Robin Hood Army: Two friends from India and Pakistan fight to defeat Hunger

Robin Hood Army: Two friends from India and Pakistan fight to defeat Hunger
  • One-third of the world's annual food production for human consumption is 1.3bn tonnes, that goes to waste.
  • The objective of RHA is to redistribute surplus food from restaurants and eateries and create self-sustaining societies
  • RHA started in India with endeavors of Neel Ghose who had launched an initiative to feed 150 homeless people of New Delhi in 2014

KARACHI: Two brothers from either side of the border of nations- India and Pakistan, which are in highly unveiled conflict since 1947, consolidated to raise the morale of the countries and fight the common enemy- hunger.

It started in India with endeavors of Neel Ghose who had launched an initiative to feed 150 homeless people of New Delhi in 2014. A few months later, started a new chapter of Robin Hood Army (RHA) in Pakistan when Ghose shared this idea with Sarah Afridi.

Robin Hood Army in Islamabad. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

According to a study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization, one-third of the world's annual food production for human consumption is 1.3bn tonnes, that goes to waste. If efficiently managed, this could feed one in nine of the 7.3 billion people around the world, who go to bed hungry every night, said the Al Jazeera report.

In India, this project now comprises 400 volunteers who wear green and go out into the streets of around 11 cities distributing food to 2,500 to 3,000 poor and homeless people every night.

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The objective is to redistribute surplus food from restaurants and eateries and create self-sustaining societies by distributing surplus food to the lesser-privileged members of society. Some do it for religious cause and some for humanity but this initiative would probably also work in facets other than malnutrition.

RHA-Lahore Launch. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Youth groups in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad come out each Sunday and take responsibility on their shoulders to collect surplus produce from food outlets so that they can feed a few hundreds of households in Pakistan.

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The Express Tribune report said, the Robin Hood Army had its first distribution on February 15 – the day Pakistan and India had their opening World Cup match, reminding people of the need to bridge the differences of the two countries.

But who are the people donating for the cause? Sadly, no one but the members of the team are themselves funding the distributions out of their own pocket. However, their aim is to get restaurants on board to donate their surplus food.

The slogan Robin Hood Army said, "We might be on different teams but we are batting for the same side."

According to aljazeera.com, the Robin Hood Army is present in 23 cities across five countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia – with more than 3,000 Robins having served nearly 500,000 people.

-prepared by Pashchiema, an intern at NewsGram. Twitter: @pashchiema

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