HUNGER and starvation are among the most painful realities in our world. When a person does not have enough nutritious food to eat, their bodies become malnourished and a slow and painful process begins in which their physical bodies experience a loss of strength, stunted growth, slow development, organ failure and eventual death. Malnutrition affects both children and adults whose lives are upended and it becomes difficult to concentrate in school or perform tasks at the workplace. This means that children are forced to quit school and adults lose their jobs. This exacerbates existing poverty and the cycle continues.
The impact of malnutrition on families, communities and nations is immense. In all parts of the world, societies function when all members are able to contribute and participate to their fullest potential. This holds back individuals and the entire nation who are deprived of the contributions of hard working individuals who themselves are stripped of their rights to food, education, employment and a stable livelihood – all due to poverty. North 24 Parganas in southern West Bengal has disadvantaged areas where poverty, hunger, malnutrition and trafficking are rife. It is in these areas that Dreamer Trust is doing something incredible with just ₹1.
The power of ₹1
Dreamer Trust is a Kolkata-based NGO that has a unique and compassionate solution to the problem of hunger and malnutrition. The organization prepares and serves fresh meals to the poor for a cost of ₹1. This is affordable for people from underprivileged communities who are otherwise unable to afford even one meal a day. Why the ₹1 charge you ask? When Dreamer Trust spoke to people in the area, it was clear that they were doing all they could to improve their lives and didn’t want to feel that they were begging for food. Charging a small amount is a gesture that builds self respect and helps them live dignified lives.
Lunch time!
From 12 noon to 2:00 pm, Dreamer Trust drives its big yellow food van in North 24 Parganas and parks next to hospitals and other areas where groups of individuals and families are gathered. For ₹1, the Dreamer Trust team sells a full plate of food that includes fish rice, meat rice, egg rice, vegetable rice, biryani and khichdi to people who are too poor to afford food and who have gone for days without eating. Dreamer Trust operates their food van 365 days a year to serve meals to people who are unable to afford food. These nutritious meals at an affordable ₹1 builds their strength and helps them live healthier and work for their livelihoods.
Feeding people is Mithu’s dream
Mithu Chowdhury started Dreamer Trust because as a child, he would spend all day on an empty stomach and often went to sleep without eating a single meal. In fact, he only ate when his friends would give him some of their food. Mithu was from a poor household and while studying in school, Mithu worked as a vegetable cart helper pushing a vendor’s vegetable cart through the streets. He also worked as a Tempo van helper and washed dishes in a restaurant near a railway station in Siliguri. Mithu grew up and started working but hunger and starvation wouldn’t leave his mind. Then in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Mithu saw the immense suffering that swept across India during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was working and earning at the time but his childhood memories of hunger and starvation made him empathetic to the plight of poor people suffering without food while being afraid of a mysterious global disease. Mithu gathered a few of his friends and used his savings to start cooking and serving nutritious meals to people in desperate need. But he also knew that these are hard working people who are trying their best to make ends meet and handouts wouldn’t help them. So he decided to charge ₹1 for a nutritious plate of food.
Dreamer Trust’s impact
Dreamer Trust has served 301,000 meals since 2020 to underprivileged people which has made a massive impact in their lives. Food improves mental and physical health and has helped countless disadvantaged individuals get back on their feet and live healthier and stronger lives. Each day, Dreamer Trust feeds around 250 to 300 people and saves them from malnutrition. But there are still large queues of people just waiting for a hot meal from Dreamer Trust and your support can help the NGO prepare more meals to serve to more people in desperate need of a fresh and nutritious meal – perhaps their only meal for the day.
Support Dreamer Trust
Mithu was once a small child suffering from hunger and starvation and doing what he could to afford a small morsel of food. But because he had a dream – and followed it – he now feeds more than 1 lakh meals each year to people in need through Dreamer Trust. When you support Dreamer Trust, you help feed people who are suffering in silence. It is said that one of the most compassionate acts of service you can do is feed another person. By supporting Dreamer Trust, you can feed hundreds knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of generations of Indians who need help. To support Dreamer Trust:
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Shirley has been in the development sector for over 10 years and is passionate about making a change in the world around her, including adopting dogs and writing to make a difference.