Ending 2019 on a high with NGO: You can Free Us
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volunteering at you can free us in thane
‘Tis the season to giveback and be thankful for what we have in life
2019 was the year that I went from passively cutting cheques for charitable organisations to actively getting my hands stuck in and helping others. I honestly think I’m addicted now and I don’t want to stop.
How it started…
I’ve always wanted to give back in an active way but didn’t know how to do this. There are so many NGOs in India, I didn’t know which one to support and it was overwhelming.
One day, I was having drinks with a friend of mine at her house, and she was telling me about a non-government organisation that she works with called You Can Free Us. You Can Free Us saves women from slavery and prostitution in India and helps them adjust to a safer world.
My friend asked me if I wanted to do a skincare workshop for the women that had been saved, so that they could prepare their skin for job interviews, and learn about taking care of themselves. My response was obviously HELL YES!
As an owner of an e-commerce clean beauty platform (Check out www.sublimelife.in), this opportunity brought together my love for beauty, and the type A personality trait of wanting to make an impact. It was the perfect way to volunteer and it was honestly the most rewarding thing that I have EVER done in my life.
Here’s what went down…
We left the house early in the morning for a long drive from Mumbai to Thane to the You Can Free Us office. I took my assistant (Pervin) and colleague (Krisha) with me for support. We packed the car full of goodies for ladies – It was Christmas time after all - a time for giving!
In our 2 hour teaching workshop, we taught the women how to cleanse, exfoliate, tone and moisturise their skin – We all did the skincare routine together at the same time. It was important to me that I gave the women products that I would use on my skin and thanks to our suppliers @sukinskincare we were able to provide 30 gift bags for these amazing women.
teaching our skincare workshop at you can free us
Inside the goodie bags:
The ladies were excited to receive their Sukin goodies and were so interested in clean skincare that they asked us many questions about ingredients to look for, and how to get a career in beauty. The Q&A was just as long as the actual teaching workshop, which made me so happy as I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to connect with these women, as our lives were so different. However, that was not the case at all!
It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what your background is, if you have common interests are willing to connect with others, then you are making a difference, and that’s frigging beautiful.
After the session, we built a Christmas tree, filled up gift stockings and helped @Sherry Shroff, @Namita Alexander and @Charu Gaur from Runway Square Magazine prepare for their makeup workshop. With the womens’ skin all prepped by us, they were ready to apply makeup with the pros!
Left to right: pervin, you can free us, nandini, sherry, charu, namita, krisha and i
What I learned…
Everything. Honestly, so much. However, my biggest takeaway was introspective.
These women were so happy at the skincare workshop. They taught me that no matter what you’ve been through, it is within your power to create your own happiness. That made me sit back and reflect on how I have handled difficult situations in the past. I definitely could have changed my outlook many a time.
gift given to me from you can free us
What I hope the survivors learned from me…
How to do a daily skincare routine, to throw away their bottles of fair and lovely because they are beautiful as they are, and that Vaseline has petroleum in it and there are petroleum free alternatives.
But most importantly, to have fun and feel confident and beautiful.
beautiful thank you christmas card sent by you can free us
Why I chose to do this…
I don’t talk about this a lot, but I have scars on my face and they make me feel uncomfortable. I was able to relate to the women in my workshop as we had similar skin concerns.
It’s taken me years to feel more confident in my skin, and a lot of the confidence has come from not only using the right beauty products, but also from the love and support of others.
I wanted to support these women so that they too, could feel more confident in their skin and in other areas of their life, like at work and in relationships.
Want to give back but don’t know how?
Think of what’s important to you, what your skill set is and how you can help others with this. I am a beauty enthusiast that knew a lot about skincare from my own experience and was able to support others with these skills. How can you give back with your skill set?
If this is inspired you to make an impact in your own way, please let me know by getting in touch. Sharing is caring after all!
explaining how to use the skincare products in our workshop
