Our last blog entry introduced you to Deepali Kudtarkar, winner of the Popular choice award for “Click the Change”. In this blog, we will meet Eesha Shirke, whose submission in the contest won the Jury’s choice award.
Eesha is a structural engineer by profession. She likes to volunteer and has been an active volunteer since the time she started working 2.5 years ago. With hobbies ranging from dance to photography, Eesha’s association with iVolunteer started when she attended a Braille workshop facilitated by us. She has also volunteered to click pictures for our Crafting for Livelihood activity.
We spoke with Eesha about her thoughts on winning the contest, feedback about the contest and what motivates her to volunteer. Here are excerpts from the interview –
iVolunteer: What are your thoughts on winning the “Click the Change” campaign?
Eesha: I didn’t expect to win given the number of good photographs submitted by other participants. Winning the Jury’s choice award is a big achievement for me as a photographer since competent judges assessed the entries.
iVolunteer: Tell us more about the picture that you submitted to the campaign.
Eesha: We were visiting a mahal in Bhor, a village near Pune, when we saw a number of children from a local school emerging out of a picnic there. The expressions on their faces moved me to capture them instantly on my camera. A particularly inspiring moment was when a child joyously raised his hand as he was running out, and that is the image I submitted to the campaign. I was also impressed to see the number of girls getting educated in such a small village.
iVolunteer: Given that you have been volunteering for a while now, is there anything about your experience that you would like to share with others?
Eesha: Volunteering is a personal choice. It makes me happy from within to know that I am giving something back to society and when I see the happy faces of people whom my work has impacted. To mention an instance, when the inmates of an old age home that I visited invited me a second time to spend time with them, I felt really satisfied.
iVolunteer: Would you like to share your views and feedback about the Click the Change campaign?
Eesha: The campaign should be publicized more to draw in more participants and entries. The fact that this is a good platform for those who are just beginning to volunteer should be highlighted.
Eesha’s image, along with those of other participants, will be made available to iVolunteer’s partner organizations free of charge, for use in their communication campaigns. If you believe that you possess a skill or expertise that can be used to make a difference to society, get in touch with us at mumbai@ivolunteer.org.in
We thank our volunteer Sneha Rao for writing the blog to highlight our winner.
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