We believe in ‘helping people to help themselves’. We try to design our interventions in a way that makes our beneficiaries self dependent in the long run, rather than making them dependent on charity. This was the thought process before launching ‘Project Swabhimaan’

We believe in empathy over sympathy. A lot of our work involves interaction with groups of people that the society views with sympathy. These include persons with disabilities and the economically disadvantaged. During our interactions we realised that most of the times they just want to be seen as people, and definitely do not seek sympathy. Therefore, the correct way to go about it would be to put yourself in their shoes, and imagine how you would like to be treated if you were in their place.

We see our beneficiaries as PEOPLE and not POOR PEOPLE. It is important to remember that a person’s existence or identity cannot be reduced to their financial status. We treat them the way we would ourselves like to be treated.

We have strict guidelines for photography and social media ethics. We always ask people before clicking their pics for our documentation and posting on social media. These guidelines become even more strict when it comes to clicking pictures of teenage girls, as we take their privacy very seriously. 

We believe that no action is too small, and that ultimately, every drop counts. Many little actions taken by many people eventually leads to a large impact, and hence not acting due to the fear of your contribution being too small is just a mental block. Let’s work together to make every drop count!

Raindrops Foundation Photo Ethics and Guidelines for Donation Drives

  1. Respect The Privacy of Individuals & Communities: 
  • Avoid close-ups of beneficiaries, especially females 
  • Try showing their side pose or back instead
  • If you feel someone is happy to be clicked, take their consent
  • Click pictures in a way that beneficiaries are not recognisable
  • Click random/candid pictures
  1. Do not make them feel uncomfortable because of the camera
  • Only one designated photographer per drive 
  • We do not want to overwhelm them with too many photos/photographers
  • DO NOT ASK PEOPLE TO POSE WITH YOU OR FOR YOU
  • Tip: A simple way is to always ask yourself, “Would I be happy to be portrayed this way?”
  1. No Glorification
  • Avoid showing our volunteers as ‘superheroes’ and creating the binaries of ‘givers’ and ‘takers’ through visual representation
  • The visuals should create a sense of ‘sharing’ rather than ‘poor people receiving’
  1. No Poverty Porn
  • No pictures of sad, hungry, naked children to incite pity or sympathy
  1. Click pictures in a way to tell the story and highlight the challenges faced by them.
  2. Click pictures in both vertical & landscape mode.
  3. Be present during the drive and avoid taking selfies of yourself.