SAMAG is a registered, Non-Profit support group which is relentlessly working for the cause of “Ataxia” and “Muscular Dystrophies”- a set of Neuro Muscular degenerative disorders resulting in body imbalance and heart problems which gradually worsens until the victim becomes totally incapacitated. At present, there is no known cure in this world for this disorder.

SAMAG was founded by Chandu George in 2006 in Hyderabad, India with a vision to spread awareness about Ataxia and to provide information and counseling to families coping with Ataxia. Journey has been difficult for this budding organization but thanks to the positive efforts of volunteers led by Chandu, SAMAG has slowly and steadily created awareness on Ataxia and has successfully paved the way to create a forum for Ataxians thus bringing in hope and voice for Ataxians in India.

Chandu George, belonging to a middle class family in Hyderabad, has grown from being a shy and introvert guy into a confident personality leading the way for better life for Ataxians. Diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia from the tender age of 14, Chandu realized very early that living with Ataxia was a part of his life and a reality. Over the years he has accepted this hard bitter truth in life and maintaining an ever optimistic attitude, he has strived relentlessly in building SAMAG, an effort to better the lives of families coping with this rare condition.

Completing 4 years of operation, SAMAG has been successful in getting attention from local organizations and volunteers who have come forward to help in its efforts by tree plantations, donation of wheelchairs, organizing fundraising activities etc. SAMAG has also been featured in local channels like Saakshi TV and TV9 along with getting published in local newspapers. It continues to act as an advocacy and lobby group for Ataxians and continues to prepare volunteers who can contribute their time and energy for the welfare of Ataxia patients and help them in obtaining essential commodities like wheelchairs, walkers, medicine etc.

However, despite all its achievements, SAMAG is still in need of funds as well as volunteers to realize many of the pending projects. One such project is SAMAG Rehabilitation Center. SAMAG aspires to build a disabled friendly rehabilitation centre where it can bring the Ataxian families together along with care givers and volunteers. Chandu truly believes that spending a weeks time in a direct interactive environment , Ataxian families can share their concerns, reduce their worries and also develop a feeling of ” togetherness” which can bring them new hope in life.

This project is yet to be realized due to the lack of funds and resources.

Another project is to open a branch of SAMAG in Bangalore which is again not been realized because of lack of volunteers and like-minded people.

I take this opportunity to remind The Better India readers that SAMAG is a registered non-profit support group which entirely depends upon donation, charity, grants and fund raising events. It needs helping hands to support the cause and funds to implement projects. Even a little help can make a huge difference.

So, please feel free to contact Chandu at sam_ataxiaindia[at]yahoo[dot]com in order to find out ways of help, how to become a volunteer, how to conduct fund-raising activities, sponsor a victim or make a donation.

Please visit www.samataxiagroup.org to know more.

Read more about Ataxis here: Ataxia on Wikipedia

In our busy lives where our abilities are taken for granted, we forget that living along with us are challenged people who have special needs. Who could better understand the needs of the visually challenged than someone who has suffered it herself? Madhu Singhal is visually impaired by birth. Born into an upper middle class family in Haryana, Madhu had the affluence to lead a comfortable life. But she chose not to be laid back and wanted to do something on her own.

After completing her MA in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music, Madhu came down to Bangalore to undergo specialized training in communication and counseling. To her surprise and much difficulty, she found that there was very little support for her learning needs. In the North, audio recordings of text books were made available for students like her, but here in Bangalore Madhu couldn’t find any such help. Fighting this difficulty she completed her studies and got out only to find that it was extremely difficult for her to get a job. This is when Madhu decided that no one else should suffer what she suffered. And Mitra Jyothi was conceived.

Mitra Jyothi is aimed at empowering the visually impaired by supporting their educational needs, finding suitable jobs and making them independent enough to take charge of their lives. The organization’s most popular initiative is its Talking Book Library. Text books and books for general reading are given a voice by volunteers, and cassettes and CDs are recorded for circulation. Over 22,000 cassettes of more than 2000 books have been recorded till date. Mitra Jyothi set up its own recording studio to provide this service professionally. Notably, Mitra Jyothi’s effort in this front was the first of its kind in Karnataka and over 5000 people have benefited from the library.

The organization is also extensively involved in Braille transcription and providing computer education to the visually impaired. Mitra Jyothi runs a full-fledged job placement cell for its members, a service that has helped its members find suitable jobs in corporates and manufacturing units. Another admirable service is that the organization runs special courses for women to impart independent living skills.

Mitra Jyothi has been serving the needs of the visually challenged for over two decades now. It has extended its services to Kerala, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. Madhu Singhal has nurtured the organization with her selfless commitment that grew beyond her impairments.  Madhu lives independent, travels abroad on her own, spearheads an organization and chairs important positions in various social service organizations – a true role model. What she has achieved can be made possible for more visually challenged people. Help spread the cause.

