Make A Wish Foundation - India's Social Genie

Originally written for IDEX at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/make-a-wish-foundation-india-social-genie

With Mr Vijay Ladha. Hon. Program Director,
Bangalore Division, MAWF India

Someone has rightly said, "Life is a struggle between birth and death". Some are definite to know about their struggle well before and for the more fortunate ones, the struggles comes as a surprise. Every individual makes efforts in this journey to achieve their dreams, fulfill their wishes and satisfy their desires. Life is never fair with everyone and that's how it is. Some, are destined to get all they desire without any effort and some, even after all struggle, end up with no returns. While I was talking to Mr Vijay Ladha, Program Director of Make A Wish Bangalore, I was thanking the Almighty for blessing me with all that I need to live a contented life. At the same time, I was pained listen to so many stories of people struggling between life and death. Especially the stories of these little young children who are supposed to laugh all along and live merrily, but the cruel world puts them into adulthood very early. While there are kids laboring to earn a meal, there are many suffering from life threatening illness. Each sunrise is an achievement for these kids.

While on one hand, there are kids planning their future to be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, etc., there are these kids who can not even dream of such aspirations. Undoubtedly, these kids too have wishes, as small as buying a doll to as big as being a great businessman. Most of these kids, when questioned, revealed very similar wishes that we all have, i.e., to be happy and successful, work in the profession of their choice, have a good family, own things like a doll, a pair of shoes, a bicycle, a toy car, etc. However, destiny plays different games with these kids and they end up focusing all their efforts to make sure they survive, to say the least.

I was extremely delighted to learn about Make A Wish Foundation (MAWF), an organization that toils to fulfill the wishes of these innocent kids to whom, in my view, life has been extremely unfair. After all, what justifies the kind of life these innocent hearts are exposed to, by their birth.

There are numerous social enterprises focusing on providing facilities to make living better. The unique aspect of MAWF is that they are working on providing a platform for the kids to help them satisfy mentally and emotionally. One of the most important determinant of human happiness is their dreams. We all want to be something and when we become what we want, we call it success. Psychologists study about negative emotions and say that negative emotions are necessary for a human to flourish but positive emotions are by nature subtle and fleeting; the secret is not to deny their transience but to find ways to increase their quantity. MAWF believes in giving reasons to children to be positive and thus, help them think and move ahead with a positive frame of mind.

If we are enjoying music, it is not exactly the music that makes us happy. It is the expression of our love for the music that creates our joy.  If we are happy in our job or career, it is not the job that makes us happy but the expression of our love for what we do that creates the experience of happiness. If we are enjoying a beautiful day, it is not the day that is flooding us with emotions. It is our love for the experience of the day that we are flooded with. MAWF is building it efforts day by day to enrich such experiences in the lives of these kids.

MAWF started in the United States and now, it is growing in India. It began way back in 1990s when a couple from Mumbai went to the US to get their son treated on a life threatening illness and they came across MAWF. Seeing the struggle that children were undergoing and how MAWF was trying to support them, the couple decided that this concept should get implemented in India too. They began MAWF in Mumbai and further expanded to 9 cities including Bangalore.

How it works

• MAWF trains volunteers to interact with kids.
• MAWF gets kids' profiles from hospitals.
• Volunteers spend time with the kids and learn about their wishes (without the kid's knowledge)
• MAWF starts working on fulfilling the wish by collating resources, monetary or otherwise
• Wishes are generally from one of these categories
1. To own things
2. To visit a place
3. To meet someone, especially celebrities
4. To become something, especially a career dream
• Donors, Contributors and Volunteers are appraised of the requirements.
• The network works together to make the child's dream come true.

Conclusion

MAWF is working on such a critical field. This is an amazing work and no less than a genie making their wishes come true. This is such a wonderful initiative to create hope and happiness for children facing life threatening illnesses and providing these kids an experience they will remember forever. If life is a race against time, MAWF is helping these kids who find it impossible to fight against time. I hope MAWF continues to contribute more and more value in making lives colorful.

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Here are a couple of stories sourced from Make A Wish Foundation's Bangalore Blog

The Bangalore Division was started in February 2008 and as of March 2013 we have fulfilled more than 1500 cherished wishes of children with life threatening illnesses.

