NGO’s go to the melas

(CIF) from October 13-15, attended by 86 NGOs. Then came the much smaller, one day mela by Indian Merchants Chambers (IMC) Ladies Wing on October 18, where 20 NGOs put up stalls. And then came the week long Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited(HSBC) Charity Bazaar with 28 NGOs which got over on October 20.

These melas not only sale a variety of products, but also give the people an oppurtunity to support a cause close to their hearts. Like, animal lovers can buy a lot of stuff from AIWA, WSD, BNHS etc and even donate money in their boxes.

As for NGOs, all of them love to participate in these melas, though different NGOs achieve different purposes from them. Some NGOs benefit financially from these melas, for other, it provides the much needed platform to build awareness about their organisation. NGOs like `Clean Air’ don’t have any products to sell but use their stall to spread their messages.

It is the lesser known NGOs, like `Share’ who have a variety of products but find it tough to market them, who benefit most from these melas. Also animal rights organisations like `Welfare of Stray Dogs’ (WSD) and `All India Animal Welfare Association’ (AIAWA) who have lots of stuff to sell but few venues to sell them, find these melas

the perfect place to be in.

Says Abodh Aras of WSD who attended both the `Concern India’ and `IMC’ melas, "We don’t have many venues to sell our products. We usually sell them at colleges during their cultural festivals. So, these kind of melas are a big help. Besides being a good venue to sell our products, they build awareness about our activities, products and also get us volunteers." He is of the opinion that NGOs need more such melas.

But even big NGOs like `The Akanksha Foundtaion’ who actually don’t depend on the sell of their products for finance are excited about the mela. They attended all the three melas. Manize Kelkar from Akanksha said "These melas are very good places to spread awareness about our Foundation and also to get to know other NGOs."

Concern India’s mela, held since 1995, is eagerly awaited each year by not just Mumbai NGOs but by NGOs from other states also. This time there were NGOs from UP, Orissa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Madya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Nagaland. However, the mela held at the CCI’s east lawn dissapointed most of them with the low sales. CIF’s Projects-Executive Sanchita Mukherji blamed the low sales on Friday’s Rasta Roko

, while the others thought that there was need for more publicity.

The IMC mela which was held in association with Shree Kot Hindu Stree Mandal (SKHSM) was seen as a success by most NGOs who had participated. As it was just for one day, the IMC ladies wing members as well as the well wishers of SKHSM itself formed as large number of visitors.

For CIF, in its capacity as a support organisation, that funds other NGOs and projects, the mela was seen as yet another venture to help the NGOs. Whereas, for IMC who held the NGO mela for the first time it was their way of helping out. For HSBC, the charity Bazar is part of their policy of actively participating with the community and an extension to their initiatives in various fields.

No matter who arranges them, NGOs welcome these melas wholeheartedly and are unanimous in the opinion that more such melas must be held. Afterall, with a big heart to help, you need an even bigger wallet to carry out the help.