Purchasing!

Dear friends and family,

I am now approaching the last few days of my journey here at Udavum Karangal. As you are all aware, I had fundraised money for buying things that are much needed for the people of Udavum Karangal. I am proud to say that we saved a lot of money by purchasing at wholesale rates at the nooks and corners of small shops in Paris Corner. It was such an interesting experience. When I kept thinking of the good that this purchase would bring to many, I was able to easily overlook the difficulties of shopping at Paris Corner… a place that’s very different from where we normally shop.

            Our first stop was at a jewelry shop to buy huge sets of jewelry (similar to those of Bharathanatyam sets) for functions such as weddings and wedding receptions. As they had to rent these jewelry for one day use for the same amount in the past, we decided to buy two sets of jewelry for their use. At first I thought, why invest money on jewelry!?! However, you will not believe the amount of compliments, thanks and smiles I’ve received after people have seen these sets of jewelry. They cherish their beautiful girls that much. They take care of them so well and Papa Vidyaakar wants to ensure that each child’s wedding/ reception/ function of becoming an adolescent is well celebrated to make the child feel special as they are his own.

We then purchased few sets of undergarments for all the children and volunteers at a reasonable rate with a nice quality. It came well within our budget and with much more quantity that what we planned as it was sold in dozens only.

Our next stop was of course, to stop for lunch. After we had replenished our energy, we then went to buy Sarees for the older volunteers. It was surprising that sarees were available for very cheap at Rs. 180 each. After purchasing sarees, we went to see what types of shirts they had for the volunteers and workers of Udavum Karangal. Even the shirts we bought were bargained down to Rs.180 for a very decent quality shirt. We also bought a small special occasional jewelry set at Rs. 180 for each young female volunteer. Many of them are hardly 16-20 years old volunteering in their break from 10^th – 11^th STD, or volunteering after High School.

When I saw how hard the people work day and night to take care of the children, patients, or the organization itself, I was amazed to see their dedication. They do not complain about the amount of work they have to do. They simply do it with elegance and grace. That’s when I realized that they definitely need to be recognized for their hard work.

We then bought earrings for the patients at the psychiatric ward. We got great deals for them. I have never seen earrings in dozens for hardly Rs. 12 or so. These earrings are to be kept for their special occasions.

Last but not least, we bought slippers… good rubber slippers. We bought almost double the amount we were going to buy at half the price that we had budgeted. Each slipper costed less than a dollar. How cost efficient!

After making all of the desired purchased that we planned on doing, we still had plenty of money left to give for the expenses of the books for the children this year.

Overall, this purchasing was very eventful. Thanks to all the donors who opened their hearts and gave with all their might.  I was surprised to see some people who opened their wallets wide disregarding their situations in life. I was so happy and appreciative of their efforts, of everyone’s efforts. Thank you.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank some special people for making this happen: my parents! If it weren’t for them, I would have been lost. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have had such an idea to execute something like this. Having executed this projected so smoothly is simply due to their guidance, dedication and hard work from Dallas! They have always been and always will be the back support for all my endeavors including my charity projects. Thank you Mom & Dad.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the two social workers in this organization who gave me suggestions on how and what to purchase with the fund raising money. Not only that, the manager helped organize things smoothly as well. We were given a vehicle, which was driven by a driver who roamed around to help us. There was a gentleman who came along with us to show us the shops to buy things at the cheapest rates. Two lovely ladies accompanied me to purchase the things at a high quality with the cheapest rates. They were great at bargaining too! The day started at 10.00 A.M. and ended at 10.00 P.M. Not only that, we had to go another day for a couple of hours to buy more things at T-Nagar. All of this was possible with the help of all these lovely people of Udavum Karangal. Thank you!!! It was amazing to see how dedicated the staff of Udavum Karangal are and how much they want to make sure that the people are taken care of. I have heard the staff there say that Papa Vidyaakar says working at Udavum Karangal is not called working but it’s a way of life… it’s a way of living. It’s really true. The commitment the staff show to the children and patients even on a Sunday night after 6.00 P.M. is truly remarkable.

Yes! We will be handing out these purchased products tomorrow evening! I will be sure to let you know how that goes! This was indeed a beautiful way to have personalized things bought for the people.

Until then, it’s me, Ramya… signing off with a sad note that I only have a week left at Udavum Karangal during this trip. Thank you God, once again, for showing me another world… a world full of loving, caring, and innocent people who mean well regardless of who you are!