Make-a-Wish has fulfilled more than 30,000 wishes nationally since its inception in India. Everyday the Make-a-Wish Foundation adds many wish sponsors. With their support and encouragement, the Make-a-Wish team works towards fulfilling wishes of hundreds of young children and brings smiles to their faces.

Wish to be a Policeman

With a tube running from his nose, frail six-year-old Anwar Razaak was carried into Sanjaynagar police station at 11.30 am on Thursday. His eyes lit up seeing men in khaki and there was a sudden surge in energy. Then came the small-size khaki uniform along with a toy gun. Soon, he was all dressed up to play the cop, sporting uniform, cap and gun. Anwar’s big wish had come true.

Anwar has dreamt of becoming a policeman ever since he saw police beat up people in his village, Naragund in Gadag district. But the road ahead may not be smooth for this young boy as he is suffering from brain cancer and is being treated in Baptist Hospital. It was the Make a Wish Foundation that brought Anwar's fantasy to life. He was taken to Sanjaynagar police station to make him feel like a policeman for a day.

I wish to read Bengali Poetries

Our volunteers came across with a 13 years old cheery and lively girl suffering from Rheumatic Heart Disease referred from Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital. She lives with her parents and 4 elder brothers in one tiny village of West Bengal.

Make A Wish Volunteers met this kid in the inpatient ward, they gave her a small soft toy to play and started talking with her about her interests and hobbies. She told them that she is having in-depth interest in drawing and learn more Bengali Kavitas. Most of her leisure time, she will spend with her blossom friend Meherun. Both of them will having keen interest in drawing, writing kavitas, learning different types of Rangolis and Mehendi designs. She expressed her aspiration to become a doctor and treat the kids without taking any money. And she is keen on doing social service for the orphans and provide them food, accommodation and educational service with free of cost.In addition to this, she is having habit of reading Bengali Kavitas which her class teacher as taught. She told 4 kavitas to our volunteers though shewas under the pain of dialysis. As our volunteers told “ Her kavitas inspired her to sang those many kavitas in the ward”, all other kids in the ward listen to her kavitas with lots of hope and joyfulness.  Then our volunteers start talking to her about her wishes, she said her only wish to have Bengali poetry books of books of Rabindranath Tagore, Bankhim Chandra Chatarjee and Aurobindo Gosh in Bengali.

They fulfilled her wish in the hospital when she came for her follow up treatment; there are no words for her to express her happiness. She thanked all our volunteers who made effort to got those books and make her wish come true.

Introducing Milaap - Loan a Little, Change a Lot. Get Involved

Originally written for IDEX and published at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/introducing-my-placement-enterprise-milaap-loan-a-little-change-a?context=category-My+SocEnt+Placement+Profile

Micro-finance is one domain that has caught my attention off late and this
has a great potential for social entrepreneurs. It has the power to create an impact on families instantly by helping them create a revenue stream. With this passion I happened to be placed at Milaap. Let me briefly run you all through the journey of Milaap.

Let's Empower India

Thanks to ten awesome folks around the world, Annapurna has been able to expand her Self Help Group and increase revenues by 15%. Help Milaap provide sustainable sources of income to ambitious entrepreneurs like her!

Introduction

I'm sure most of us have heard the carpenter, cobbler, driver, gardener, maid & others usually who are at the bottom of the pyramid talk about how difficult it is for them to get loans to support their children's education, getting the groceries every month, getting a toilet built or even to have access to a clean drinking water. May be most of us wouldn't even think of planning to cover such expenses but yes it would matter for most of the others i.e, over 700 million people living at less than 2 dollar wages in the world. Banks having higher interest rates would let them eliminate from this supply chain. This is where Milaap empowers the individuals who can lend to make social investments to better the lives of over 700 million people to get access to the basic facilities while lending on a vary low rate of interest which the people at the BOP can afford.

