Made with love, these rakhis empower special children

By: Vidushi Agarwal LUCKNOW: The festival of Rakshabandhan evokes emotions of many kinds. Seizing the sentiment associated with it, various organizations in the city are using the opportunity to help empower multi-disabled children and support families of cancer patients. You can find rakhis made by children with learning or physical disabilities and order them to be delivered to your doorstep through various delivery platforms for contactless delivery.To keep the spirits of children high despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Drishti Samajik Sansthan, a home for children with various physical and learning disabilities, has made arrangements for delivering rakhi orders via food and delivery platforms. Like every year, they cannot put up stalls at various schools and institutes for the festival. Children use cloth, paper, motifs, mirrorwork and sequins to make attractive rakhis with all their concentration. Priced at Rs 70 onwards, the rakhis are sanitized and kept in a handmade box and bag. “Some children are visually, hearing- or speech-impaired while some have a physical or psychological deformity, but despite all odds, these children are more than enthusiastic to learn about all festivals,” said Shalu Singh, joint director of the institute. To provide employment to family members of cancer patients, Eeshwar Child Welfare Foundation is promoting rakhis made from recycled products.The decoration material is taken from discarded wedding invitations, clothes and other waste products. The rakhis are home delivered by the foundation members. “The preparation of rakhis for the festival of bonds aims to give employment to needy mothers of children with cancer so that they can empower their children and families. They are also making ‘puja thalis’ with newspaper,” said Sapna Upadhyay, director of the foundation, which was been doing so for six years.This year, the foundation has already delivered rakhis worth Rs 25,000 in approximately 25 designs in one month. “The most heartening is that the sale of these rakhis is growing at a rapid pace across the city and the mothers are able to profit from it. We are making use of social media to popularise these rakhis. Our members are cautious and utmost care of sanitization is taken in manufacturing and delivery,” said Sapna. Priced between Rs 15 and Rs 100, these rakhis and other handmade products made by these women help sustain around 40 families.