Makeachange — India

The COVID-19 pandemic put the entire world to a screeching halt. Everyone was drowning in their own boredom during quarantine, and I was one of those people too. School had ended just as quickly as it started, and two of my friends and I had so many plans for the new school year. Rather than looking at missed opportunities, I started looking at new ones: with all this free time on our hands we could begin to make an impact. The idea on Makeachange India wasn’t born during the pandemic, but it was because of the pandemic we were able to put thoughts into actions. Two of my friends and I discussed all of these issues in our country, India, soon after the George Floyd incident. India is exposed to discrimination of every form possible and yet no one speaks out about it. Our goal is to get people to listen to the cries of help from our country. The fact that the pandemic exists is not something I’m happy about but Makeachange India is the one good thing that came out of it.

The current situation did help start Makeachange but there are a lot of problems that we still haven’t figured out. Ideally, one of the main ways to spread awareness would be to speak at school assemblies, but we obviously haven’t been able to do that. It’s been tougher to actually make a difference because most of us have been confined to our homes. However, we’re really lucky to be blessed with technology at this point and we’ve managed to sign/start petitions, take part in a few online fundraisers, and mainly spread awareness by uploading posts on Instagram. Times aren’t easy now, but we’re all trying to make it better!

— Zara from the Makeachange Team, 14

Chennai, India