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.

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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.”