The Inception

Milaap is an online fund raising platform that encourages people around the world to fund & impact lives who are in need of basic facilities in India. It is the only online platform in the field of microfinance domain which enables people globally to lend to the one's in need through online platform. This has led Milaap to be the first & only platform for NRI's to lend in India. These loans are aimed to facilitate the borrower in getting access to the basic facilities like sanitation, clean water & renewable energy. Vocational training or skill development is a new domain wherein Milaap is trying to lend a helping hand for the Youth which creates a path way to build career. Milaap is based in Bengaluru, India with its headquarters in Singapore started in 2010.

 What's your Cause?

Two investment bankers, Shiva and Vikram cycled across Singapore and raised funds for 50 families in need of clean water. Inspire your friends and family to do more.

The Kick Start

So, how did the Milaap journey begin. Anoj Viswanathan was inspired by the impact of a $10 solarlantern sold on credit to the extremely poor in tribal Orissa. Founded in June 2010 by Sourabh Sharma, Anoj Viswanathan and Mayukh Choudhury. It took Milaap almost a year to gain approval from the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) to enable lenders outside India to lend to India through their website.

Idea Generation

Microfinance Institutions(MFI's) that lends micro credits to the entrepreneurs usually tend to have high rate of interest rates as these institutions in turn borrow loans from banks at a high rate of interest which places the borrower to bear the higher rate of interest. The borrowers are usually taking the loans form the MFI's as they need in small scale wherein it becomes difficult to get it approved. Further the borrowers wouldn't be willing to pay a high rate of interest as they are taking a loan to pay off the liabilities which makes up their operation cost. With this scenario it would become very difficult for an individual to approach bank or MFI's to get loan in order to cover the cost of basic facilities like water, sanitation, drinking water & vocational training. Thus, Milaap comes up with an idea of sourcing funds from individuals globally who are willing to lend & thereby able to provide loans at a lower rate of interest. This has been possible because the of eliminating the MFI's borrow from banks.

Crux Of The Business Idea

Milaap in their online lending platform display the profile of the borrower who seek to help to get the basic needs like clean drinking water, sanitation, healthcare, electricity, education etc., individuals who have access to internet & can choose the borrower whom they want to lend & thereby fund a part of the loan. The Lender can also track as to how the money lended is used. The best part of such a donation is the lender receives back the money given at the end of the loan term. Now, you might wonder how the people at the BOP get connected to Milaap as they lack internet access. Well, Milaap has collaborated with other organisations(field partners) who are working with the people who are looking out for finance. Thus, the field partners collect the loan from the borrowers creating a transparent place to lend & borrow. By investing in such projects Milaap is looking at solutions at the fundamental level considering the crucial parameters that impact the purpose of the borrowing.The profit model involves a mix of profit & non profit models to enable a sustainable model. Basically aiming at sustainable scaling business model.

The Road Ahead

Milaap on a continuous basis is expanding its business having its impact on millions of people. These impacts are not only solving the financial problems but also aims to focus on increasing the productivity of an individual, income generation & reducing the current expense. Certain initiatives by Milaap like raising funds through campaigns involves youth in majority. This helps indirectly in bringing about an awareness among the youth to think of the social issues around & do their bit to make this place a better world to live in.

You Can Help Make a Difference, visit http://www.milaap.org/

Education matters to me The Most

Originally written and published for IDEX at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/education-is-what-matters-to-me

Today's world is the world of knowledge.There are plenty of resources which if utilized appropriately with proper channelization can the world far more beautiful. I run with a passion to bring about a positive change in whatever possible manner by working along with people who need support. We see a beautiful world when all the stakeholders are happy. Happiness comes with satisfaction from life. I want to concentrate my efforts in bringing satisfied lives to as many people I can. 

However, despite best efforts, education doesn't reach a large number of kids. Providing basic literacy to adults who have not been to schools is another thought that keeps drives my mind. Ensuring that people are not denied of the fundamental rights and they also understand their fundamental duties is another factor that drives me. If everyone works on their duties, the world will be a better place. I am passionate to work to enhance people's living experience and add value to as many lives possible. I run with a passion to see a beautiful world and it matters me the most, a beautiful world

I believe that good education can help the nation grow tremendously. Good education is not just about mark sheets and academic records. It is more about moral, ethical and social responsibilities. It is about helping every kid understand life and realize his full potential. It is about building a nation with happy minds and humble hearts. It is about nurturing talent and focusing on long term growth of every individual. I wish to make such education accessible to everyone. Healthcare is another important aspect that I want to work upon considering the ballooning healthcare costs.

