Youth is that period of life when a person is filled with energy, fresh ideas and motivation. The words power, enthusiasm and courage are most often associated with youth. Youth can play an important role in every field, and if they are determined to put in their best then no one can stop them from achieving success. The youth of any nation and society are its potential energy. And the power of youth reflects in the times of diversity.
Diversity is a global topic and only inclusion can draw attention. Understanding diversity ties the world, nation and community. Facing diversity together builds and strengthens bonds in the community. In this regard, is the perfect example of a community that came forward to alleviate suffering and face diversity with courage and enthusiasm.
Marwari Yuva Mancha, a volunteer organisation that supports young people in contributing to their community sprung into action in lending a helping hand to accelerate the restoration work when an extremely severe cyclone Fani hit Odisha on May 3. The cyclone with wind speed of more than 200 KM per hour and gusting speed of 240 KMs ripped apart properties, displaced people and affected normalcy. The category 4 hurricane affected more than 10 million persons in 46 towns & 14,835 villages.
During such time, the volunteers of Marwari Yuva Mancha with their relentless effort aided in restoring life by joining hands with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) that was engaged in relief and rescue operations and had stayed at their Marwari Yuva Mancha Bhawan to operate.
In the very first day itself, the volunteers not only went around assessing the damage but took good care of the NDRF members by providing them food and comfort.
As a part of the relief, rescue and restoration process, the volunteers have put in their best in the following areas:
- Providing food to the NDRF team for eight consecutive days.
- Distributing water jars of 20 litre each regularly to hospitals, slums and families of the community until just few days ago.
- Distribution of 4000 to 7000 glasses of liquid glucose at different railway stations in the state.
- Distribution of hundreds of food packets and hundreds of mineral water cartons to rescue workers, slums, villages and homes of the affected.
It has been almost 20days after cyclone Fani battered Odisha but normal life in the affected areas is still crippled. Amidst this crisis, the Marwari Yuva Mancha with their tireless and consistent efforts turned out to be saviour.
‘Nothing can replace this satisfaction of serving others’ quoted the leader of the Marwari Yuva Mancha after having involved in the operation. In the wake of cyclone, the government has done a commendable job in alerting before cyclone, rebuilding and facilitating restoration work post cyclone. But with the cyclone having caused havoc by uprooting lakhs of trees, utility poles and transmission towers, electricity and water supply was affected mainly along with telecommunication that elongated the rebuilding work. Nevertheless, within just a few hours electricity was restored in Bhubaneswar and restoration process accelerated in the affected areas only because of the tireless efforts of the workers, engineers, policemen, fire personnel and community workers like Marwari Yuva Mancha.
With days having passed and work speeding up, the restoration work is still underway to rebuild Odisha and it will yet take days or perhaps month for life to get back on track. Lastly, with positive attitude and with the unity and conscious effort of all, the bright days are not very far.