CRY presents benefit play

The much-beloved character of Tevye the milkman and his fiddling on the roof antics delighted audiences in a charity performance that was held at the North Atlanta High School last weekend.

The play Fiddler on the Roof was put on by Saakar, a nonprofit Indian organization, and co-sponsored by the Tech chapter of Children's Rights and You (CRY) in a historic partnership-this year marked the first time in Saakar's four-year history that it teamed up with CRY for the production.

Set in a small Jewish shtetl (town) in turn-of-the-century tsarist Russia, the play tells the story of Tevye's attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions in the face of rapid change in the world around the shtetl.

The theatre was almost completely full. The audience laughed and cheered to show their enjoyment of the performance. The actors performed excellently and without noticeable imperfections, surprising some audience members with their ability to slip into a Yiddish accent and carry out Jewish humor. The actor who played the role of Tevye especially showed great enthusiasm during his performance of the iconic "If I Were a Rich Man" song. The performers, all in all, were exceptional and not shy to show their talent.

However, the play was not simply just an exercise in acting and entertainment.

"What made this play unique was the fact that it was set up by a nonprofit Indian group, Saakar. Money raised went towards production costs and the rest went to charity," said Jelle van de Vall, director of operations of CRY Tech.

The play was sponsored by CRY in order to promote awareness and raise money for the organization.

CRY was started in India 27 years ago and benefits impoverished children in India and America by providing them with shelter, education, disaster relief and healthcare.

"In almost three decades, CRY has enabled more than 2,500 communities across 18 states in India to work towards addressing the root causes of issues like deprivation, adult unemployment, exploitation and abuse-[issues] that constrain the rights of children," said Namit Bhatia, co-leader of CRY Atlanta.

"By mobilizing these communities, CRY, along with its more than 500 NGO [nongovernmental organization] partners, have ensured over 1,500,000 children across India with opportunities they could not dream of. None of these micro-miracles would have been possible without the active involvement and support CRY experienced from the more than 150,000 [volunteers] and organizations in India and overseas," Bhatia said.

Currently, there are 26 CRY chapters in America. CRY Atlanta and CRY Tech, which was founded last year with three permanent board members, are new chapters that have dedicated themselves to the mission of the international organization.

"We try to spread awareness and raise money for the underprivileged. Ten percent goes to the U.S., the rest goes to India. We spread awareness about abuse, the exploitation of poor children and women victims. Some of the money raised by CRY America also goes to American underprivileged children," de Vall said.

"We harness the support, money, time and skills for millions of Indians worldwide who could provide resources and thousands of dedicated fieldworkers across India struggling to function for lack of them. As such, we are an enabling organization as opposed to an implementing one," Bhatia said.

The leaders of CRY Tech and CRY Atlanta hope to increase support and awareness for their organizations.

Furthermore, they hope to increase membership in local chapters as well as to create more chapters in Atlanta.

"This is the first time in history that CRY Atlanta and CRY Tech have collaborated together with Saakar on such a grand scale. We hope to further increase membership and open new chapters at Emory and Georgia State University," said Aditi Misra, co-leader of CRY Atlanta.

CRY Tech sponsors several events throughout the year to encourage students to pledge money for CRY as well as to support the cause, such as a volleyball and basketball tournament held last semester in conjunction with CRY Atlanta.

Organizers have high hopes in terms of the impact of the play.

"At least 1000 dollars is expected to be raised from ticket sales and donations [from last weekend]. In fact, it takes just 25 dollars to fund a one-year education for an Indian child," said Prerna Bang, president of CRY Tech.

"Another couple of events to spread awareness [that will] occur later this semester include a mini-carnival along Skiles walkway and a huge wall display with pictures about how CRY has helped poor people progress through society and have potential," de Vall said.