Organisation in service of the needy far from home

Ask any Indian labourer for the contact number of a volunteer from "Sevanam" and you will get it.

The Sharjah-based Indian organisation is a household name not only among Indian labourers in the UAE but also among their families back home in India.

'Sevanam' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'in service'.

"They came to my rescue once when I needed financial help to pay up for my ... medical bills once when I was hospitalised. Since then I have been in regular touch with them and following their activities," said Vishnu Prasad, a labourer from Al Quoz. "I keep telling them how much I appreciate their help when I needed the most," he added.

Established in 2002 it has over 7,000 members scattered all over the emirates. Most of their members are labourers.

Membership

"We have kept the membership fee at Dh5 so that all those who desire to join us can do so easily," said Saju Edackattu, a member who served as an organisation secretary.

A member of the Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC), Sevanam shy away from the limelight and prefer to carry on with their humanitarian work without much fanfare and publicity.

"We try to go about our work quietly without much publicity and this is because we do not want be carried away by the glitz and the glamour [that] comes along with all the media hype. Even blue collar workers are our members and we prefer to keep things as simple as possible," said Saju.

People who look for any sort of help from Sevanam are thoroughly scrutinised for credibility. Members visit the applicants in person and a one-to-one interaction takes, only then help is forwarded.

The organisation as such does not have a reservoir of cash flow and have to look inwards for collection of funds.

"We have been lucky so far in providing financial assistance for those who were needy. Every member chips in a little cash as per his or her capability from Dh5 to Dh1,000 every single penny contributed makes a difference.

"Not to mention the enormous assistance we receive from ICWC. There have been a number of cases that we have been successfully seen through with the help of ICWC," said Saju.

The largest contribution that the organisation was able to make so far was to an Indian patient who was lying in a critical condition in a hospital in Abu Dhabi.

The total expenses by the organisation were Dh28,000, which included settling his medical bills, his repatriation and his hospitalisation in India.

U.R.K., a 29-year-old Indian woman who was forced into prostitution and rescued by the organisation, said the members where quite considerate towards her plight and extended their unconditional assistance to her as well as her family when she went back home to her family.

A member of an Indian family, who was provided with financial assistance for their children's studies back home, said: "The father [was] unemployed and we were finding it very difficult to meet both ends meet. We were really in dire straits financially. We had no other choice but to stop sending children to school.

"It was during those days that we learnt of the organisation. We got in touch with them and our children was saved from being school drop outs."

Speaking to Gulf News from India she said: "They even gave me money to sustain for a few months until I [was] able to get a decent job in India. The best part was the members treated me with respect ... after I was being rescued by them."