Its been 5 days since we hosted the ‘Skill Marathon’ but my colleagues and I have been recovering from what we call as a hangover of Skill Marathon. The emails and calls from volunteers and NGOs appreciating our efforts are still flowing, making us cling to the memory of day.
23rd January was a day of verdict for all our efforts of implementing a unique skill based volunteering model. Unique because of the wide variety of projects and skills that the volunteers and NGOs were bringing to the table as opposed to a common skill theme running in hack-a-thon or create-a-thon. As we inched closer to the Skill Marathon, each day added equally to our excitement and anxiety. A project added would call for a round of applause and each volunteer drop out would give us bad dreams. Literally!
We witnessed lot of incidences of kindness by people present on the day which was completely unexpected. Sameer who was seeking volunteers for Shop for Change volunteered for another NGO Srujna to provide inputs for their products, our photography competition ‘Click the Change’ award winner Esha Shirke whom we had invited to felicitate on the day insisted on contributing to a skill based project on the spot. Our own team member Vijay stepped-in to complete a newsletter design template when one of participating volunteer didn’t turn up.
A special thanks to Xperience Powerhouse who was generous to offer their space, internet,other amenities for free along with their readiness to help in any capacity.
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