Fwd: Your Weekly Posterous Subscriptions
MAM Movies
Madhusudan Agrawal
C0-Founder MAM Movies
www.mammovies.com
www.mettamedia.org
09537160173
From: Subscriptions from Posterous <he...@posterous.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 3:56 PM
Subject: Your Weekly Posterous Subscriptions
To: mammo...@gmail.com
Hi MAM
You're subscribed to 5 sites. Here are the latest posts from your subscriptions.
The UnBox Fellowship Program | For Workshops and a Conference in Delhi
UnBox is a festival celebrating action at the intersections of different disciplines. The festival blends work and play across contexts and mediums, bringing attendees together for workshops, debates, brainstorms, picnics, literary readings and travel. Together, we’ll rethink and stretch design practice.
The apex of the festival is the conference which happens 24-27 February, 2011 in Delhi.Prior to the festival, selected UnBox Fellows will participate in an immersive, intense, and multi-disciplinary field trip. We seek fellows for sessions on organic food in India, Old Delhi through new media, urban sanitation, safe water, clean energy, and livelihoods in Kumaon.
Apply by January 10, 2011 to participate in: > * intensive field trip workshops at
http://unboxfestival.com/home/ fellowship/
> * the conference at http://unboxfestival.com/home/ conference/. Seats are limited to 100 people.
Tip: Mayank Rungta
The Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award 2011
http://www.thehindu.com/life- and-style/metroplus/ article826785.ece
The Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award 2011 carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh
for the best new English script. The entry must be a full-length play on any subject of your choice. The play must be an original, unpublished and unperformed work in English.
It must not have been staged in any public space before the announcement of
the award. The award is open to Indian citizens above 18 years of age as well as those
who have been residents of India over the last five years.
Submissions made for previous awards will not be considered. Only one submission will be entertained from a person. Translations are not eligible. Adaptations of novels and texts are eligible.
Submissions must be printed in double space on single sides of A4 sheets and
sent to: The MetroPlus, (Playwright Award 2011), The Hindu, Kasturi
Buildings, 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002, and ALSO be emailed to:
metropl...@gmail.com Your play must reach us (in print and via email) on or before January 15,
2011. The decision of the judges is final. It will be made public by May 15, 2011.
Tip: Shobha SV
MiD DAY Story on Gift Economy
By Dhvani Solani | Sunday, 2 Jan 2011
DON’T SHOW ME THE MONEYTelevision has wannabe models slug it out in demeaning tasks or choosing to stay locked in a spite- filled house for an enormous amount of moolah. The papers are filled with accounts of robbery. Cash, not love, seems to make our world go around. Or does it? DHVANI SOLANI shows you a different set of individuals across the country who gift specialised services for free. Why? Just because they believe life’s meaning doesn’t lie in their bank balance
IF METER Jam was any indication, we’re sick of our rickshawallas and cab drivers. They’re rude, refuse short fares, overcharge, and generally give us a hard time.
Why then, are we singing paeans to a rickshawalla in Ahmedabad? Because Udaybhai, and the burst of sunshine yellow that his rickshaw is, sport a smile and an alias that he loves:
Ahmedabad No Rickshawalo ( Ahmedabad’s Rickshawala).
This mustachioed, Gandhi topi- wearing rickshaw driver is laid claim to by an entire city, because his meter stays at a constant Rs 0. Yes, you read that right.
Inside Udaybhai’s modest vehicle, you will spot a mini library stocked with magazines and tourist guides of his city, a bin to throw your waste into, an MP3 player, two boxes containing snacks and drinking water, and a mini fan directed towards the passenger.
Hold those eyebrows shooting to your hairline, because there’s more. “ I do not charge my customers anything,” Udaybhai tells us on phone in shudh Gujarati in a way that you know he is smiling at the other end of the phone line. “ Instead, I just hand them a cover and they can put in whatever amount they would like to. I know someone up there will take care of me and adjust it all.” Feel that warm, fuzzy feeling spreading inside you? Yes, nice people are still for real, and they care little about a stash of cash.
In a society where money is often our primary raison d’être, these people give their products or services for free — not as charity, but as an intrinsic part of their lifestyle. They live by a new paradigm of social service known as ‘ gift economy’. As Wikipedia which practises the concept and defines it: “ Gift economy is a society where valuable goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards.” Do you paint? Have a way with words? Know the numbers game? Then, do up someone’s mural, help pen a stranger’s wedding invite or assist someone to do their taxes. For free.
