Share our blessings…

As they say in the movies, weddings are once-in-a-lifetime affair and there’s nothing in the world we wouldn’t do to celebrate our nuptials in the most exclusive manner so that everyone we are associated with in this lifetime remembers the event for the rest of theirs!

Similarly, wedding gifts are an important part of this extremely important occasion as it helps couples get started on their future life together, with a little less stress on their wallets.

What if neither the bride nor the groom wanted another microwave or a blender or even more cash? Because there was enough already and no extra room for clutter! So, wouldn’t the best idea be to use this opportunity to make an impact by doing a noble deed, such as ‘help change lives’ instead.

Wondering how?

…By foregoing the traditional wedding gift process and replacing it with a donation from friends and family.

This is a very common concept in the western world, and has been recently begun in Bangladesh by Tayyeba Nasir, HR Manager UNICEF Indonesia, Malaysia and Timor Leste, when she had her son’s wedding in Bangladesh in July 2019.

“Honestly speaking, I was a little worried about the gifts as the new couple had already planned on everything beforehand and didn’t need it,” explained Nasir.

She went on to say, “Then the idea struck me — as to why not use this occasion, as an opportunity to collect donations from the guests who were planning to gift anyway, and use it towards a beneficial cause such as the Rohingya children, or any other major children’s concern existent in our society via UNICEF Bangladesh.

And fascinatingly enough, the UNICEF Fundraising & Partnerships Specialist Zahidul Hassan appreciated the idea and agreed in piloting the donation process together, at my son’s wedding.”

Nasir continued to portray that the outcome was fruitful as everyone appreciated the idea, contributing their share in the donation box.

“We also set up a separate website for the wedding donation where invitees could go online and contribute,” informed Nasir.

Surely, this virtuous initiative, which has seen a successful pilot just a few days back, is expected to see frequent recurrences in the future. And UNICEF Bangladesh is trying to make sure the repetition to the noble cause persists, by building a connection with the event management team in the country and encouraging them to allow a similar option at future weddings, with the permission of their clients.

Hassan justified the development by making an interesting remark, “The most important thing what we wanted to do through this event is to start a trend of supporting good cause where the millennials get involved directly, as an active global citizen.  We believe, from this initiative the youngsters would learn that it is up to them to create a liveable and sustainable society for everyone. After all everyone needs to know that -- we are the change we want to see.”

All in all, what can be said is that this may be a fresh outlook to the future, where we tag along a social cause in everything that we do from birthday parties to wedding anniversaries, and share our joy more meaningfully. And maybe someday everyone in the world would be a little better off because we chose to share our blessings on all our special days.