Studying the Impact of Women Empowerment Initiatives in Tribal Villages

Originally Written for IDEX at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/women-empowerment-at-tribal-village-impact-evaluation

I guess life's about to take an interesting turn as I plan to take up an Impact Evaluation Study as a part of my IDEX Fellow program. The opportunity has come from Youth for Seva (YFS), which is primarily a platform to provide opportunities for youth who want to take 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.

So, my role is to visit all these places where YFS has taken initiatives to empower women and the society and prepare a Social Impact Evaluation Report on these projects. Basically the project would involve analyzing on the impact that the organisation has made on the lives of the women's coming from the rural background. These women's are trained in Bangalore and then placed on the various projects at tribal villages in Karnataka. The projects are running successfully over a period of time. But then there has been no report which speaks about the work going on and the impact it has made. Thus, I will have to travel to these tribal villages, prepare a report which will portray and give the whole idea about the project. Further define the actions which can help better the impact of the project in terms of employ-ability, build life skills and there by look out for the platforms wherein the organisation can provide them with more opportunities to help them build their lives.I would define these objectives to be achieved in 3 different stages as follows:

Data Collection and Research
At the first stage I would be interested to know about the organisation in detail. The structure, business model, different projects they are involved in and every other detail which would give a whole idea of what is the purpose of it's establishment. Further, would be meeting people who could give me a background about the project which I'll be associated and work in the coming days. Also, I would be conducting research about the tribal villages which I'll be visiting so as to be familiar with the culture and norms which will be help me conduct an interview with ease which in turn will enable to me to get all the questions answered to support the impact report. I will also be working on the questionnaire which will help me ensure all the aspects will be covered in preparation of the report.

Field Visit:

Once done with collection of the data and well versed with the organisation and people, I would be required to visit the tribal village and thereby conduct an interview with the ladies there and get all the required information which in detail explains about the entire process which went into making the impact.

Report Submission

After the visit would be working on the tools and procedures which can help me in preparation of the impact report which will give a clear picture about where the project is heading and what will be needed to take a step ahead to enable in impacting more lives.

I'm sure this is going to be a highly challenging and a definitely interesting project.

Exploring the Unexplored... Unlearning the Learning... Building with IDEX...

Originally Written for IDEX at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/explored-the-unexplored-unlearning-the-learnings-building-one-sel

In midst of a brand new social journey with IDEX, I have been experiencing lot of emotions, situations and challenges, which made me pause for a while and reflect on what has been added to my life, personally and professionally. I joined IDEX with a purpose to apply whatever skills I possess, make use of my strengths, thereby also challenging myself to build a better world around in whatever way I can. Further I wanted to try, experiment, learn, unlearn and relearn my beliefs and assumptions. The biggest learning for me has been of creating an opportunity in-spite of less space to accommodate oneself. The strong opinion that invoked me is to create your own space irrespective of whatever challenges one face. As I could believe by this practice that challenges are temporary and this is the time one needs to put in extra effort to figure out what one wants out of the situation. Being calm and thinking about the solutions with various options has helped me to deliver the best of my capabilities in the job till date. Social Enterprise was completely a new sphere of work for me as I had worked earlier in the MNC's. One major difference I could see in this space is that efforts of the organizations are built to get the basic facilities or accommodate the people at BOP with the facilities that can enhance their living experiences with having fulfilled the basic needs. This becomes very essential as a economy as a whole because in India it is said that until and unless the poverty & unemployment is not eradicated a country cannot progress & around 33% of the population is below poverty line according to the UN report 2013. The companies working out of social sphere are focused on making the experiences better for the one's who already have enough to live life with all comforts. They are attracting and creating a market which enriches the experience of the population who are already self sufficient with everything that is required to lead a normal life. Agree that economic development of the country is very essential but then this development need to drive along all the people irrespective of the financial strata only then we can see the real difference and growth in the economy.

When we say industries, we refer to the group of companies who build the products and services which caters to the needs of the industry. These companies usually tend to be organised as they need to ensure output in a timely manner. To manage the process they have core departments specialized in Human Resource, Marketing, Finance, IT, Maintenance, Facility, Security and many more. Each department has its own set of goals apart form the Mission/Vision of the company at the Strategic level. Marketing department caught my attention because this is one branch which drives the entire business as it involves in promoting the products, sell it and thereby earn revenue for the company. It aims in numbers, meaning it aims to increase material wealth. Further if we observe the companies operating in a particular industry try to compete with each other in providing better or an additional service in comparison to its competitors.On the other hand if you observe marketing team in a social sphere they are trying to build human network than building an asset. Trying to earn wealth not to amass wealth for it's company or employees but for the people around who are in real need. Wondered how the same marketing department have complete two dimension of goal. It was amazing to learn in this social space.