“ In the existing market economy, we are conditioned to believe that money means security and it has a direct bearing on the time and quality I put into my job,” says Vinod Sreedhar ( 35). “ The reason I don’t charge for my services is because it helps me trust people more and believe that if I create value for the world, it will create value for me in return.” Sreedhar does a bunch of things: he organises ecological trips to Ladakh, the North East and organic farms, composes music, conducts workshops on self- awareness, does photography and writes. For the eco trips, you are given an estimate of what it will take to cover the cost of your food, travel and accommodation.
The footnote here is not a bunch of conditions — it just reads that you can pay him whatever you feel like. As his mailers read – Anything from Rs 0 upwards is welcome but not at all mandatory. Anything offered with love will be accepted, even if it’s just a warm hug or a nice conversation over a cup of tea. “ Some people pay back in ways that would surprise you — one of my friends bought me a subscription to a Flickr Pro account to help out with my photography,” he says.
It’s the pleasant surprise in not knowing what you will get for your services that drives Bandra- based Neesha Noronha ( 32) who conducts gift economy yoga lessons.
“ The other day, someone took me out for lunch at Indigo as a thank you gift. I wouldn’t have been able to afford one otherwise and even if I would, isn’t it boring to know that it’s always within your reach? It’s not like I don’t need the money; it’s just that I am not deciding for you what value my service should hold for you.”
What happens when you can no longer afford the onions in the market because some miser decided to avail of your service for free? Is it not natural to feel the pinch when you put your soul into something that goes unappreciated or unpaid for? “ Of course,” says Sreedhar. “ But we have to start believing that all of us are inter- related and that we need to take the focus away from a transaction to a relationship. It all evens out at the end of the day.”
What if what goes around does not really come around even till the end of the month when bills pile up? “ You need to reassess your needs and figure out if you can incorporate elements of gift economy, if not the concept in totality,” says Chandni Parekh, a psychologist who conducts workshops on sexuality, gender and sexual abuse in schools. She throws open the choice to determine the monetary value of her sessions and urges the schools to do the same with the parents of the kids. The note she sends out to the schools reads: ‘ I would not want students from some schools to be deprived of what I see as indispensable sessions, simply because their schools could not afford my charges.’ That kind of spirit, simply put, is priceless.
GIFT ECONOMY IS AN EXPERIMENT I HAVE BEEN PRACTISING FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I STRUGGLE AND MY BANK BALANCE IS LOW, BUT THERE ARE ALSO TIMES WHEN MYSTERIOUS, MAGICAL THINGS HAPPEN. VINOD SREEDHAR gifts people portrait photographs of themselves, eco trips, writeups and his time
WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS VERY LITTLE. AT THE END OF THE MONTH, I MIGHT NOT EVEN OUT IN TERMS OF MONEY BUT I FEEL SORTED IN MY HEAD. IF YOU ARE NOT CONTENTED BY NATURE, NOTHING IS EVER ENOUGH. NEESHA NORONHA gives gift economy yoga classes
THE HANDBOOK
How to be a part of gift economy
VINOD SREEDHAR has a three- point plan: 1. GO EASY. It’s a good idea to start with random acts of kindness — spend a day with the aged, pay the toll for the cars after yours — and gradually build up levels of trust. Do things that are a little outside your comfort zone.
2. DEVELOP a network of people over a period of time who support your ideas and encourage them, especially in the local community.
You live in a capitalistic society and practising gift economy will not be possible if you are doing it all alone. Be practical to an extent too — you cannot be working for free all the time. You need other people following this culture so you can avail of their services and viceversa.
3. DO NOT THINK of money as your only resource.
Look for other options to support yourself. Do not focus on the nobility of the idea — it seems radical but is actually very simple and basic.
Just do what you love and offer it as a gift — if you have a large enough base of people, everybody’s needs can be met, including yours.
THE GIVER OF GOODNESS
Life is short and if there’s one person who knows that, it’s NIPUN MEHTA. He had everything going for him — his family moved from Ahmedabad to California when he was 12; by 17, he was playing competitive tennis, and dreaming of turning into a Himalayan yogi at some point. When the dotcom boom was at its peak, he got a job with Sun Microsystems while still at college, and made more money than he ever needed.
