Q 1) Please introduce yourself and tell us about your organisation.
Ans. Hello I am Anusha Attree, a second-year Political Science honors student at Shaheed Bhagat Singh college, Delhi university. During the pandemic, July 2020, we started Warriorswithoutcause, which is a youth-led registered NGO under Indian Trust Act 1882, which aims to spread sensitization towards charity and helping others. This is a place, where we do not need a cause to bring change, worked through the pandemic to help people living in slums or on the road in terms of education, healthcare, sanitation, employment, and nutrition. We believe in uplifting people in a sense that would help them in the longer run by working directly in slums. We have helped over 25000 people in two years with the support of 100 volunteers.
Apart from this I founded Girlup Adira in Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, DU, as a project to empower society and establish gendered spaces under the auspices of the UN Girl Up campaign. It is a student-run group that encourages being a force for social change, and gender equality and works on issues like Women's Health, Domestic Violence, Financial Literacy, Mental Health LGBTQIA Community, etc.
Q 2) How did you get the idea of starting "WARRIOR WITHOUT CAUSE"?
Ans. To be honest it was a random idea. During the first lockdown I had a word with my best friends, we talked about the situation and we thought of doing something towards helping people during the pandemic. We thought of providing PPE kits, but that idea didn't work because our parents did not allow us to move out of the house. We did many things before starting our own NGO. Like, we thought of posting pictures of people helping those in need so that others could also get motivated and help. But that idea also didn't work. After giving it a thought for long we decided to stop all these and took the decision of helping people by ourselves. It was after this when we started this drive. We were very sure of it this time because we knew that this is what we all wanted to do.
Q 3) How did all four of you manage with the work, since you were in 12th grade at that time & there was COVID too. People were struggling everyday to stay safe, so how did you manage all these things?
Ans. In the starting it was really difficult to manage things and bring volunteers to the work. We are a huge team who are working towards making things possible. Initially we were just four people, all best friends (founders). It helped us as we could scold each other when someone would not do the work. But we ensured to maintain the thin line between work and friendship. We supported each other and we were able to balance things amazingly.
Q 4) How did you build your team?
Ans. We all wanted everything to go perfectly and for that there came great responsibility. When you have the zeal to do something, you start doing everything on your own. Initially we were just a group of friends who started with this initiative and we couldn’t rely on volunteers always because we had started initially. So all founders together did many things, we didn’t put pressure on volunteers. People used to think that what we are doing is just an excitement of a couple of days and it will fade away soon. But now the same people come and praise us for what we are doing. People used to criticize us and the best thing is that we took that criticism positively.
Q 5) How many people do you have in your team right now?
Ans. Right now we are a team of hundred people as volunteers. 16 people are in the core team and 3 people in the board of directors.
Q 6) How was the process of getting your NGO registered?
Ans. When you are of young age you require guidance from experienced adults. Talking about us, we didn’t know where to start from. We took help from our parents. We signed up with a CA. After signing up, we were able to take guidance from them.
So, first we got our personal documents ready and then we shifted towards making by-laws for the NGO. The CA helped us in getting everything ready for the registration. He got us pamphlets of by-laws and asked us to get things added that we wanted. Then we typed it out. Our CA made the whole official document.
It's really not that huge a process but making by-laws and getting documents ready is very time consuming. It took us 7 to 8 months to get our NGO registered.
Q 7) Which is your favourite project that you have taken up?
Ans. Education drives, I would count on it as something which I would call it my favourite one. Being with children makes me personally happy, teaching them, playing with them. That is something I love.
And I want my every project to flourish. There is so much that is happening in this world and people are so neglectful about it. We have realised that it is high time to take action and we need to work towards making things better.
Q 8) What do you think about NGOs in general?
Ans. NGOs in general are doing a great job. People outside of the NGO usually suspect us that we might be doing work for our own benefits. I can fully understand their perspective but there are many NGOs who are working sincerely towards making change.
Q 9) What could be your suggestion to the people who are willing to make donations. What all aspects should they keep in mind?
Ans. I would suggest that people should go through the NGOs, what they work and how they do it, where the money is used and everything related to it. It is totally ok to ask about the organisation and organisations should explain themselves too. After being sure of everything, then only make the donation. People should put their step forward towards making donations. Usually people consider that one person cannot change the world but I consider it as wrong because your little gesture towards the upliftment of others can be impactful. Change starts from within.
Q 10) Go to mantra in life.
Ans. My mantra in life is “Be the change you wish to see in the world''. Believe in change because everyday is different and that’s how I go about things.
Q 11) How do you manage when things go down for you?
Ans. Things sometimes go beyond expectation within us. Like we run out of volunteers for drives and sometimes we fight, disagreement occurs. To manage all these we make a proper plan on how we are going to perform a certain tasks. We try to change plans accordingly, which is just a hit and try method. We try to inculcate things that would be beneficial in making things work smoothly. Though it is hectic, since it is part of our work so it is totally alright to experience such things.
Q 12) What are your future plans for “Warrior Without Cause”?
Ans. We are currently wanting to represent internationally and want to get recognized by the UN. Making our own school is our major goal so that children can get their basic education but more than that right now we want to get children admitted in school. Then we also dream of building a hospital.
Highlights:
Anusha Attree, a second-year Political Science honors student at Shaheed Bhagat Singh college.
Warriors Without Cause is an NGO which aspires to make the world a better and secure place for poor. They started their work during the pandemic by distributing PPE kits but that idea flopped because of the upsurging of the pandemic.
After the situation got normalised, they took the opportunity to help people in need.
They started their NGO with a group of four best friends. After that they successfully built a team of 100 volunteers, 16 members in the core team and 3 in the board of directors.
Initially people used to criticise them for the work they do but they worked hard with zeal to prove them wrong.
They aspire to build a school and hospital so they can provide basic education and health care facilities to the one in need.
Impressive 👏🏿