It was 2008 when I joined CMCA Mumbai as a Volunteer Educator. I still remember my first CMCA Club session at Green Lawns School. It was at the end of the first training session that Ms Vinodini Lulla, CMCA’s Co-Founder and Trustee, took me aside and asked me to stay back after the session. I was in shock when she told me that the very next day I would have had to take a session all on my own! But the power of her training, her motivation, and mentoring were such, that it gave me the confidence that made me think, “Yes, I can do it!” Vinodini has always been our pillar and driving force.
My journey at CMCA begins here. We then shared a small office space with SCESA (Sophia College Ex-Students Association) in Sophia College. Nevertheless, together as a team, we organised several city-level events in which all our member schools participated – such as Inspiration, Utsav, our signature Beach Clean-Up Campaign, and Traffic Police Day, just to name a few. All this apart from the regular classes in schools across the city and other school-level awareness drives with our students.
All this was possible only because of our commitment and dedication. I can proudly say that our family of volunteers is always there, ready to do anything – whether it be taking sessions in our member schools, organising campaigns and events, fundraising through the Tata Mumbai Marathon, finding sponsors and donors, etc. Each one takes up a responsibility and ensures that the work gets done. Even during this pandemic, we transitioned to online sessions despite the obstacles.
It’s been a beautiful journey. Right from childhood, I have always been an active citizen myself, but it is by being a CMCA Volunteer that I felt I could become a part of something greater than myself. It is thanks to the like-minded fellow CMCA Volunteers around me that we, together as a team, were able to achieve more.
Volunteering with CMCA gave me a sense of purpose and added zest to my life. I feel content when I see the change CMCA programmes spark in my student. I also made new friends along the way and interacted with people and children from diverse backgrounds – which gave me an opportunity to learn other perspectives. Great relationships were built in this journey, and I am proud to be a part of my big CMCA family.
This blog was written by Tripti Narula, a CMCA Mumbai Volunteer Educator, and published here with minimal editing.
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CMCA has been accredited by Credibility Alliance under the category “Desirability Norms” – for good governance, accountability, transparency and continuous improvements. Credibility Alliance is a consortium of voluntary organisations committed to enhancing accountability and transparency in the voluntary sector through good governance.