So, as he says on his blog ( www.nipun.charityfocus.org), he started to give it away. As money ran out, he gave his time and as time ran out, he gave of himself. He soon quit his lucrative job to work full time for CharityFocus, a nonprofit technological organisation that he and his friends had started as an experiment. Today, he has built over 4,500 free websites and taken the concept of gift economy to another level altogether. We caught up with Mehta over e- mail and came back inspired and moved.
Here are excerpts from the interview.
How is life when you rely on the kindness of strangers? When you rely on the kindness of strangers, you start shifting from ‘ me’ to ‘ we’. You start to see the deeper interconnectedness between giver and receiver, and ultimately, how we are all part of a giant chain of gifts that starts with nine months of an unconditional gift from our mother. Bit by bit, you lose the idea of strangers.
Take us through a typical day in the life of Nipun Mehta.
I don’t have much of a typical day. My life revolves around two key values: service and stillness. To practise stillness, I meditate every day. To practise service, I volunteer with CharityFocus, which is an ecosystem of 3,00,000 members, so there are endless ways to be helpful. I build technology, I meet with likehearted people daily, I organise community events every week, and I make it a point to engage in small acts that can never be measured.
Are there times when you feel like you should’ve got back something for your efforts when you didn’t? Sure, many times. Not only that, sometimes you get negativity in return for your efforts. That’s the real work, though. If you do any action fully, its satisfaction doesn’t come from the appreciation or its impact. The joy resides in that very action itself. So, whenever my mind seeks something in return for my action, I pause to reflect — would a Nobel Prize or a million bucks really validate this act of kindness? The answer is always no.
Have you fulfilled any materialistic dreams? Own a nice car, go on a cruise...? When I was young, I wanted a Ferrari. As I grew older, I realised that I wanted all these fancy things to show others that I’m worth something. In my early 20s, I thought to myself: should I pursue these material dreams for my confidence, or should I pursue a kind of inner growth that puts an end to this insecurity? I chose the latter. I never achieved material abundance, but I never felt the need to. Of course, I haven’t put an end to my insecurity either but I still feel way more confident and connected than I would’ve been with just material success.
Do you read the news? I do. But I prefer DailyGood. org kind of news.
In the news business, they say, “ If it bleeds, it leads.” That is to say, fear gets you attention. That may be partly true, but I tend to think that love begets affection — and that is a far more powerful a resource than fear.
Tell us about your journey through India in 2005. How was it living on $ 1 a day? Six months into our marriage, my wife and I dropped our plans, went to the Gandhi Ashram in Gujarat and decided to walk south on a pilgrimage of sorts. We had no plans and no end date.
Humanity’s poorest billion live on a dollar a day, so we decided to do the same. We would serve wherever an opportunity showed up, from pushing stalled cars on the highways to helping old farmers carry loads to sharing stories of every day heroes. We ate whatever food was offered, and slept wherever place was provided. Sometimes, things didn’t work, and that gave us an opportunity to grow in renunciation; sometimes things worked out miraculously, and that gave us a chance to cultivate gratitude. After about 1,000 kilometers, we ended up at a monastery and flipped a coin to see if the pilgrimage would continue internally or externally — we ended up staying, and meditating a lot over the next three months. “ Just jump and the net will appear,” they say. That was our experience. We happily discovered a net of compassion that we were previously blind to.
Can a person be ambitious and still practise this approach? If ambition is about having a strong determination to pursue a goal, that can be a real asset. You start climbing the ladder, but at some point, you have to look at the wall that the ladder is on. In my dotcom days, I remember reading a billboard that read: “ He who dies with the most toys, still dies!” So, one has to introspect and look at the direction of that drive.
What will you have written on your tombstone? He gave with reckless abandon.