Visit http://www.mitrajyothi.org/

In this post we bring to you an insightful interview with Maitreyee Kumar who is the founder of Dream School Foundation. Before we get into the actual questions, here is a brief background about Maitreyee.

Maitreyee started her career as software professional and worked with multinational software development firms in India and abroad for over 8 years before she made a shift towards social development. Her desire for social change and interest in child development through civil society mobilisation urged her to join CRY (Child Rights and You). She worked with CRY in the resource generation and volunteer management divisions for a decade and was instrumental in setting up and coordinating Volunteer Action at national level. Educated at Pune University (Masters in Computer Science), Maitreyee provides leadership and direction to the organisation and is primarily responsible for the overall management and administration of the organisation. She was also a recipient of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust Fellowship.

Interview

The Better India (TBI):Tell us about Dream School Foundation (DSF) and the work that it does?
Maitreyee: Dream School Foundation (DSF) is a Bangalore based non-profit organisation working to ensure the child’s right to quality education. Our School Development Programmes help with holistic development of government schools while our initiative – HeadStart, addresses and assists a smooth transition from primary to secondary stages of education and strives to ensure continuity till the 10th grade for the vulnerable and underserved children.

We started as a group of committed individuals volunteering their time and skills for the cause of quality education for disadvantaged children in Govt. schools. Later we formally registered the organization and now 4 years later, we are fairly established with organizational framework in place, focused school programmes and two Education and Development centres for High School students. The underlying belief of our organisation is faith in people’s ability to contribute towards the education and development of our children.

DSF Volunteers with Maitreyee (5th from right, standing)

TBI: Who has benefited from your program and how have you made a difference?
Maitreyee: The objective of the our intervention at the school level is to enhance the learning levels of the children studying at the government schools through support and partnership with teachers, active participation of the community coupled with intensive class room and school level interventions through trained personnel, teachers & volunteers. We believe that these interventions create an environment and processes, which ensures holistic development and enhanced performance of the school and its students.

Our initiative HeadStart aims to mentor and track individual students from the various schools, we support, through and beyond their Higher Primary / Middle school and High School Education. The underlying driver of the programme is to ensure that children both continue into high school (not drop out) and make an informed choice of schooling in the neighbourhood schools that are willing to give them an opportunity to share a learning experience without being discouraged by the financial liabilities.

The programme is strengthened by volunteer-involvement to mentor and track the performance of the participant – students and motivate them through the commitment of financial support for 3 years of High School Education. It is closely associated with our Learning Centres where the student-participants will have the opportunity to capitalise on Spoken English and Life –Skill Tutoring. We have seen marked improvement in the academic performance as well as personality development of these students and they are much better equipped to face the challenges of the world today.

TBI: What inspired you to create an organization like DSF?
Maitreyee: My experience and exposure as a software professional and later work with CRY gave me lot of opportunity to have a world view of society and social development. I came across several well meaning individuals who wanted to do something to bring about a change but very few ended up doing anything worthwhile. Some of us who were really passionate for the cause of Education and felt it is the only sustainable tool that can empower the nation and bridge the economic divide between communities in India started getting together.

We saw that while govt. efforts have ensured that most children have access to schools, quality education in these schools was still a dream. Schools needed to be equipped to provide education that is more than just development of cognitive abilities and rote learning and make learning an exciting and stimulating experience for children. Thus was born the idea of a Dream School which was developed by this group of passionate individuals with a keen desire to bring about a change.

TBI: How does DSF sustain itself?
Maitreyee: A large percentage of our funding comes from CSR initiatives of corporate firms while another significant part is from individuals and groups.

TBI: What are the schools that are currently under the purview of DSF?
Maitreyee: DSF partners around 20 schools across Bangalore for the Holistic school development and extends its services on smaller scale to several other needy schools. Our schools are primarily located in North Bangalore – RT Nagar, Yeshwantpur, Rajajinagar areas, while we also work with some schools around HAL airport area. Our Learning centres are situated at Yeshwantpur & RT Nagar.

Students at a DSF Adopted School

TBI: What plans do you have for the future?
Maitreyee: This year we would primarily focus on strengthening our interventions both at our existing partner schools and Learning centres. Meanwhile the public education scenario in the urban context is undergoing several reforms and changes. We need to wait and watch before we step further in our programme expansion in urban areas.

Instead it’s the rural schools that are kind of orphan and need developmental support. There we also have tremendous scope for enhancing community participation in the school development. We plan to take on a pilot School development programme in the outskirts of Bangalore, extend our existing programmes to the rural community and then explore possibility of scaling up the initiative.

Computers at the DSF's R T Nagar Center

TBI: In what ways can our readers contribute to DSF?
Maitreyee: DSF owes its beginning to few committed individuals who volunteered for the cause of quality education. We have full faith in people’s ability to contribute towards the nation building process. Whether it is through volunteering your time or financial contributions, each one of you can reach out to underserved children. One can be a member of our School Support teams and volunteer at a school or mentor / teach students at our centres. We are in need of sponsors to contribute to the High School education of our HeadStart children.