Education is one such tool which facilitates an individual to ably lead their life on par with the nation's progress and get access to every opportunity that will pave way for the betterment of the society.

The Old Lady on the Street and Life in less than 60 seconds

An unbelievable experience I went through yesterday. Even today, I can not believe if what I heard yesterday was really true. We ought to learn so much from so many people. In fact, we learn the most from the ones who we least expect from. Yesterday was just impossible equation.

My brains juggled as I spoke to a lady standing on one of Bangalore most posh roads yesterday night. I was taking off my vehicle from the parking and she said, "Beta, jara madad karo" meaning, "Dear, please help me". I smiled and inquired what she wanted. She had a bandage on one eye and she said that she had been waiting for an auto from almost half an hour and nobody stopped. After all, the RCB vs SRH (IPL6) match had just gotten over and autos were in huge demand. She was unable to move, due to her lofty physique, and I starting waving hands at autos that almost fled on the road. We struck a conversation and it went something like this (translated to English)

Lady : What do you do?

I did not want to explain all that I do and so, kept it simple : I work nearby

Lady: Achcha, thank you beta. I am sorry I am bothering you so late at night

I : Why are you alone here? I mean, you are so old (60, 70 years). Why don't you get someone with you?

Lady: There is no one. I am alone

I was shocked. I observed the lady even more closely. She was lofty, one of her eye was operated (or missing?) and she had a chair, a fold-able metal chair, in her hand. She definitely looked very normal. Before I could decipher something, I just kept the conversation going, "You mean, you stay alone? Like, your family stays away or?", I didn't know how to ask any further.

The lady took over, "Its a long story beta. I was married to an IAS officer and we were very happy", I was like, WOW, what the heck, as she continued, "We have 10 children", I was searching for my brains now, and then, she had all the shocks, "My husband died of cancer and from then, I am homeless"

It was simply impossible for me to believe. How could this happen? Can life take such a turn in just a moment? I asked, "How about your children?"

She had an arrow hitting my heart right away, "They are all married. Some stay in India, some abroad and I do not contact them because I do not want to be a disturbance in their life. So, I live alone in a PG (paying guest)"

I was like come on, today ain't an April Fool's day though this is April. It was just bouncing over my head. I managed to just peek in a question, "So, you work somewhere nearby?"

She massacred me saying, "Yes, I beg here"

An auto stood by and the autowallah asked, "Where do you want to go?"

The lady got into to the auto, with great difficulty, and I stood there with a completely shattered feeling, with total inability to digest what I had heard. There is such a lesson behind everyone's life. There is story behind everyone looking for help. If we get to know these stories, perhaps, they would inspire us even more than the stories of Gates, Buffets, Jobs, Zucks or Ambanis. The humanity will be put to shame when we learn about these struggles. How can the world be so cruel? Can a moment cause so much disaster that can not be set right in a lifetime?

As I pondered, the auto started and I, without my knowledge, bent down to take the lady's blessings. She had a shine in her eye, perhaps due to a drop of tear, as she said, "Khush Raho Beta (Be happy). God Bless You"

Life, without our loved ones, might just become null and void.

School Chaley Hum - Silver Spoons for the ones not born with it

This blog post 
won 
 the "ISB iDiya for IndiChange"! 
blogging competition.

The Background

Very recently, I came across children playing along the road side. While I stood there to grab a lemon juice, these kids were running around merrily. They didn't seem to be localities  I happened to smile at them and they responded. We struck a conversation and it went on for long. I learnt that their parents work at a construction site nearby. When I asked them if they went to school, I was puzzled with their response, "Didi, gaon mein jaathe the. Jab shehar mein aaye, toh chod diya", meaning, "When we were in the village, we went to school. From the time we came to the city, we stopped". It left me with a big question mark. In a world where people move from villages to towns to cities to metros to foreign destinations for education, here's someone saying that they are losing education for having moved up. I smiled, with a confused mind, and left.

