Challenging your problem solving skills to accept failure
Problem-solving is the procedure for resolving tough or complex problems. To solve the problem, you must think deeply and make some strategies to solve that problem. Two weeks before, we got a task to raise funds for the Edhi Foundation, and this experience was full of problems, excitement, and pleasure of gratitude. We are thankful to AMAL ACADEMY that they gave us this opportunity to challenge our problem-solving skills and learn a bundle of things.
The Edhi Foundation is a non-profit social welfare organization based in Pakistan. It was founded by Abdul Sattar Edhi in 1951, who served as the head of the organization until his death on 8 July 2016. Bilquis Edhi, a nurse by profession, oversees the maternity and adoption services of the Foundation. The Edhi Foundation is headquartered in the city of Karachi. The Edhi Foundation provides 24-hour emergency assistance across the entirety of Pakistan and internationally. The Foundation provides, among many other services, shelter for the needy, hospitals and medical care, drug rehabilitation services, and national and international relief efforts. The organization’s main focuses are emergency services, orphans, disabled persons, women’s shelters, education, healthcare, international community centers, refugees, missing persons, blood donation & drug rehabilitation banks, air ambulance services, and marine and coastal services.
Fundraising is attempting to raise funds for a charity, a cause, or another business. One famous saying is, “Donating is the ultimate sign of solidarity. Actions speak louder than words”.
Experience and challenges
We collected the funds individually as Covid19 didn’t allow us to arrange any campaigns and group activity for this noble purpose. This activity is full of challenges and learning. Here are the challenges that I and my group members faced during this activity.
“When I got to know that we have to collect funds for Edhi Foundation, I became so excited but and I thought to collect at least 5000–10000, but as soon as the days passed, my motivation decreased as I updated the statuses on my social media accounts, but people were watching, and they are not interested at all. Then I messaged them individually to please donate some amount. Some of them transferred at the moment, and some were delayed, which seemed unwilling. I also messaged some bloggers on Instagram, but unfortunately, they didn’t even respond. Somehow, I collected some amount, and this activity forced me to step out of my comfort zone. The other thing which I learned is that convincing other is not an easy job. I got to know that accepting failure is the hardest; in the end, I become so upset, but I decided to make donations more often now, and my ability to convince people will increase hopefully in the future”. — Bisma Younus
Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing. — J.K. Rowling
“Somehow, the experience was good and bad as well. Good in a sense that when I talked to people around me about donations for Edhi Foundation, they appreciated my struggle and concern towards Edhi foundation and they appreciated me, while bad in a sense that most have a different point of view and perception towards particular personalities and organization, so that’s the reason, I found it bad as well. I worked individually and asked people to donate some of them promised me and told me they would donate whatever they could, but at the end of the day, I guess I didn’t convince them, and I should have done more. During these two weeks, the real challenges I faced were that many people around us told me that “kya Chanda Jama kr Raha hai” felt bad. Still, I managed it and didn’t about it, and another thing I faced is people told me that they already donate such NGOs so, well then, I told them it’s a task this is how I overcome such difficulties. I realized that it’s not easy to raise such NGOs. You have to face a lot of criticisms and taunt. I can imagine now how Edhi Sahab did this. It helps me a lot”. — Muhammad Umer
“Those who spend in charity will be richly rewarded.” [Quran 75:10]
“The overall experience of the fundraising activity was great and full of learning. First, I started from social media, but I did not receive any response. Then I sent a private message to my close friends and relatives, and then I received the response they donated to the Edhi Foundation and shared the receipt with me. On the second step, I went outside to a market near my home, and most of the people already knew me; they just gave me an amount without any further questions, and I donated an amount from my Easy paisa account in front of them to build trust. Then I went to some new people who did not know me, and I noticed that convincing stranger’s people was difficult. They also asked me to show any authentic proof. I showed them a letter, and still, they were not ready to donate. I also told them you could donate from your accounts, but they still thought it was a scam. When they started making excuses, I just said them thankyou and left their shop. Convincing the stranger’s people was so challenging. After some attempts, I was successful in getting a donation of a small amount from one stranger. The activity was full of learning. The amount raised by me is Rupees 1178. I engage with people individually. This experience help me a lot to accept failure; I feel the difference of mindset and thinking of people, some people will agree to you, and some will not agree to you this is the reality we should accept “. — Sarfaraz
“The best charity is that given by one who has little.” Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)
“It feels good to work for the social cause despite not being able to convince people. I try to convince people individually, and it’s hard for one person alone to convince people or get their attention. Not much of a challenge except leaving my comfort zone to work for the social cause. I managed to collect Rupees 100, which is not much but better than nothing”. — Ahmed Abdur Rehman
“The Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) asked: ‘Which charity is best?’ He replied: ‘That which you give while you fear poverty.” [Sahih Bukhari №500]
“My experience of convincing People to donate funds was not very good, but I learned a lot from this activity. I convinced and engaged with people individually; therefore, I faced many difficulties convincing people to donate funds. If we collect funds with a group, it could be simple to collect more funds. I faced many challenges like if we talk to the people for fundraising, People say they will donate directly, but they didn’t donate until. And some people ask me why you are collecting donations for the Edhi foundation. It is not your work; it’s Edhi foundation work; they will collect donations themselves. I competed in those challenges very well. I ignored people’s talk. And I continued my hard work, and I succeeded in collecting funds for the Edhi foundation. This experience taught me how to convince people for good deeds and how to tell people for helping humanity”. — Usama Ansari
The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation. You are not important because of how long you live, you are important because of how effective you live. Myles Munroe
“The overall experience was good. It took some time and effort. Convincing people was challenging as they had this mindset that they had many options to donate. I convinced people individually. I feel it is easier to convince individually rather than in groups. This mindset is that they can donate directly to people and not through an NGO. However, I feel it is all about the intention and not how you do it. This was a challenging task. I failed to collect a handsome amount but learned a lot. Every person has their way of doing it. We face failure many times in our lives, but we shouldn’t give up and keep going”. — Rida Noman
“Where there is charity and wisdom, There is neither fear nor ignorance.”
St. Francis of Assisi
“It was a good experience of convincing people to donate funds for a social cause. I tried to come out of my comfort zone, convinced and engaged people personally, and succeeded in convincing my two friends that the strategy I followed was uploading posts and a video that demonstrated all step-by-step donation procedures through easy paisa and their website. I faced some challenges like people were confused about whether the money they are giving will surely for Edhi Foundation; in short, they want validation. I cleared all their doubts by showing them Amal’s letter and guiding them through the donation procedure through their official website and official easy paisa account. I also received some sentences like ye Kiya kaam shuru kr Diya tum ne etc. This challenge helped me to accept failure when I tried to convince people, but they didn’t get convinced. It was difficult to accept that I might lack somewhere that I cannot convince them, but as it’s a part of life, we should accept it”. — Maryam Sani
Our group collected 2128 rupees only, but something is better than nothing. We tried with full of our passion and dedication. We implemented what we had learned from the principles of Amal, such as; Amal, khudi, ek or ek gayara or Kam kam. Had an amazing experience collecting funds along with my group.
Looking forward to more activities like this in the future, we will work with our heart and soul.
