Sikhs With A Mission

‘Thirst Aid’

A ‘People Serving People’ Program inspired by Guru Baba Nanak’s ‘Sacha Saudha’.

Why are we doing this?

We are told that the Sikh religion is the fifth largest religion in the world. Yet, hardly anyone in the world knows anything about us. We are supposed to be ‘recognizable in a crowd’, or so our history books tell us, but yet, people of the world have no idea who we are. In fact, all over the world, we are mistaken to be Muslims!

Sikhs With A Mission is mobilizing its resources and manpower to reach out and ‘introduce ourselves’ to the world. In 2009, we launched the highly successful ‘Meals on Wheels’. To achieve this necessary next step for the community, D’Mission is launching an initiative called ‘Thirst Aid’.

What is ‘Thirst Aid’?

Water is the basis of all life on Earth. Everyone has to drink water. It’s easy to serve and it’s cheap. As it is not perishable, it’s easy to store. What makes it really interesting as a source for Building Friendships Worldwide is this – there are six billion thirsty people on this planet. WOW! What an amazing opportunity to serve the thirsty!

When out on the streets, there is nothing like a cool refreshing drink of ice-chilled water. Water is the quickest way to the hearts of mankind. Offer anyone a glass of free ice cool water and they’ll be your friends 4ever. That’s the deal!

How can I start or join this mission in my town?

First, do register your centre with Sikhs With A Mission so we know about you and can support you and network our resources. Contact us at 03-2282 5711 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Let us know that you are keen to become an ambassador for the Sikh religion by serving people at the crossroads of the world. We will help you get started.

Training is Available

Getting started is easy. You don’t need anything except the desire to be an ambassador and to serve people. If at all possible, please call us for a short discussion. It will go a long way towards your success. You may come to our centre for a short training, or we can join your team in your town for a day of seva wherever you are, and facilitate your team on-site.

Your training, especially in the Questions Frequently Asked by people is very important because it will determine the effectivity and success of your outreach programme. Remember, we are here not just to quench people’s thirst, but also to introduce ourselves to the world community. You may need training to be an ambassador of the Sikh faith. What you say and how you say it will determine the effectiveness of our outreach programme.

You’ll need to organize the following.

1. A team of volunteers (for a start, two or three is enough). You will all need to dress uniformly to be effective and to make the RIGHT impression on your ‘visitors’. We suggest you wear Mission Crew T-shirts. It gives people a lot of confidence to see you in some kind of uniform dressing when they accept something from strangers. It also helps them to start a conversation.
2. Get your ‘Thirst Aid’ buntings made to be displayed at your site, or we can supply them to you.
3. Choose a day and a place where there’s lots of human traffic. It is even better if there are tourists and travelers in the area. Town or city centres are best as there are lots of locals too. Locals are very important as they are the ones who will most benefit from your seva, and will soon spread the good news about your work to the people of the locality. This will bring a lot of goodwill from the locals for the Sikh community. The area should also be convenient and practical so that your team does not run out of stamina! Remember, you have to do this on a weekly basis, same day, same time, same place.
4. You will also need to buy ice cubes to chill your drinks. Any convenience store like seven eleven will sell you bags of ice cubes. Bulk ice is cheap.
5. You will need at least two big round plastic tubs to soak the tumblers of water in ice.
6. You will need to buy the water for distribution. Best is the sealed water tumblers. Bottles are not suitable as they contain too much water for one serving, and are too expensive. As a rough guide, a carton of 48 tumblers of water should not cost more than RM 10. In KL, we pay about RM 7, or about 13 sen each.
7. You will also need two plastic collapsible tables to place your chilled tumblers of water.
8. You will need a few smallish handy sized trays to serve the water. Trays should not be too large.
9. Black bin-bags should be available for garbage disposal. YOU MUST collect all the garbage that you are responsible for.

Be a Leader. Lead the Way, and others will Follow.