Spread a Smile
“Volunteering at KEEN has been such a unique opportunity and it’s an honour to be a part of it [...] Random acts of kindness help the world go round, let’s make it kinder everyday. ”
Hi everyone, my name is Shrutha and I am part of the second Young Leaders cohort of 2020-2021.
When embarking on your respective projects, there are a lot of aspects for each but I think this programme is so amazing in extracting those skills and teaching you so much about your strengths and weaknesses. Volunteering at KEEN has been such a unique opportunity and it’s an honour to be a part of it.
The purpose of this blog is to convey the message of KEEN as it is so prevalent and will always be in society as it develops. I wanted to show this consistently throughout my projects as it has something that has really touched me during the programme. Perhaps the most crucial step to achieve this goal, however, is kindness. My favourite project was my fundraising project as it showed me that you can really make a difference to people. Even though your actions may look small at that moment, you don’t know how widely it can spread.
I set up a ‘Spread a Smile’ week at my school. This involved students writing down a kind message to a peer for a small price and putting it in a box. Then, sending them off to the correct recipient. The messages were all anonymous.
Disability in itself is invisible a lot of the time and the degree to which people want their disability to be known varies; it is their choice. Regardless of this, the core concept of kindness must be highlighted.
Change in society’s perception doesn’t have to be made through large gestures all the time. I know that, for me at least, you remember the random compliments people give you that take you by surprise. This scheme follows such theory as even something as simple as a message can truly brighten up a day immensely.
Essentially, it shows that, along with disability, kindness too can be invisible and it is this kindness that helps us progress in achieving inclusion.
I would really encourage you to set this up or something similar at your school or community, it is really rewarding and knowing that you have touched so many hearts through a simple idea is the beauty of it. Life can be hectic and sometimes we need a little encouragement to carry on.
“Random acts of kindness help the world go round, let’s make it kinder everyday. ”