The responsibility to elevate the downtrodden in the society lies not just with the government but also with the society itself. Therefore when it comes to serving a social cause, the youth has an equally significant role to play.
Mumbai’s Wilson College realized this 13 years back, when the College’s BMS Department launched HOPE (Help Our People Elevate), an annual social cause event aimed to find innovative & practical solutions to a variety of public issues. In this process, HOPE came to be identified as a landmark event in the city. The amount of goodwill that the event enjoys nationally is evident from the fact that it is registered in not one, not two but three record books – the Limca Book of Awards, Asia Book of Records, and India Book of Records.
Now, after a gap of 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wilson College returned with HOPE REVIVAL 2022, and event that was all about comebacks and creating a strong foundation in socially responsible work for future batches. Under this event, an initiative called “Illuminating Lives” was undertaken by the students on September 16, 2022.
Even amidst heavy rains, the volunteers displayed unparalleled determination to inaugurate the project to install 26 solar units and 5 street lights in Walshet, a small village in Asangaon. The team from the Wilson College was accompanied by the Lions and Leos, who are HOPE’s main sponsors for this social project. Illuminating Lives is an affordable, sustainable and permanent solution to the electrical problems of the remote areas. Apart from installing solar units and street lights, the team also conducted a free medical checkup camp for the villagers in collaboration with Switch India NGO. Besides, a female hygiene awareness session was also conducted by Dr. Dinu Shibu Matthew, under which sanitary napkins were distributed among the women. The team also took with it education kits, which were distributed to village children of school-going age.
One of the highlights of this year’s HOPE was the bulb-shaped mosaic created at Chowpatty by more than 2500 students from various colleges and schools, over a course of two months. The project attracted unprecedented public attention and derived a stupendous reception from the visitors.
This year, HOPE 2022 was organized with the sole aim to bring a change into the lives of people living at the periphery of the civilized society.