Have learnt to deal with the unexpected situations, overcome them by handling it with effective communications. Allot time to research on the work assigned which helps to deepen the knowledge & has helped to implement the solutions effectively. Understanding the various processes & skills that goes into building a team or a project. Developing marketing and fund raising skills which I never explored. The research attributes to a major extent in my work and playing a great role to ensure for the right action at the right time. Awaiting for more learning and exploring the microcredit industry and social enterprise as a whole in the second half in the journey of IDEX.

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.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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.

A Chat - Featured on the Milaap Blog

Originally published at http://www.milaap.org/blog/meet-our-new-idex-fellow-priyanka-bhille

Meet our new IDEX Fellow: Priyanka Bhille!

After our previous IDEX Fellows, Thomas and Mary completed their internship successfully with us, it was time to get a new fellow who was equally enthusiastic and passionate about making a difference. Priyanka is our new IDEX fellow who is working on various important projects like loan management, deployment and closely associated with our vocational training/school project field partners. We had a small chat with her to know more about herself and this is what she had to say:

Q) Tell us about yourself and your prior experience before joining Milaap

Working as a socially responsible person reaching people to enhance and enrich their lives has been on the top of my to-do lists ever since my childhood. I have always been passionate of education. It has transformed my life in several ways. I am also passionate of working to promote the other basic needs of life, namely access to affordable healthcare, good environment, integrity and harmony, and general well being in life. In the little time that I have spent on these areas, I have taken little steps to support these dreams.

During my college days, I was actively involved in the volunteering activities including community engagement programs, social awareness programs, cleanliness drives, role plays on social causes, etc. For all the initiatives and efforts in these directions, I was awarded as the best “NSS Volunteer”. I joined the corporate world with a clear objective of working for a couple of years, get to know more about how the world functions, get to know people and processes, get to understand education’s impact in practice, and then move on to work at social enterprises. The decision to move on from the new found happiness in investment banking to pursuing a dream that was dreamt long back was tough. 

However, as I continued to participate in several CSR activities during my working life, the motivation remained. I spent almost all my weekends at NGOs, especially helping children learn, recording classes for them, making their small wishes come true and other similar activities. I kick started my social entrepreneurship journey with the Jagriti Yatra 2012, the train journey of 15 days that takes select youth across the nation to inspire them to build enterprises that make a difference.After the Yatra, I volunteered at Youth for Seva (YFS) and then, joined them as an Intern to work on a NGO Connect Project.

Q)What was your motivation for joining Milaap?

My social entrepreneurship journey began with the Jagriti Yatra 2012. I wanted to know the ground realities of the social sector as well as get a brief understanding of lives of people across the nation. Jagriti Yatra gave me move than brief understanding as I interacted with numerous change makers who had so much to tell. Microfinance is one such field that has caught my attention. 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 a part of Milaap who is impacting millions of life by helping them fulfill their dreams and to live a life with dignity.

Q)And how did you hear about our organization?

Very recently, my application for the IDEX Fellowship in Social Enterprise was accepted. I wanted to work in the field of Micro finance and accordingly, IDEX placed me with Milaap, India’s first online micro-lending platform. With Milaap, I’m working on several areas including deployment, loan management, new delivery channels, etc. with a focus on upbringing people to attain a better living through education, sanitation, small business financing, etc. There are several plans underway and I’m certain to make the best of them in the coming days.

Q)What is your expectation from Milaap?

I want to be a part of an organization that will work towards making life a better experience. I want to see a world with happy minds and humble hearts. Milaap is one such serious opportunity for me as I look forward on a journey to create positive impact, an exposure with a platform like Milaap will cut down my gestation period significantly and help me focus on doing things more effectively and efficiently leading to better results. A launch pad like this will do a great deal in taking life forward in the longer run as well as help me run longer.

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/

Building a Better World - The IDEX Way

Originally written for IDEX and published at http://commonthreadx.ning.com/blog/building-a-better-world-the-idex-way

Excited to be a part of IDEX Cohort 2013. As this is my first step to explore the world of opportunities wherein I can challenge myself and look out for a unprecedented learning experience.Today even after six decades of independence, the challenge for our nation would still remain the rural development as a whole and people of the villages remain unreached. The rural people have been deprived of education, health care, employment and over all welfare. Bridging this gap by making accessible the education and spreading awareness about the importance of education and hygiene among the community which will definitely lead to reduce the gap if not bridge it completely.It is difficult to bring about change. IDEX will help me work on real life projects and also connect to professional experts who are motivated to make the world better. I feel I'm at a right place to explore this world of opportunities which can help me build a better society by impacting the lives of people around who need support.

