If you flip through the pages of history, you will notice how every significant change has happened when a common person observes how something is done and wonders why it is done that way. Hence, beginning the journey of change and the factual story of a change-maker, intrigued by the whys and inspired to find the hows. Change-makers are not born, they discover themselves.
‘CF Celebrating Change-makers’ is a campaign dedicated to celebrating change-makers of our society. We took it upon us to find young and inspiring change-makers in Delhi/NCR and share their story with you. Our platform is now theirs.
In our previous part of this very blog, we shared the stories of 3 wonder-women bringing a change in the society. In this edition of our blog, we interviewed Ankush and Dipanshu of Vocal Organisation. Read on to get to know them and their work.
Ankush and Dipanshu, Social Work and Civic Rights Issues Advocate
Tell us about your work and the inspiration behind it.
Ankush: I was always inclined towards social work and civic issues and hence, did my bachelors in social work and Masters in human rights. Our journey as Vocal began during the covid-19 pandemic, when we thought what’s the point of our life if we cannot help the people in need. We left the comfort of our home and went on a journey for a year to meet inspirational people working on specific problems and solving them. We started making content on how people can learn from these activists and inspirational people and raise their concern, voice out their problem and be a part of a community to resolve it.
Dipanshu: We are running an organisation with the aim to collect all the information regarding various social problems and their solutions on a single platform called Vocal. In our journey, we meet like-minded people who are facilitating a change in society.
What impact are you creating with your work?
Ankush: We work on Human Rights and Civic Issues. We have covered topics like Animal adoption & rescue, waste management, creative re-purposing, blindness, fixing potholes, hunger, human trafficking, and mental health. We have a list of 99 problems that we aim at covering ahead in our journey and through this content we want to inspire people to raise their concerns and aim at resolving them through community support and participation. We conduct workshops in colleges, and schools regarding the same, and have saved three lives during this period.
What is your vision?
Dipanshu: Our vision is to give people a voice, so that they can stand against or resolve any social issue they are facing, that too in the best possible manner. We are building a single platform that connects the person who might be facing a particular issue with another person or organisation that provides a solution for the same.
What are more social impact areas that are of interest to you?
Ankush: Human rights in itself provide a holistic view which include all kinds of abuses, discrimination, hurt or unacceptance. We aim at bridging the gap between the civic organisations providing help and the individuals seeking help. This further includes problems like elderly abuse anti ragging, child labour, child marriage and acting on cases of domestic violence.
Dipanshu: Apart from the social side, we want to work on the mental health aspect as well. We want to support people who have already gone through a trauma and feel that it is important for them to get proper mental health support.
How do you spend your leisure time?
Ankush: In this journey we are continuously travelling which is a core aspect of our work. I love travelling, getting to know new people and cultures, and adapting to new conditions. I always kept a football with us to play, challenge ourselves and be in good shape physically and mentally. And both of us love playing football.
Dipanshu: Ankush covered most of it, apart from that I usually like to spend my time reading books and listening to music.
As a change-maker, how can society and people support you?
Ankush: Change-makers are the people challenging the world at first. They spark a light but it is the community that has the power to take it further to bring about a change. Hence, a change-maker expects the community to understand, participate, and agitate to bring a positive change in the society.
What role do you think a like-minded community plays for change-makers?
A single person can’t bring about the desired change all alone. It will always take us, like-minded communities, to make an impact. In the end, being a change-maker means being someone who is able to inspire others, being able to adapt to the changes around us and becoming the change we want to see in the world, and a society can help replicate this on a bigger scale.
Click here to find Ankush’s and Dipanshu’s work.