YOU DON’T TRACK THE MATHEMATICS OF GIVE AND TAKE; YOU GIVE WHAT IS TAKEN AND TAKE WHAT IS GIVEN. EVERYONE STARTS TO FEELS LIKE FAMILY. NIPUN MEHTA runs CharityFocus, a nonprofit technological organisation that builds free websites for charities
|
TREND FORECAST |
|
COMING SOON: A site for exchange and lending is to grow bigger in our country. Need a massive saw to chop off the legs of your armchair for your grandma? It would be a waste to buy the saw — after all, you would barely need it again in the near future. On the Freeconomy Community , you can run through a list of things provided for free by other members — a skill, tool, space or member, and borrow it for free. In return, you can also put up a list of the stuff you would be happy to share at your convenience. So, the next time you need something, you will be presented with a list of everyone living somewhere near you who is willing to share what you need. You can then send them a mail and meet for real. Though there are not too many active members in India, you can help build a world that lives on exchange rather than hoarding by signing up ( for free, of course) on www. justfortheloveofit.org Join Freecycle.org, a website that connects local residents who want to get rid of old furniture and household items with people in the community who will take them. Unlike goods listed on other popular e-commerce sites like eBay and Craigslist, everything listed on freecycle.org is free. |
|
They’re doing it too! |
|
Seva Cafe also runs a store called Wisdom Crafts that lets buyers determine the worth of gift articles. Items sold under this brand are made by the disadvantaged, including slum children and the visually impaired SEVA CAFÉ located on the posh CG Road at Ahmedabad, gives you the best dessert to end your meal. You will receive a bill stating that you have to pay Rs 0 for what you have eaten. Your bill, it would turn out, would’ve already been paid by the diner before you. The café runs on a pay- itforward economy model where, to complete the gift of giving, you can leave a donation for the person after you, just like the one before you did. The café is entirely volunteer- run and the profits are used to support social service projects. Drop in if you are in the area — we promise you will get more than just yummy meals. VIPASSANA, a 10- day residential meditation course brought back to India by SN Goenka has been the defining moment in many people’s lives. You do not pay a penny — not even for your food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who have completed the course and have experienced the benefits of it, and wish for others like you to experience them too. PRITHVI THEATRE charges a nominal amount for the plays performed in its space, has many that are absolutely free of cost, apart from free book readings, seminars, workshops and platform performances. For the longest time, it held free shows over the weekends at Horniman Circle. You could put in whatever you felt was fine in a sack that was passed around. |
'Mail Today' Article on Cyber Change Agents
Excerpts from
JULIAN ASSANGE's WikiLeaks was one of the biggest stories of 2010. With the whistleblower continuing to make headlines from his house arrest in Norfolk, NEHA TARA MEHTA looks at the online crusaders in India who are using the digital space to give birth to social movements.
CV MADHUKAR,42
CHECK OUTwww.PRSindia.org Tracks the performance of MPs online and simplifies complex bills
DURING THE 2010 budget session, Parliament lost 84 hours because of disruptions by MPs on some count or the other. In the first 11 days of the winter session 2010, 114 working hours were lost in walkouts over the demand for a JPC to inquire into the 2G scam. If former investment banker CV Madhukar - elected Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2008 - hadn't taken a 90 per cent pay cut to start the PRS Legislative Group, such statistics wouldn't have entered public domain today.
JASMINE SHAH,29
CHECK OUTwww.jaagore.com
Started India's first online voter registration engine that helped bring on board 6,20,000 voters during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections
The Jaago Re! campaign went on to register around 6,20,000 voters across 37 cities during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.NISHA SUSAN
Took on Pramod Muthalik's Sri Ram Sene with the cheekily named Facebook 'Pink Chaddi' campaign in February 2009
NISHA SUSAN was at the centre of a tongue-incheek women's lib movement in February 2009 when she turned to Facebook to take on the Sri Ram Sene's skewed notion of morality. Nisha brought together a 'Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward Women' for the cheekily named, Gandhigiriinspired Pink Chaddi national campaign. The idea was simple: To send some 'love' in the form of pink underwear to Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik's band of womenbashing boys - who had threatened to sabotage Valentine's Day celebrations. Over 39,000 people responded to her Facebook posts, and Nisha was soon flooded with inners to be sent to Muthalik in Bangalore.
JASMEEN PATHEJA,31
CHECK OUT http://blog.blanknoise.org Started Blank Noise in 2003
"The campaign sought to challenge attitudes of blame, shame, and guilt in relation to the issue of street sexual violence," says Bangalore- based artist Jasmeen Patheja, who started Blank Noise in 2003 as a community arts collective. She initiated the project to discuss the everydayness of being sexually harassed and to try and define just what constitutes it.
On March 8, 2006, Blank Noise organised a 'blogathon' which had over 300 bloggers from across the country write about their experience with sexual harassment.
