Barely one year old, MyIndians.com hopes to be the medium that helps connect the needy with the givers.
It was only last Monday that MyIndians.com launched a new segment called ‘Helping Hands. In just over a week since the page went online, 74 people have availed themselves for the service.
This is how the process works - those seeking assistance register themselves on the website and fill in the relevant details to place a notice on the site. This notice can advertise the applicant’s availability for particular jobs or a request for financial aid.
Other users who would like to help will then comment on a particular query, contact the person in question, and offer their ‘helping hand’. This model essentially sustains itself without the intervention of the administrators.
According to the administrators the number of notices put up so far is only the tip of the iceberg, and there are many issues that need to be addressed for the minority community, especially Indians.
“We are not short of resources, but the problem is there are not many takers. Somehow people are not aware of these resources. For example, many youths continue to say that they are unable to pursue their education because of the lack of resources. MyIndians.com updates the list of resources daily so that they can have all the information they need to further their studies.
“I believe, any youth will be able to get at least a diploma in vocational skills with the existing schemes we have,” stresses MyIndians.com founding member Vasanthi Ramachandran.
MyIndians.com also offers job matches in various fields.
‘Helping Hands’ is the latest addition to a gradually evolving portal that positions as a platform for self-reliance that can be used by the Indian and other minority communities.
Vasanthi admits that the new system might not be fool proof yet, but she refuses wait.
“If you keep waiting nothing will come to fruition, we wanted to help the local Indian community and we had resources, so we decided to just get going with it,” she told Komunitikini recently.
MyIndians.com would also like to solve the issue of citizenship among Indians resident in the country.
Individuals who do not posses MyKad and birth certificates can fill up a form on the website. One of MyIndians’ ten full-time staff or any volunteers will attend to these cases.
“During Thaipusam, we set up a tent to register those without ICs and we managed to record some 1,300 cases. But the process to obtain a MyKad takes between three to six months. So far around 50 people have got their MyKads after coming to us,” explained Vasanthi.
“One of the girls for whom we managed to obtain a MyKad for is a Malay Muslim. And we have Chinese individuals posting opinions on our site. So our door is open to all.”
MyIndians.com currently has 10,000 members with 500 active volunteers, and also features opinion columns, forums, and selected news stories.
MyIndians.com will be conducting several workshops for youths who will be mentored by successful entrepreneurs. As part of these workshops, training in the use of business software will also be provided. The volunteers are also organising a futsal competition in Subang Jaya on September 24.
Now barely one year old, MyIndians.com is striving to become the medium that helps connect the needy with the givers.