Mishal Mohammed, a second year MBBS student at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, started walking on New Year’s Day carrying a message and a bucket. His message ‘Save 74 lives’ has now gone viral on social media and help is coming in from different quarters in support of his cause.
It has only been a few months since Mishal, 19, became part of Imprints, a charity programme of students of the college, to financially help children suffering from thalassaemia, diabetes, and Wilson’s Disease.
Expensive medicines
“The government has various schemes to help these children but the reach is low. We are raising funds to help them get expensive medicines,” Mishal said, continuing his walk through the city.
On the first day, he walked 15 km from the medical college to Kunnamangalam and raised around ₹3,500. But his initiative caught the attention of several like-minded people on social media by the next day.
The students of JDT Islam College at Vellimadukunnu invited him to visit the college. Mishal walked 5 km to the college on the second day and raised around ₹8,000 from the students and staff there. He also started receiving contributions online by then.
Though the hartal put a damper on his mission for a day, Mishal resumed his walk. This time though three of his friends Soha, Rizwan, and Rockey joined him.
“We need around ₹10 lakh every year for our mission. At present, we are getting some help from the business community,” Mishal said.
Walking is not new for Mishal, who launched the ‘Walk to the Beach challenge’ a few months ago. More than 200 people had responded to the challenge and started walking on a daily basis.
Mishal himself discovered the importance of walking when he got stranded in the Himalayas without money during an all-India trip last year.
He affirms that walking is not just the best exercise but also the best way to explore the land.
Mishal plans to continue his walk to different parts of the district at least till the end of the month for his cause. Busy walking, he does not forget to ask each contributor to pray for the children who are to benefit from his campaign.