Day 1

Orientation at Tata Institute of Social Science gave a holistic beginning to the journey. Having entrepreneurs share their experience as to how they are successful to start on their own was really inspiring. Beginning with Ms.Aparajita Agarwal, Director Sankalp Forum could give an useful insight as to how one can create a space for themselves in the industry you desire to work. Shalab Sahai, Co-founder iVolunteer shared his personal experience which come up with a learning that say - "Ideas are just next door, watch your step, step ahead & never look back". Also talk by Mr.Pradeep Sharma, Country Director GMC told us about how to make the best out of this fellowship & gave us some insights on social entrepreneurship. Mr.Krishna Sree Kumar, CEO AgSree with his enormous experience & exposure in the field of social enterprise was boon for the day. The amount of energy & the passion he carried moved the fellows to be more interactive & discuss on issues which can impact business. The corner games which helped us discuss on various issues namely, education affordability, health care system, women empowerment etc., helped us think on the existing scenario across globe as we had fellows from India, US, Egypt, Nigeria. This turned out to be a debate as everyone tried to share their experience based on the demography & it was amazing to see that every single aspect has a different impact on a particular issue.By EOD few things we could reflect on are mentioned below:

• What does social enterprise focus on : Social impact, Profit margin
• What domain of social enterprise you are passionate about to work for
• Do you have any idea in place to give it a game plan
• How does BOP community survive with <$2, what do they exactly need, what are the challenges they face etc.,
• How do you define a social enterprise : Sustainable, operate in critical need sector

Checking if blush can pull me, Yana and Troy

More importantly the first day at orientation exposed us to this world of social enterprise by helping the fellows across globe to join hands together to work for the society & wonderful people around. Having an impact even on one life is difficult & we could know what aspect of one's life we are going to touch upon. The day leaves us with a network of professionals.

Day 2

Second day at orientation had in store lot of exciting things for the fellows. An awesome start by ex-fellow Averil Spencer, Co-Founder - Voice4girls. Her personal experience at IDEX & the work she has done was just splendid. It was amazing to know that the number of lives she touches upon in spite of the cultural difference she come across. There was an interesting session my be none of the fellow could think about it & that some awesome tips on blogging by Nelson Moses from Billionbulbs. We could learn that yes, the stronger you convey your message the stronger s the impact. Another ex-fellow Zoe took us through the importance of having a mentor & how this relationship can help you build leadership qualities that can drive your career path. Another interesting session which help us understand the hustle that goes between the head & heart. This could help us know what we are are passionate about & what skills we possess to accomplish the same. Second day was a blend of fun & activity.

Finally, orientation comes to an end with lot of learning & network building. And according to orientation comes into play when an individual is exposed to the new environment. Orientation is aimed at providing all the required information to the beneficiaries, enabling them be in the comfort zone in the new environment. Orientations aim to provide basic information of about the prevailing atmosphere, culture and etiquette that are predominantly followed, possible challenges to be faced, solutions so on. Overall, it aims to ensure that an individual is prepared to take up the challenge and thereby help him sustain by further guidance. Well, I must say the orientation program did do justice and covered all aspects by which one could be familiar before jumping into ground realities.

City Orientation Day 1 was just amazing. Scavenger hunt. I must say this one was just crazy. Explored the city with many different perspectives known & unknown. Kick started with triple ride on a bike. Getting to know how to make a dosa turned out into business talks with complementary coffee in royal silver glass. Headed to the Yana's workplace. The task of getting defined the word "social enterprise" in 8 different languages. Then a drive to Lalbhag to get people crazy & say how much they love Bengaluru with some yummy mangoes tasted. Then drove to Jaaga with all smiles & feeling satisfied for having accomplished all the task on time. Woooo...... That was a lovely day for me just because Yana & Troy were just wonderful. All these task helped us get acquainted to the new place to some extent. Especially the Hindi/Kannada crash course, role play how to choose on the mode of transport, recognizing the food items on the menu was just amazing day.

The Day 2 of city orientation could give us a new world altogether. We could connect to so many people in fact build a network. This was a perfect blend of professional & personal space. Starting with details on EAP the moving on to explore the world of start ups at IIHS & the wonderful evening at Crescent with placement enterprise.

To describe the experience till date was just perfect to get acquainted with the new world of IDEX.

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.