CHANDNI PAREKH,27
CHECK OUT http://twitter.com/FundACause
Started FundACause on Twitter to facilitate the raising of money for social causes CONNECTING PEOPLE. That's not just the tag line of a telecommunications multinational, but something that defines what Mumbaibased social psychologist Chandni Parekh has set out to do with Web 2.0. It all started one Sunday morning in April 2009 when Chandni woke up with an epiphany. "I thought I would compile the appeals for help that are posted on e-groups or land in one's inbox," she says. FundACause was thus born, and has since emerged as an online platform which spreads the word on people seeking and offering money for education, medical treatments, relief work for disaster victims etc.
With over 1,327 'followers' on Twitter, Chandni is ideally equipped to help netizens get connected with those in need of help. Over time, FundACause has attracted its fair share of stardust. Chandni has, for instance, connected Shweta Bachchan to Leh cloudburst victims after seeing the latter's tweet on wanting to help out. She also got Smriti Irani to sponsor a needy student in Chennai.
ADITYA RAJ KAUL,21
http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/ and www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
Started cyber activism with his petition for justice of Priyadarshini Mattoo
ADITYA RAJ Kaul was only 16 when he initiated an online signature campaign addressed to the President and Chief Justice of India for a retrial in the Priyadarshini Mattoo case. The online movement spilled over offline into headline- grabbing street protests.
NCR Giving Circle Meet, Jan 8
From: Srujan Gottemukkala <sru...@giveindia.org>
Date: 31 December 2010 11:15
Subject: NCR Giving Circle - Create an even bigger impact now
We, at GiveIndia, understand that apart from a credible and transparent due-diligence process, an ability to create a larger impact at the grassroots will help you to enhance and engage in your giving. Encouraged by our successful stint in Mumbai and Bangalore where we had 5 Giving Circles, NCR Giving Circle has been formed to give you an opportunity to engage directly with NGOs and other like-minded individuals to pool resources together and create a greater impact. Please find the details regarding NCR Giving Circle below.
We would like to invite you and your friends to be a part of this NCR Giving Circle meet on 8th January, 2011 (details below). Looking forward to see you there!
Regards
Srujan G
+91 98203 69755
What is the NCR Giving Circle?
NCR Giving Circle is a platform to bring together focused & like-minded individuals like you, who have an intent to donate at least Rs 50,000 p.a. and stand to benefit from a closer engagement/interaction with the NGOs & their work. The circle of 8-10 donors can pool resources to fund a pre due-diligenced project in the range of Rs. 4 – Rs. 6 Lacs. The giving circle members can choose a cause and GiveIndia will identify three projects that meet this need. Presentations by the concerned NGOs will be made to the giving circle and the monies routed for specific projects based on member’s choice. GiveIndia will also do the due diligence on the NGOs and give feedback reports on a regular basis, after the project is funded.
Please find the concept note attached which explains Giving Circle in further detail.
Our experience so far
We successfully piloted this initiative 5 times (twice in Mumbai and thrice in Bangalore). Over two 3 hour interactive sessions, many donors got a chance to interact closely with 12 different NGOs and pledge their support to the same. Six projects/NGOs received complete funding from this 5 Giving Circle meets. Please find the details below.
|
S No |
NGO Name |
Project Brief |
Location |
Budget |
|
1 |
NARAD |
To eliminate water scarcity problem for about 650 families in jawahar, thane district through repair/construction of wells/underground bunds |
Jawhar dist – 120 Kms from Mumbai, Maharasthra |
5,20,000 |
|
2 |
SOS Childrens Village |
To support the running expense of a family home of 10 Children and children’s development in a loving family home environment |
Pune, Maharashtra |
5,40,000 |
|
3 |
International Human Development & upliftment Academy (IHDUA) |
To construct 2 classrooms for Rural School in Mysore |
Mysore, Karnataka |
5,00,000 |
|
4 |
SOS Childrens Village |
To support the running expense of a family home of 10 Children and children’s development in a loving family home environment |
Bangalore, Karnataka |
5,40,000 |
|
5 |
Vathsalya Charitable Trust |
To support 10 children in foster care |
Bangalore, Karnataka |
5,04,000 |
|
6 |
Ananya Trust |
To help provide quality education/support to 20 Girl Children |
Bangalore, Karnataka |
4,80,000 |
What is in it for me?
