Swasti Singh

“Aisi kaun si chiz hai jispar sabka adhikar hai?”

According to me, it’s nothing but education; it’s the most important part, that gives shape and direction to our lives.

When I was in college, I always aspired to do something that could contribute to my society. I was very much passionate about social work but hailing from a small town Moradabad, it was very difficult to find volunteering opportunities and nonprofit organizations almost didn’t exist. In metro cities, it’s quite common to find these as compared to remote areas.

But as it’s said, where there is a will there is always a way. One of my college seniors started an NGO called “PARIVARTAN: The Change” in Moradabad intending to target those children who have been dropped off from their schools and put into child labor by their own families. I joined it I 2017 and trust me, after that there was no looking back.

The start was not easy. There were challenges. After I joined, we organized our first PAATHSHALA with 15 students. It was a success. Honestly, it was a lot fun in teaching those innocent beautiful kids and bringing a smile to their faces. We mostly looked after children whose parents are migratory laborers or did odd jobs. Those children were often found involved in begging or child labor and were directionless. We targeted slum areas and conducted many surveys and figured out such children.

Next, we enrolled them in our PAATHSHALA. We made them understand the importance of education, helping them with their creative skills for like 3-4 months. After that we enrolled them into the government school where they could continue their further education. But the task was not as simple as it seemed, since the children came from very poor families. Their parents weren’t agreeing to put their children back to school, they thought their children could become the additional source income if y also worked like them. It was really tough to convince them but we never gave up and tried till the last. Initially, we had around 14-15 PAATHSHALAS and around 500-600 students. Today, I can proudly say that we have our NGO spread over 7 cities like Moradabad, New Delhi, Kashipur, Dehradun, Lucknow, Mathura, and Rampur with more than 1400 volunteers working together to give a better future to the underprivileged kids of India.

If you ask, what I have received from PARIVARTAN, I would say “CONFIDENCE”. I feel happy when I speak to those children and spread awareness among people about education which is always the right of every human being. Most importantly by actively getting indulged, I get the peace by seeing those kids smiling.

I have some bigger plans towards the future. I want to do something for my country and bring change into the society as much as I can. I want to help these children to the maximum. If I can become a light in their lives and shape their future in a better way, I will feel the purpose of my life is fulfilled! This also goes with our NGO’s tag line also “Be The Change”.

Total Work Experience : 2.9 Years (Infosys)