I thought they were really mad, mad about posh lifestyle, eating pizzas,biking with girlfriends,abusing parents & old people, no determination, no destiny, no life…nothing! How someone who dont know their own life can help improve others? I was concerned about them-the so called “Young Malayalis!” but this group, a group of young, talented,energetic people from godsowncountry(Kerala), they are amazing! They said me they are “MAD” but they redefined it as “Making A Difference” YES! I was not even knowing that such a movement was going on in my eye front, until I got a mail from my friend kenney Jacob asking to blog about this organisation. Are you wondering what hell in the world am speaking about?

Its about an organisation named “MAD-Making A Difference” started 2 years ago in Cochin.

It all started when we decided to start teaching English in YMCA poor boys home. When we started our goals were simple… spent some time with the kids, teach them some English, show them couple of movies and basically have some fun with them. But a few days with them changed us completely.The students we taught were exceedingly capable and mature than the normal kids you find in the private schools. They were aware of the realities of life and they knew they had to work hard to escape them. But in spite of all the hard work and effort put in by them we knew that hardly any of these kids will ever study beyond the 12 th grade. Almost all of them are forced to drop out after their 10 th or 12 th and would end up doing some menial jobs in workshops and hotels rendering all those years of education useless and all their potential wasted. These kids are also unaware of the different options they have after 12 th and without any support from their families or friends, they soon welt.This is when we realized something had to be done. We understood that life was unfair to these children but if we tried we could Make A Difference.

To Read More about this organisation visit WEBSITE of MAD

We people can do a lots of stuff to help the poor but talented people around us!

What attracted me?

There are millions of charity organisations in this world, a 100+ can be even found in Cochin alone! If MAD was also one like that, I wont have given a 2nd look. What inspired me is their uniqueness in helping people, theres a statement in their website “Giving money alone in name of charity will not help people instead it might kill. We do direct the needy children through the right path to unleash their potential, to achieve their goals,to make them understand what life is all about!” This sentence caught my attention as I am having the same idea for a long time! Giving or throwing some money at the poor may give you a fake satisfaction-a feel you have done something for the poor-for the sake of someone-might be for a showup in the society? Ofcourse! Its a great thing, giving money & helping others is great but what if the boy who gets your 1000 rupees dont know what to do with it? What if he dont know how to utilise it effectively? What happens is, he will simply waste the amount by eating,playing, doing all unnecessary stuffs! Instead of creating potential humans out of the poor, we will create 1000’s of smart beggers by giving them money & not teaching them how to use it!?

Here comes the importance of MAD – they are different like their name, they teach people how to grow, how to turn the stones thrown @ people to milestones, how to think ambitiously, how to achieve! Just get to their website & know how you can join hands with them to form a potential youth out of the poor!

MAD @ a Glance

Make A Difference (M.A.D) is a youth volunteer network that currently functions in the three cities of India-Cochin, Pune and Chennai. 312 volunteers teach more than 1200 underprivileged kids English and computer skills in these three cities to enable them to have better career prospects.
These children live in street shelters and orphanages. Without proper guidance, their lives will go astray. MAD makes sure that they have the proper life skills to make it in life. Then MAD tries to get them placed at jobs where they can live their potential!

What you have to do?

MAD was recently picked as one of fifteen finalists for the International Youth Social Entrepreneur Awards which is a prestigious award bestowed by the Ashoka group. MAD became the only Indian entry in this competition in spite of 521 nominations from 60 odd countries. The final winner will be picked by online voting.

Let’s try and bring pride to our country by spreading word about the achievements of our countrymen. To stand up and be recognized in such a multi-faced international crowd is an achievement in itself.Spread the word the only way we know how to do it.

How to Vote?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR MAD

Get to that site, Register your profile, & then VOTE either by clicking the above PIC or by CLICKING HERE

To VIEW PROFILE OF MAD-CLICK HERE

So lets Make A Difference ?