· Opportunity to make a larger impact
· Greater involvement & engagement with the NGO through visits and closer interaction
· GiveIndia to take care of due-diligence and feedback reporting of these projects
· Get introduced to more like-minded individuals who can share experiences about their giving
I am interested, what next?
Save the date – Sat, Jan 8, 2011
Time: 10am - 1pm (The session structure is in the attached concept note)
Venue: Will be informed soon
Please note that this session is FREE and we would love it if you got your friends and colleagues as well who might be interested in the same. We do require everyone to RSVP before the meet, hence will urge that you confirm at the earliest since there are only 20 seats available.
Feel free to contact me by e-mail or on +91 98203 69755 at your convenience for any queries regarding the event.
Binayak Sen Support Fund
Binayak Sen Support Fund open to public
CHENNAI: Members of the Christian Medical College Alumni Association, who have helped to support social activist Binayak Sen's family and his legal battles through private contributions, now propose to open up the fund to donations from the public.
The Binayak Sen Support Fund was set up in May 2007 through initial contributions by 10 alumni “to provide assistance, as necessary, for the safety and liberty of Dr. Binayak Sen, and for the welfare of himself and his family.”
The Fund's trustees are eminent haematologist Mammen Chandy, president of the CMC Alumni Association Sara Bhattacharji, in her personal capacity, and the former Physiology professor, P. Zachariah, who serves as the managing trustee.
Explaining the need to open up the fund for public contribution, Dr. Zachariah said: “All the expenses so far, to the tune of Rs. 23 lakh, were met mainly from CMC alumni sources. But the expected expenses from now on, perhaps to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh, are beyond our means, and [to meet them] calls for wider support.”
Donations
The fund can receive only donations in rupees, either in cash or from a rupee account in an Indian bank. Payments from the fund are only made through bank transactions.
Contributions can be made at State Bank of India branches to “Binayak Sen Support Fund, SBI a/c no. 30181020786” or through cheques/drafts payable at the same and mailed to Dr. P. Zachariah, c/o CMC Alumni Association, Christian Medical College, Vellore-632002.
Free Prosthetic Limbs, Wheelchairs, etc. at a Camp in Bangalore
Running an annual Mega Jaipur Foot camp in the past 13 years Rotary Bangalore Peenya has successfully fitted 4735 limbs for the amputees, provided 11226 calipers 4600 crutches, 720 wheel chairs. We are the first one to introduce in India, a simple and very effective ‘mechanical’ prosthetic hand.
The week to ten days Mega Jaipur Foot Camp usually benefits over 2000 disabled people from all parts of South India. From screening to counseling, from customized production to fitting under medical advice, every aspect is taken care by a team of about 5-6 Doctors and 20 Technicians of Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Vikalang Sangh from Jaipur.
The 14th Annual Mega Jaipur Foot Camp is scheduled for January 3-9, 2011, at Bangalore Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Sangh, Infantry Road, Opposite The Hindu office, Bangalore. We take care of the ‘patients’ and their attendants by providing accommodation, three meals and other refreshments and cost of the artificial limbs, crutches, wheel chairs etc.
Please spread the message and if you are in Bangalore, please do drop in between Jan 3rd- Jan 9th.
Rtn Mohan Kumar K V
President
Rotary Bangalore Peenya
Mumbai Marathon 2011 - Supporting Swasth Foundation
Back in June 2008, we started Swasth India - a social business with a vision to provide for healthcare for the poor of India. The last 2 1/2 yrs have been challenging, humbling and rewarding. When we started, we had, caught in our overconfidence, assumed that we could provide healthcare to a lot of poor lives very soon. We have moved forward, from idea to implementation, trying everything we first listed in powerpoints & excel sheets, and fixing details in the implementation - and now cover about 13,000 lives in our comprehensive health cover schemes.
However, we have been humbled by the challenges of offering product to the poor - keeping costs low that they can afford, and even when they can afford, convincing them on parting with their hard earned money. We have realized the the effort and learning that has to go into creating awareness about health insurance or preventive care. That led us to form Swasth Foundation in Feb 2009 - with the goal of providing for healthcare for the poor, by building some viable health systems model - but also involving community & people at large to make it viable. Our motto is "All for Health".