I have always been passionate about the education sector as education has worked wonders in my own life. I feel energized when I see education reach the underprivileged as it is one such tool that enables individuals to participate in the growth story of the nation, contribute even more, access opportunities and work towards a better society. It is this passion that made me quit my banking job and volunteer with Youth for Seva (YFS), an NGO that works for a numerous social causes (For a brief description, read towards the end of this post). I have learnt that value education (not mere literacy) is by far, the greatest and the most commonly spoken of solution to almost every problem that the world faces today. I am running with a goal to ensure that kids are not mere English readers, Orators, Number Cruncher. They should be groomed into responsible adults with sensible definitions of all factors that affect their journey on earth.

Today, even after 6 decades of independence, the challenge for our nation still remains the rural development as the people of the villages remain unconnected to what the other side of the nation has been progressing towards. The rural people have been deprived of education, health care, employment and over all welfare. According to the latest World Bank estimates, nearly 40% of the Indian population falls below the poverty line and every third poor in the world is from India. On the contrast, India has as many as 69 billionaires which is fourth largest in the world. These statistics give a clear picture on social imbalance in India which consequently has affected India's over all development. The gap can be bridged by making education accessible and spreading awareness about the importance of education to a large extent. Further, we also need to work on making basic necessities of life like a clean environment, healthcare facilities, safe drinking water and food, etc. available for everyone in the nation.

The Revelation

After the construction site incident that left me dumbstruck, I narrated the incident to my mentor at YFS. Surprisingly, YFS had already been working on this cause along with NGOs like Surabhi Foundation, Shalaya, etc. (For a brief description, read towards the end of this post) and with the support of organizations like the Government's Education Department itself, ISKCON's Akshaya Patra and several other large-hearted people. It felt great to note this. We discussed further to understand how rapid industrialization, most of it unplanned, helps some people and affects some others. Building replace open spaces in no time in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Namma Bengaluru (our Bangalore). Over the last many years, we have seen huge urbanization as people moved to cities for education, job and a, so called, better life. We also saw a large people moving in to run services for these people - cooks, hoteliers, laundry boys, grocery sellers, vegetable vendors, bakers and construction workers. While there is one category of people who settle in cities, there is another category that hops from place to place in search of work. Construction workers fall under the later. Thus, the children either continue to work along, until somebody in the area is seriously opposed to child labor, or while around till they find something to do. If the parents wish to send them to school, the high costs of education and living in cities as well as regular move from one place to another discourage the children.

For the past two decades Bengaluru has been the fastest growing city of India. Bengaluru’s residential market interests all stakeholders – developers, landowners, double income households and growing migrant population. Many prominent national and international developers have entered Bengaluru's residential market and many more to enter in the coming years. Bengaluru’s residential market is likely to grow annually at 15% for the next 3 years. The economic outlook for the city remains strong in coming years as many large IT/ITeS, Engineering and automobile MNCs have aggressive growth plans for the city which will ensure healthy growth rate.

The aforementioned statistics imply that the construction industry will continue to seek more laborers/ employees. The ambitious metro rail project, road projects towards the international airport, aggressive expansions in Sarjapur, Hennur, Bagalur and in fact, every end of the city calls for many more people to work. These opportunities are definitely going to drive masons from different rural areas to migrate to Bengaluru along with their family in the next few years. The fact that it is not a permanent situation creates the problem for the kids. They lose their connect to school and slowly, the interest in studies dries out. Providing education to these kids at their doorsteps is the need of the hour or else, only after a few years, they will realize/repent on what they missed. We should make efforts to help them learn skills and improve their abilities according to their age so that they continue schooling, irrespective of where they go.

The Initiative

YFS is working on providing non formal schooling at certain locations where such a need is seen. It is an initiative with a mission to educate children by proper resource channelization. It would be very essential to catch these kids young and start training them lest they enter the trap of child labor and thereby, the viscous circle of poverty. Mumbai Mobile Creches is an example of a similar initiative through which, lives of almost 5000 children are touched.

