MakeLoveNotScars works to make way of respect for some of the bravest souls. They work with acid attack victims and help them with all aspects of rehabilitation. The idea of making a documentary on acid attacks was ignited in mind of Ria Sharma and her team which ended up helping many girls to not only recover but mend their hearts and fill in self-esteem too. Although they did not finish with the documentary ever, MakeLoveNotScars was born with their work. Initiated as an idea in January 2014, this NGO turned one year on 18^th April, 2015 on its establishment.

“We try to adapt the ‘whatever the survivor needs’ approach- whether it’s education, employment, medical or legal, we try to be a one stop shop for everything that rehabilitation requires,” mentions Ria.

Sensitizing the society towards the cause is an ongoing battle for these youngsters at MakeLoveNotScars. They try to just get people to be more understanding and accepting which turns out to be a tough challenge. Struggling with the inconvenience of the funds, the team is fighting hard for supporting two survivors at a time.

“As the fund raising campaigns take place once a month, the process of helping survivors takes place with the help of a priority list. We put the survivors on a priority list and any emergency case that comes in is automatically bumbled up to No.1 on the list. By priority I am referring to 1) danger to life  2) danger to vision,” says Ms. Sharma.

Each of their campaigns has been a great milestone in making the visions come true. These campaigns enabled them to help girls who have been victims of horrific violence. Every campaign has had a story, a purpose and an aim.

Self-sustainability is targeted as the ultimate goal of MakeLoveNotScars. They aim to create a system run by the survivors and for the survivors which will also focus on providing employment in order to help them all be independent. 

“Every day is an achievement. Every step towards recovery is a massive milestone which is going to help send a girl on her path to recovery,” confides Ria.

These girls wake up every day with an urge to do something in this present day of life and the positive and changed thoughts of girls has kept up the working of this NGO and step higher every day eradicating the social stigma which is vital yet extremely difficult.

“Overall development is an extremely slow process in this field, whereas medical recovery takes anywhere between 3 years- 10 years (depending on percentage of burns). I think that even every little effort contributes towards this process and we would be surely seen as a successful rehabilitation in next 7 years with examples of survivors who have fought the battle bravely,” narrates Ria.

At the NGO, they have artists who like to contribute to art, photographers who like to shoot photos of the survivors and make films along with writers who contribute articles on the awareness and spread them. Volunteers also get involved with the “buddy system”. The buddy system enables volunteers to talk to survivors and become a part of their support system which is found to be a good way in which volunteers can directly get involved with survivors.

The NGO has been in existence for just a year now and as they complete a year with the NGO, they tend to look back to how taking baby steps has made it possible to rise little to a long way serving the vision in the right direction. The team plans to try and have as many girls rehabilitated along with looking into spreading as much awareness as possible.
“It has been a remarkable journey into exploring self and I’m sure it can be that for the readers too. I would gladly invite anyone who has ever been thinking about coming forward and volunteering because it’s way more than just volunteering or something you should do. It’s that experience, knowledge and wisdom which will walk with you in whole life,” says Ria Sharma.