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Caring during Covid
Nicole Slater talks to the students behind the Raabta Project
From left to right: James Hall, Ariane Morales and Emily Brenker
When university campuses closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, Sai Kung residents James Hall, Emily Brenker and Ariane Morales found themselves back home and wanting to help. At the time, a fourth member of the team Divyansh Rungta, who was based in India, informed the trio about the worrying situation taking place in rural villages surrounding his home. The students knew they could use their voices to help. Together they started the Raabta Project, a charity dedicated to donating medical supplies to those in need. “Raabta is not an abbreviation, but rather a term in Hindi that means bonding of the soul. We believe this term aligns with our mission to provide support for those affected and to spread awareness,” says Hall. While the Hong Kong Academy alumni had previous experience organising fundraising events, doing so during a pandemic was a little trickier. “Getting donations from people was difficult, everyone is struggling financially and we couldn’t organise a fundraising event due to legal restrictions,” says Hall. Through a strong network of friends and family, along with Hong Kong Academy’s tight-knit community, the team is currently
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on track to raise their goal of $39,900. The money raised will be used to purchase and donate 100,000 surgical masks to support two rural Indian villages, Dhaura Tanda Nagar and Thiriya Nizawat Khan, through the pandemic. By partnering with organisations including Rotary club Bareilly and Shree Industries, the Raabta team has been able to negotiate manufacturing costs for each mask and get the support they need to send and distribute them around the villages. With restrictions lifting, the team has also
joined hands with local pizza shop Paisanos to sell cookies and is on the lookout to partner with more local businesses to help raise awareness and funds for the project. “The Sai Kung community can help by donating and spreading information about our charity. Sharing our link through social media platforms will help spread the word to people within our community and across the world,” says Hall. For more information about the Raabta Project or to donate please visit raabtaproject.wixsite.com/mysite
Mask factory