At present, YFS has started non formal schools at three locations in Bengaluru - AGS Layout, Poornapragnya Layout and Raja Rajeswari Nagar. Each of these schools comprise of 30 - 40 kids whose parents are working at the construction site. They migrate very often as their job demands to do so. In this journey their kids get disconnected to the regular schooling. The very motive to come up with non formal schooling is that the kids can have access to education than losing it completely. Each of these schools, though have a single objective of educating the kids, are made up of varied models. School at Poornapragnya layout is run under the sheds of a temple wherein one paid teacher who is associated with Surabhi teaches. Along with this teacher there are two volunteers who are housewives who teach the kids. The main attraction for the kids to come to school is a meal. YFS has tied up with the government school nearby and have made arrangements for the food. The elder sibling has the freedom to get their younger one's to the school along with them. The parents are happy and content and do not stop the elder kid from going to school. The books and other materials are arranged from various sources. The school at RR Nagar is conducted at a room at the construction site which is sponsored by the builder himself. The teacher at that school is again a YFS volunteer. The school at AGS Layout is conducted at YFS volunteers home and she takes the responsibility of teaching the kids.

The Process

The first step towards getting all children into school would be to get to know them informally and persuade them to join a short non-formal education. The purpose is to serve this as a bridge course through which the children and their parents would become interested in the possibility of going to school. The central focus is to socialize children, provide them with some skills, and facilitate their admission to the government school in that locality.

Parents usually tend to send their kids to the school as they do not have time to take care of the kids. However, it is very essential to take their permission and learn about their interests as it creates a bonding and they feel motivated on being involved. Most parents tend to say that they are going to live in the city for 2-3 years and it doesn't make a big difference. However, the impact of these couple of years is huge. These are crucial years and in many cases, these couple of years push the child out of the education path. It is essential to discuss these points with the parents and help them take a decision keeping the long term impact in mind. These discussions are handled very sensitively, especially when the case is pertaining to a girl child, as education is still seen as an unessential burden by most people.

A strong attempt is made to promote the idea with the builder and in most cases, the builders are happy to consider the proposal. In case the builder doesn't agree, a community place like a community hall, temple premises or any place where classes can be conducted is being located. In case, both options fail, a place could be hired on rent. Identifying the location where the construction work is going on and study the profile of the children in the area, categorize them and find who/how many could be helped by the plan, plays a critical role.

On the financial front, each such project could cost up to Rs 1lac per annum (10 months) considering about 40 children in the class. Approximately Rs 30000 is spent to remunerate the teachers (the amount is only paid as a honorarium, Rs 40000 is spent on food, water and related facilities, Rs 10000 is spent on books, Rs 10000 is spent on helpers and another Rs 10000 could be other miscellaneous expenses.

The Workarounds

Kids or even for that matter adults, in general, are motivated by one or the other factor. Motivation, self or external, is one very important aspect of life as it prepares us to face challenges boldly. As the parents are daily wage earners, its difficult for them to take care of every need of the kids. They struggle to even provide a square meal a day. Many studies indicate, and I have observed it myself on interacting with people, that a square meal a day attracts kids to the school more than the opportunity of learning. Food is being arranged in two ways. One, it can be procured in collaboration with ISKCON directly and two, by connecting with a nearby government school, if any, by requesting the school authorities. Books, study materials and stationary are generally sponsored by the corporate and other organizations around. In most cases, the construction sites will be the prospect venue to accommodate such kids to the non formal schools to ensure they live their childhood with all the laughter, joy and happiness. In some cases, the classes are held in temple premises.

Many factors are taken into account while appointing a teacher. The most important point is that the teacher must be in a nearby location so that the access is easier. It would also make punctuality and continuity, easier tasks. The volunteers are given an opportunity to teach in these locations. Teachers can also be appointed in collaboration with NGOs like Surabhi. Further, in some cases, the educated housewives in the adjoining areas show interest in spending a couple of hours with the kids, which could be utilized for teaching. As the kids usually are the age group between 4-12 years (LKG to Class 5), anyone with education up to 12th and a passion to teach is in a position to take up the task.

