Organization was looking for a proficient content writer to write a popular article on the current status, lifecycle and conservation of Indian Pangolin for Sanctuary Asia to spread awareness about this issue.
NGO
Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra
Bhau, Director
Konkan, Maharastra, India
Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM) is a leading non-government organization in India, engaged in conservation of nature through education, awareness, community participation, and research. In the year 1992, SNM started its work in the pristine region of Konkan on the western coast of Maharashtra state in India. SNM has successfully organized various projects in nature conservation, protection, and education with its limited resources. Mission Statement: Nature conservation through field protection, awareness, education and scientific based action.
Volunteer
Zubin
Corporate Strategy Manager
Mumbai, India
Corporate Strategist, Engineer, Literature Buff, Tennis Aficionado... Involved in strategic projects in a conglomerate, Zubin has also passion for creative campaigns, and is excellent at writing, number- crunching, finance and social-media marketing. A person high on EQ, he strongly believes in doing something for the greater good of the planet and humanity.
THE STORY
PREPARATION
Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra have already used more than 20 online volunteers for different projects on Chezuba. This time they were looking for a talented content writer to share their work with the larger community. As the Director of the organization Bhau states “Many people conduct research about Indian Pangolin, but there are very few organizations focused on conservation, and we wish to popularize this issue.”
Zubin always loved writing, but never took it up as a profession. When he came across Chezuba he liked the way he could easily navigate through the hundreds of projects to select the one that fits his interest. “I realized I could make a difference with my passion - writing and the topic of Pangolin was very interesting, because I never knew about how big the problem is. At the same time I wanted to learn something new,” he recalls how he selected the project posted by Bhau.
Source: https://www.snmcpn.org/pangolin
MATCH
After Zubin received the confirmation email that he is matched with Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra he immediately wrote an email to Bhau. After that Bhau responded with all the basic information about their work and what they expect from Zubin.
Once Zubin got all the articles about the organization’s work and clear expectations, he started his own research about the issue available in international media. After 2 weeks working during his free time, the first draft of the article was ready.
Bhau was quite impressed with the first draft, he could see that Zubin got interested in the topic and was actively doing a lot of his own research. To align the article with the organization’s mission, Bhau suggested a few minor, but essential changes and Zubin added more information about Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra’s work from the articles Bhau provided before.
All interactions between the NGO and online volunteer were through email and as both parties responded very quickly, the project was completed very smoothly. It took 18 emails, 6 weeks and about 2-3 iterations to get the final piece of writing ready.
...the short span in which I volunteered was characterized by immense learning, awareness and a sense of deep satisfaction.
CHALLENGES & SOLUTION
The volunteer and organization hardly recall any difficulties during working on the project. Zubin only suggested that the article should be accompanied by high quality pictures, as those are very important for the article to stand out in quality magazines like Sanctuary Asia.
Publishing of the article would help Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra not only in increasing trust and credibility of their organization, but at the same time attract potential donors.
RESULT
The final work comprises a 4 page-long popular article about Indian Pangolin trafficking issue and conservation efforts of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra. It was published in the April 2020 issue of Sanctuary Asia. In Bhau’s words “The quality of the article is very good. This article will provide details about Indian Pangolin and work done by Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra to readers of the magazine as very little information is available on Pangolins. This will help to support conservation activities and fundraising.”
THE PRODUCT
THE EXPERIENCE
“Chezuba is one of the perfect organizations that connect quality volunteers and NGOs who required volunteering. It is very easy to register and upload projects through the user-friendly site. You can select the best volunteers and satisfy with there work. Our article published as a cover story in reputed wildlife magazine Sanctuary Asia is proud for us. This was happened because of very good drafting by Chezuba’s volunteer Zubin Unwalla.”
"We talk about living a meaningful life and making a difference. And in that quest we start off dreaming big - world hunger, poverty, the climate crisis! But there are smaller causes and niche areas where one can make an impact and derive the same kind of satisfaction. Chezuba is a wonderfully structured platform that helped me map my skills to easily accessible volunteering projects, for causes that interest me. And the short span in which I volunteered was characterized by immense learning, awareness and a sense of deep satisfaction."