Swasth Foundation currently runs a pilot health insurance scheme in Latur (called "Arogya Suraksha") where we do the last mile community reach directly, supports community health workers in Washim district (as part of a comprehensive health product offering to people), provided health care services to construction workers in Haryana, and now works with Delhi government to improve access to primary healthcare services in 2 slums. Learnings from these projects have started showing up in Swasth India Services' comprehensive health scheme pilots.
These activities by Swasth Foundation need your support to continue - and I'll request you to support these. Swasth Foundation team (a team of 6 runners) will participate in Standard Charted Mumbai Marathon on Jan 16th 2011 to raise funds for Swasth Foundation. I'll be running the half marathon (21 km) to raise support for the organization. You can find out more about our marathon fundraising effort at:
I'll request you to support our effort - you can do so by contributing at
The site supports fundraising only for a week only. You can also mail in checks directly in the name of "Swasth Foundation" to the following address:
Swasth Foundation
615 Palms 2, Royal Palms Estate
Aarey colony, Goregaon E
Mumbai - 400 065
Please do contact us for bank account details, if you'll like to make an direct bank account contribution. Your contribution will be income tax exempt under 80G.
If you have any questions about the organization or how can support us - please do not hesitate to ask me. I can be reached on arv...@swasth.org, or +91 96190 59634.
Arvind
Supporting Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya - Uttar Pradesh
From: Neelesh Misra <neeles...@gmail.com>
To: chandni...@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, December 30, 2010
Subject: appeal (ref Vivekanand Ahuja)
He was a brilliant student. From his village, he got an opportunity to get on a train for the first time, get on a plane for the first time, and travelled to Canada in the late 1960s to study geology.
Within months, he became a star in his scientific community when he discovered 565 million-years old fossils that were the oldest records of multicellular life on earth.
But he still agonised over the long walk to school, that thouands of children were still making in his rural backyard. Four years later, on his way to a career of fame and fortune, he quit and returned to his village -- to fulfill his dream and set up his school. Now with his newly wedded wife, Nirmala, a city girl who had never been to a village and said: "What the heck, lets do this."
The school has touched and transformed thousands of lives in an area where most of the residents are from the Scheduled Castes, who earlier had no access to education. And for the time time, girls began to study with the opening of the school, and numerous have changed their lives with education.
Consider this. There is no High School in a radius of about 400 square kilometres. The nearest railway station is 12 kms away; the nearest post offices are 7 kms away in district Lucknow and 4 km in district Barabanki. Nearest bank and police station are at 8 kms away. Roads and electricity have only recently arrived.
Most of the villagers do farming but the yield is poor. Main crops are wheat, paddy, cane sugar (now decreasing in area). Mentha is the cash crop but water logging poses a major hurdle for this crop. Dairy farming is not favoured now but a few farmers, generally OBC, sell buffalo milk. There are no industries and employment potential is negligible except spade-work under NREGA.
Amidst this, BGV has 700 students from Class I to Class X and 17 teachers, surviving the greatest odds, fighting to manifest the right to basic education especially for girls and the truly underprivileged.If you can, help the school. We urgently need winter essentials for the children, who often come wearing just flimsy shirts in the searing winters.
Panel Discussion on Making Philanthropy Easy, Essential and Effective - Bombay
cordially invite you to a discussion program on
“Making Philanthropy Easy, Essential and Effective”
with Dr. Amita Vyas,
Assistant Professor & Director, George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services and Founder & President, Global India Fund Inc.
in conversation with Li Ping Lo, Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Consulate Mumbai
Noshir Dadrawala, Chief Executive, Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy,
Vidya Shah, Executive Director and Head, EdelGive Foundation,
Akhil Shahani, Director, Kaizen Private Equity
Rajiv Agarwal, Advertising ConsultantAmerican Center Auditorium
4, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm – 7:30pm
(Registration/Refreshments will commence at 5:30 pm)RSVP: Ashwati Bharadwaj on bhara...@state.gov or tel.: 22624590 extn.2253
Fellowships Available: Join a Chef in Germany or an Animal-Assisted Therapist in US
Date: Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 3:42 AM
Subject: Help us spread the word: 2 new exciting Projects!
|
|||||||||||||
Deadline: March 10, 2011
Tip: My dear (and really cool) friend Shubhangi who went on a dance fellowship to Turkey last year...Posterous loves posting for you!
Post now by emailing po...@posterous.com »
Attach photos, music, video, documents and any type of file. We take care of the rest.