 5 sub communities under Arise, Technical community, Arise Tutors, Listening Community, Travel Community and Campus Ambassador, and has also organized a workshop TLSC ( Transformation Leadership for Social Change). The value based approach is as follows.First of which is personal development and the second being community development. Arise created a platform for volunteers to present their innate abilities, to develop their existing skills and to learn new skills.One of the key aspects of Arise is the comfortable space that it provides to the volunteers for them to explore various points of imagination. Volunteers are not made to work under Arise, instead to work to arise. While they are freely provided with comfort zone on one side, they are also exposed to various organisations and initiatives through collaborations for community building. This is the point where Arise stands distinguished from other platforms. Arise enlarges the scope of volunteering to a wider perspective. Arise volunteers engage with a lot of activities ranging from individual to team building activities. Team building is the aspect we give focus to, to realize volunteers dreams. It helps them to develop qualities like adaptability, communication skills, how to be a team player and many more. Such activities play a vital role in reshaping a volunteer to a leader. In this way, Arise is still in its track creating leaders for the world. The community is that which benefit through responsible citizens. Arise aims to bulid a community that is inclusive where everyone could live with their individuality and is accepted in the way they are. Technological benefits are not fully enjoyed by the community in the present scenario, So Arise wishes to create social engineers who could help the society progress in that aspects. In total, Arise focuses on moulding change makers for the society who could inspire other fellow beings and help the society progress. The future of Arise is related to the happenings around one. Arise plans to enlarge its volunteer circle and its scope by actively engaging in both online and field related activities. Also, in the near future, I hope to provide a better environment for the volunteers to broaden their horizons through Arise. The Development of Arise is linked to the positive changes undergone by volunteers and it is expected that Arise will play the leading role in building a progressive society.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
ACHIEVEMENTS
I was the District Volunteer Secretary of NSS of Malappuram district. Moreover, one of the biggest recognitions for me as a volunteer is being a co-founder of Arise. Furthermore, I am the director of Quadreo Enterprises Pvt. Ltd and I had also worked as MHAT Student Group head for six months.
FUTURE PLANS
As an organization head, I expect mentoring, collaboration and other resource support through this. I hope this would be a great step for Arise to get fully established as an NGO for individual as well as social benefit.
REFERENCE: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1_j8xIS_mgnnPyUHQcguLasMVrZ5Tp4ro
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