Food and Shelter is important for survival. So is Technology. In today’s world technology has become a necessity, especially in Education. Many NGOs and Social service organizations are realizing this. One such NGO is Hope Begins Foundation from Delhi NCR who believes that lack of a proper education is the root cause of most problems in the society. They have been helping poor students with study related materials like books, stationeries, uniforms etc. But recently they were seen distributing laptops.
Food and Shelter are some issues in the society that are very easily noticeable by everyone as problems. While Hope Begins Foundation already have their running projects of helping poor children with educational support, this time they took a step ahead and extended their support to those students who are bright in studies but are not able to do further studies for financial reasons.
Their recent campaign was distribution of laptops to poor students in Ghaziabad.
When asked about why Hope Begins Foundation decided to distribute laptops, they said that their aim is to help with education. But in today’s world education is incomplete without technology. Laptop is one such basic technological tool to study or to work in a corporate. After Covid most schools take classes online. Many students are not able to attend their classes because they don’t have a laptop. And it is not only for their study, even if they go for a job after they finish education they need a laptop.
With some basic research done by the team of the foundation they came to know that there are many students in the country who discontinue their study because it demands them to have a computer of their own to do their work. These students belong to such families who are struggling to get one meal of the day for themselves. They don’t have a big savings or any extra money to buy things that cost so huge like laptops for example. Sometimes they are not even able to pay their school fees on time. These students have very big dreams but just because the new education demands them to be technically equipped, they are not able to continue their education. What is worse is that this is such a problem that most people ignore. Of course food is important. But there are many organizations who are already taking care of it. But things like technology and the internet are considered luxury or extra comfort in life. That is completely wrong. Technology is a need, not a luxury.
Deepak, a student from Delhi said that he studies during the day and works in the evening to pay his college fees. But after passing to his second year of college he came to know that he needs a laptop to attend classes and do his projects. With the small earnings he makes every month, buying a laptop was not possible for him at all. Thanks to organizations like Hope Begins Foundation who noticed such issues of students and are taking steps to bring a change.
In 2017 the foundation started by helping differently-abled people participate in sports. Slowly they moved into other social causes including distribution of food to the needy. Their work was also noticed by big brands and renowned personalities. Testimonials of many such personalities can be seen on their website (www.hopebegins.org.in). Looking at a little background of the foundation, it was started by 3 friends Pranav Mishra, Shoaib Ali and Bitupan Baruah. With it’s head office in Delhi NCR they have volunteers across the country. Their projects include Let’s End Hunger Together, Cricket for Differently abled, Financial support during medical emergencies and supporting education of poor children. During Covid they distributed 30 lacs meals to the underprivileged and the labourers. Their work was recognized by many people and got a lot of media attention. They organized multiple cricket tournaments for the differently abled players in various parts of the country.
“We need to look at social problems in a holistic way. Education is a solution in the long run. It will solve many problems in the future. Of course there are issues that need immediate attention like child abuse, women harassment, human trafficking etc. We are not denying that these are not problems. But it won’t be wrong to say that these are consequences not the cause. The cause is lack of a proper education.”- said one of the Co-Founders of Hope Begins Foundation.
The foundation is seen collaborating with many Orphanages and Children cares to support their work. They have also collaborated with many big NGOs to serve the nation at large scale. Talking about future plans, Hope Begins Foundation is looking to expand its current projects and expand it’s team to both tier 1 and tier 2 cities. They believe they are working on two very important issues in the society i.e. Hunger and Education. And if these two are taken care of then a lot of other problems in the society will go away by itself.