Muniyamma was 90 years old, with a broken leg and a broken arm, living on the streets in Bhattarahalli, near Garden City College. Abandoned by her family, Muniyamma lived on the pavement outside the home that was once hers. Unable to move much, her leg and arm were broken in traffic mishaps and she bore the pain alone and in silence day after day.
Vijaya Nagpure and her friend Shailesh Kumar would pass by this dismal scene to and from college each day and it pained them every time. So they decided to do something about it, and Mission 5 was born. It is headed by Vijaya, with a five-member core team consisting of Shailesh and Sanjay (who work from Bengaluru) and Asok and Parinav, who work in Mumbai.
It was that seemingly unceasing flow of idealism and the burgeoning need to change the world that fuelled Vijaya and Shailesh. When their peers were out looking for the best watering holes and the most exciting things to try, these two teenagers started Mission 5, which said five rupees is all it takes to change the world.
“We want to make youngsters aware of their social responsibility and help the poor and deprived with five rupees from their pocket money each month,” says Vijaya Nagpure. The donation box makes the rounds and the proceeds go to orphanages, blind schools and old age homes. The initiative was started in 2007 and registered with the Government of Karnataka in 2009.
Giving is not just about dropping money into the nearest hat and walking on. Muniyamma was still living her wretched existence on the streets and the students dedicated their time and attention to her. “We would give her four meals a day and even built her a makeshift shelter on the pavement,” says Vijaya. She died on April 5, 2007, soon after Mission 5 began. What started out as a college initiative, grew by leaps and bounds as the graduating students found lucrative jobs, extending their reach into the corporate world.
The group of five students led by Vijaya helped the poor and destitute children languishing around TC Palya. The children have been put in government schools, while Mission 5 monitors their growth, provides them with necessities and simultaneously works with their parents, helping them understand the importance of a good education. They also support orphanages and old age homes, providing food, medicine and taking care of their basic needs. Apart from all this, they also raise awareness on ecological issues and regularly conduct surveys on subjects like child literacy in the backward areas of the city.
“Our first project was called Gharonda,” says Vijaya. “We wanted to build an orphanage and during that time, we could actually see so many people in the city come together to help. The area corporator laughed in our faces when we told her what we wanted to do, she was sure it wouldn’t happen.”
They took on something many experienced social workers had tried before them and failed to accomplish. Despite apparently insurmountable odds and incredulous officials, they set about their task. “We had people donating money, others gave construction materials and some gave their time and expertise,” she says. Whatever the magic combination was, it worked, for Project Gharonda was soon ready to go. Their work motivated a group of students in Ohio in the US and a group of doctors in Australia.
Their upcoming project, Unnati, is just as interesting as the first. “We want to provide computer education to students who have passed their tenth standard,” explains Vijaya. These children have come from remote villages and been put through school by their sponsors. When they finish their board exam, they’re left floundering once more, with fewer donors for higher education and an overwhelming lack of awareness of what one needs to do to prosper.
“We want to make them proficient in Microsoft Word, typing and using the internet,” says Vijaya. Moreover, they have observed that children take to practical lessons much more eagerly than they do to theory, greatly lessening the incentive to study more. The job never ends. Weariness catches up with them from time to time, of course; they wouldn’t be human if it didn’t. It is an endless ocean of work that never runs dry. It’s tough, but when they stop to contemplate the lives that depend on them — from Muniyamma, that solitary soul, to over 200 people now who owe a great deal to Mission 5 — they see how important it is to continue doing what they do, at least for one more day.