A demanding challenge

Times are tough. Our neighbors across the border are struggling to breathe. The whole world is in chaos. We could go through the same fate if we don’t tread carefully. While all of us have the urge to be heroes as chaos ensues around us, we were chained by circumstances.

The world was weeping once again, and we had no choice but to stay confined to our devices. My team and I wanted to help a cause. A cause that fought selflessly on the frontlines without being appreciated as they should be. A cause that strived to fight against the chains of finite resources to help infinitely. A cause that served one purpose, one people, and one vision — humanity.

The cause is called the Edhi foundation.

While the foundation was a brainchild of the late Abdul Sattar Edhi sahib, it has deep meaning sewn into its roots. It’s almost like Edhi sahib was destined to lead this cause and leave a legacy.

Eidi or Edhi is defined as a gift given to children as a part of a celebration. At its root, the word means gift, and the Edhi foundation is nothing less than a gift to this world.

Over the last few weeks, we have been closely following the late Abdul Sattar Edhi Sahib’s life and struggles how he used to serve humanity by selling pencils in the scorching heat of Sindh, how he was a father to many. How he selflessly gave.

We were inspired by the legacy Abdul Sattar Edhi Sahib left, and we were more than eager to follow in his footsteps and support the legacy he left behind — the Edhi Foundation.

What we hadn’t anticipated was how hard it was going to be.

To put it into perspective, we couldn’t leave our houses. We wanted to collect donations, and it’s the month of Ramadan. This meant that we couldn’t expose ourselves to many people, we couldn’t collect donations, and people had already donated to other causes.

This made it quite hard, but we persevered. We managed to collect 14,900 Rs. and successfully donated it to the Edhi Foundation. All It took was a lot of struggle, asking, and convincing.

Here’s what my team experienced

Usama: It was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about how to strategize different options.

Huzaifa: Honestly, my experience is not worth mentioning as I struggled to persuade people to donate to this cause.

Hafza: This was a life-changing experience. I had never asked someone for money before, and this experience really helped me get out of my comfort zone and support a noble cause.

Ahsan: I wish I could’ve taken part in this experience; circumstances chained me.

Insha: I tried going through different forums, and one thing is for sure, this isn’t easy. I often perceived collecting donations as something easy but seeing how things went; they weren’t.

Huma: People were barely interested. It was quite disheartening being turned down by so many people.

Isha: I hadn’t anticipated how hard it was going to be. I was often given false hope. It was disheartening to be let down by so many people.

How did we collect funds? and what challenges did we face

We decided it would be best if we collected funds individually to cover more ground. Our circumstances bound us, and it was quite tough in a group. We didn’t have a lot of time, and we decided to cover the individual ground will help us shine as a team. We decided to make an amazing, professional, and moving flyer that would convince people to donate.

Here’s our flyer:

Usama: I am not used to asking people on social media. I can understand the people’s distrust of the internet. I have been scammed one too many times, and collecting donations seems sketchy anyway. People didn’t take me seriously. I kept urging them to donate to the cause; however, I was given false hope.

Huma: One thing is for sure, convincing is very hard. It really helps me put Edhi Sahib’s struggle into perspective. I overcame those struggles by calling them and going the extra mile to help them understand my intentions and passion for this cause.

Hafza: It was very disappointing and humbling when I was given promises to donate and then saw no follow-up from people. However, this didn’t disdain my passion and I continued to work. I worked, worked, and worked till I was able to collect over 9000 Rs.

Insha: It was a difficult experience nonetheless. I exhausted all of my options and to my dismay, I was deemed unsuccessful. I talked to different people, despite having a very busy schedule; however, I couldn’t get someone to donate. This experience helped me learn that it took a lot of struggle to build Edhi Foundation. I was amazed at Edhi sahib’s perseverance and hunger for serving humanity. I am humbled.

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In conclusion, it wasn’t easy but we made it through.