'You do not have to be a star or a social worker to do something for the community'

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 21(EMN): Vikuonuo Sachü, Miss Nagaland 19, state SVEEP election Icon, Miss Kohima 2nd runner’s up, and co-founder of Youth connect Nagaland, on Monday shared that volunteerism is ‘not just about helping someone unfortunate but it is an act of kindness and an act of you being able to extend your helping hand to someone who is in need.’

The reigning Miss Nagaland spoke about volunteering and its aspects during a webinar organised by the family planning association of India, Nagaland branch on September 21, on the topic “Volunteerism.”

‘When we talk about volunteerism, you do not have to be a star or a social worker to do something for the community, but the person should be able to understand what someone else is facing,’ she said.

She also shared that she has learnt how to be more accepting because ‘no matter what we do there will be always someone to criticise you,’ citing her recent voluntary work in selling local vegetables and how some people questioned whether she was doing it for publicity or for paid promotions.

‘When you are trying to do something good for your society, you should always be mentally prepared because we need to be more accepting over anything that comes your way, and people tend to expect too much and judge too quickly but appreciate less,’ she commented.

She expressed that during this pandemic, she has been able to access to almost everything but there are many people facing uncertainty , and “with that perspective I was able to understand that I need to do something and that is when I decided not to simply sit but take this time as an opportunity to help someone out there. I feel that Covid-19 has given us a moment to understand our capabilities and our will power to do good for our community,’’ she said.

She shared that there is ‘humanity in us and everyone has the willpower to help each other during this period of time,’ expressing her gratitude to everyone who helped her and the team by purchasing the local products.

‘When you volunteer, the first audience is you yourself because you need to understand and see the perspective of your own self and the people who see you,’ she said, adding that volunteering helps you to understand your own society and what they are going through in this crisis.

‘I believe that young people of our age have better vision and a clear vision to do certain things for our people and our community and are able to understand our society’s needs and also the people that are living here,’ she shared.

She further encouraged the young people to not only ‘wait for opportunity to come to them but to make an opportunity towards yourself.’

‘I felt that if we help the local farmers, we are also helping ourselves because we are able to promote local and organic food that are harvested from our own state, and therefore I thought that was a very good advantage for our local farmers and for consumers as well,’ she said.

‘If you have the will to do something for our society, it does not matter who you are but the only thing is you need to have a good approach and have a great idea and you need to be able to bring that idea into practice. Be yourself and look beyond your expectation and do everything accordingly,” she added.

Speaking about her project, she said that they are focusing on livelihood generation and education, where they will be able to help the local farmers and vendors. The proceeds from the project will help those in need in terms of education like those people who are unable to access smartphones and internet, she said adding that the project would equally support and look after the Kohima old age home so that ‘they are not left out in things that they need.’