2021 : It’s a wrap!

“Summarising a year full of experience in a few lines is going to be impossible. The first and major takeaway is the experience earned — in all aspects be it educational from the different sessions and events, management skills from handling different events, domain-wide expertise in interaction with the seniors and juniors and a lot more. Secondly, YRC-VIT gave me a chance to do something for the society even when everything came to a standstill due to the pandemic. Although we missed out on opportunities to interact directly with people, the pandemic couldn’t deter us. We came out even stronger and adapted to the online mode of spreading awareness through webinars while continuing to get blood donors for people in need.

All the events have something unique in them and we get to learn something from all of them. Starting from the speaking events, the guest speaking events to the quizzes and information series, all of them taught us something and happily to a larger audience as well.” — YRC Board, 2021

The ongoing pandemic, debates about vaccination and widespread cries about climate change — these are the few things that are generally associated with the year, 2021. For a club that is mainly known for organising blood donation camps, 2021 has been quite a challenging year, given the shift to online mode. With volunteers stuck within the four walls of their homes, the on-field work of Youth Red Cross(YRC) was interrupted. However, we were willing to adapt to this unanticipated turn of events. Even in this adversity, we tried to cater to the blood donation requests that came our way. Moreover, we did not just limit ourselves to the cause of blood donation, but focused our initiatives towards spreading awareness about a variety of social and health issues.

Members were pushed to channel their creativity to come up with innovative event formats that could bring the active participation and engagement of the online audience. A new phase of the club thus commenced, initially with submission based events( for posters, write-ups), quizzes, information series and blogs, Guest Speaking sessions and finding new ways to publicise with reels, short videos and comic strips. Our events were versatile in their agenda, drawing attention to pertinent issues like Health Awareness, Women Empowerment, Environmental Causes and Campaign against Substance Abuse.

Through our events, we as volunteers have learnt the importance of ‘volunteering’ and taking up responsibilities. We also learnt how to cope up in an online scenario and enhanced our technical, interpersonal as well as managerial skills. What was supposed to be a lethargic,boring year, turned into one full of adventures and fun, while also teaching us the value of compassion and respect for others. Not being able to meet our peers was a major constraint, but that couldn’t stop us from forming bonds that we will cherish for a lifetime.

2021 was definitely a year of ups and downs; it changed our perspective towards life. The most remarkable lesson that it taught us was the importance of improvisation. The shift wasn’t easy but we were able to put our best foot forward, keeping our motto of ‘Service before Self’ in mind. There’s no question that the pandemic has created drastic changes with long lasting impacts, but as they say — “the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes”. Hopefully, the future will be more vivid and vibrant, with things returning to normalcy, but in the meantime, we wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. Here’s to new beginnings and making a difference, three smiles at a time!

Written by Megha, Shubh, Aarushi, Aashay