The kids who are deprived of childhood life, the kids who are taking responsibilities more than their age, the kids who have all the innocence to laugh, play and learn are given a platform to help them mold as a better citizens. These kids are being trained on the basic reading and writing skills. In addition, something called as Samskara Shikshana, i.e, life skills on how to behave with various stakeholders in the society, how to lead their life path, the values to be learnt for leading a happy and content life in each aspect, etc. are being taught to enhance their living. All these activities are taught by making use of vachanas (verses), learning from epics like Bhagvadgeeta, patriotic and devotional songs and many other tools so that the kids can experience the holistic learning.

The Result

Once the kids are trained on the above skills they are in a position to be enrolled in the nearby Government school so that they can continue their schooling like any other kid going to school. In case the kid is going to another place, the NGO certifies their eligibility to a certain class/standard. The non formal school acts as a bridge to tap the kids who are not being sent to school due to various difficulties one is facing at home mainly due to the frequent transfer of their parents due to job. One such step will pave way for all these kids to be literate and have a better understanding of life and living.

India is, undoubtedly, the land of resources, resources of every kind, especially knowledge. If we channelize these resources appropriately, we can definitely work miracles. However, despite best efforts, education still doesn't reach a large number of kids. We should be considerate, in fact passionate, to take education to such kids who are left behind. Providing basic literacy to adults who have not been to schools is another mission that can be accomplished from non formal education system. While a value education process ensures that people are not denied of their fundamental rights, the most important contribution it does it that it makes people understand their fundamental duties and thus, evolve them into useful citizens.

Taking this and similar initiatives forward can definitely bring about changes in the lives of many people by helping them write their future, who would otherwise leave it to something called fate, which is yet to prove its existence.

Little drops of water, Little drains of sand. Make the mighty ocean, And the beauteous land.

And the little moments, Humble though they be. Make the mighty ages, Of eternity.

So our little errors, Lead the soul away. From the paths of virtue, Into sin to stray.

Little deeds of kindness, Little words of love. Make our earth an Eden, Like the heaven above.

Julia A. Carney

The Passionate

Youth For Seva (YFS) began operations in April 2007 to create a platform for volunteerism for the youth who wanted to take an active part in community development. Through this platform, YFS aims to empower youth to become positive change makers who will enable organizations and institutions to work without a vested interest. The goal of YFS is to support schools, NGOs, government hospitals and other organizations in the social sector through volunteers who can help them mitigate some of their shortcomings and challenges. Volunteering is made easy and customized to the individual’s interests and time constraints. Youth for Seva (YFS) is a project under Hindu Seva Pratishthana. (Source: YFS Website)

YFS has engaged more than 6000 volunteers until now. More than 250 volunteers engage themselves actively to teach kids. YFS has around 60 tuition centres, including many of them in slums. YFS volunteers cover more than 80 Government schools where they toil to build the basic blocks of education, communication, computers and other learning.

Surabhi Foundation Trust is an NGO established in August 2005 with an objective of building capacities of the rural population and empower the development of children and women in rural areas. It strives to bring the children to the main stream of education, empower women by creating employment opportunities, create awareness on health issues among rural population through Health Awareness and Rural Health Camps, address environmental issues and promote Self Help Groups constituted by rural women. (Source: Surabhi website)

Surabhi runs a programme called NRBC (Non Residential Bridge Course) under which they aim to provide Food, Shelter, Education and Medical Facilities to under privileged children like, be it single parented kids, orphans, migrated kids, runaway kids, children of masons, rag pickers, beggars or any child who is in need of help.

One of the best ads promoting education in India under the aegis of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Universilisation of Elementary Education) addresses the needs of the children. It completely changed the way people looked at education in those days and perhaps, today, we see a totally different India due to initiatives like this. There is still a long way to go and this video motivates me each day.

This blog post has been written exclusively for iDiya, ISB's National Social Venture Competition that aims to stimulate, enable and develop high-impact, self-sustaining social businesses in India. The competition is being held as a part of IndiBlogger's new initiative of working for social good, IndiChange. You may participate in the competition by writing a blog about any social cause you are passionate about, and its potential solution. If there are any inspiring people or organizations working towards solving it, blog about them as well. For further details, go to http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=75.