One is also welcome to help in specialized areas like website & content development, financial accounts, counseling, child psychology, education etc.

TBI: Any other message you would want to provide or talk about?
Maitreyee: We believe that people at large are responsible for the situation of the state of education and children today. And people should play a proactive role to change the situation through collective action. We need to work on formation and strengthening of alliances that promote collective action which will finally result in influencing govt. policies and bringing about constitutional changes. We as educated citizens need to widen our perspective, get more aware and involved in the education system and advocate the right cause that would benefit a larger population than a narrow segment of society.

Maitreyee is ably supported by DSF’s Co-Founder Sabu Joseph. Sabu holds the post of Director – Strategy & Partnerships. Here is a brief bio of Sabu:
Prior to initiation of DSF, Sabu worked with Centre for Environment Education (CEE), in Bangalore where he initiated and managed projects in Environment and Sustainable Development. He taught Social work and management in IIRM, MATS school of management and was visiting faculty in many management institutions and organisations. His interest lies in training and development and has conducted various programmes in corporate, academic and NGO settings. Sabu currently consults with global organisations on sustainability and business transformation.

He provides vision and direction to DSF and is responsible for strategic planning and partnerships. He holds a Masters in Social Work and also a recipient of Common wealth Secretariat scholarship on Environment Education (TEE).

Contact DSF

For further information, please click here to visit the website of Dream School Foundation.

You can also e-mail DSF: info[at]dsfindia[dot]org

In a previous post Meeting the World Challenge, we had mentioned about She Hope Society and the remarkable work they were doing in rehabilitating the disabled in the Kashmir Valley. In response to that article, we received a note from Diane Emerson who was headed to the Centre to volunteer for a period of 3 months starting in April. Hailing from New Zealand and having traveled all over the world volunteering with various charities and NGOs, Diane expressed a strong interest in sharing her experience with The Better India, so that our readers could get a glimpse of working in an NGO, the ground realities in Kashmir as seen from the eyes of an impartial observer, and life as a traveling volunteer. Here are some of her observations.

About life in Kashmir Valley:

The food is healthy and locally grown and organic. And vegetarianism is common. Even people who do eat meat eat it sparingly.

Children are loved by both parents, and get lots of attention since everyone eats on the floor. I often see fathers walking with their little boys, and their girls. And feeding their children. Caring for children is clearly shared, because they are loved. And there is time for them.

Drunk drivers do not exist here. Alcohol is not sold anywhere. So there is no alcohol-related violence, no party culture. No drunken hooning on the roads at night, no drunks stumbling along the streets, or passed out in the gutter, or making lewd comments to the girls. No bars to go to. No alcoholic fathers making life miserable for their families. No hidden alcoholic mothers. None. So what do people do without alcohol?

People talk to each other. They hang out together, and just spend time together, rather than sit at home and watch TV, or go out to the bars. In the evenings, when so many New Zealanders and Americans are in front of their TV watching the news and getting a big dose of negativity and violence, here they talk to their neighbours and watch the light fade.

About working at the Hope Disability Centre:

Today is a CBR: Community Based Rehabilitation visit. Sami brings hearing testing equipment and we go to a village to find disabled people who need help. The village was Kulharna, and it had been arranged by the newspaper reporter who had stopped by a week before. Our first stop was at a school where there were two disabled teenage boys. The school superintendent asked me my opinion of Kashmir, and was pleased with my answers. Yes. I like it here. For many reasons. And I am finding more all the time. When funds become available, these boys will have surgery. In the meantime, exercises can be done to help.

About the work of the military in the region, and of one commendable army man:

Even though in most of Kashmir the actual voting turnout is only 3 or 4%, here in our Ganderbal district the voting turnout is closer to 60%. I found out one of the reasons why on Friday, when Sami and I visited the top military commander in Ganderbal. Commandant Vivik Sharma believes strongly in eliminating militancy, not just militants. I have learned that in Kashmir the independence fighters are called militants by some; terrorists by others. Commandant Sharma’s job is only to find and stop the militants. But he does more. Much more. He organizes free cataract surgeries, field trips to Delhi for school children, free veterinary training for the small farmers, and locates funds to support efforts like the Hope Disability Centre. He will be reassigned soon. And I think he has chosen to build a cricket stadium in Ganderbal as his lasting contribution to the community. It will be finished next month. But he is most proud of the fact that not one of his soldiers has troubled any of the students at the all girls school right next door. Not once in 3 years.

The Commandant General even requires his men to treat suspected militants with respect and consideration. There was a photo of a militant giving himself up in the room we were sitting in. The military found and took in this Pakistani militant who had come to Kashmir to help liberate the country, and asked him why he had chosen the militant path. The Pakistani said he had heard that Muslims were not allowed to worship at the mosques, and other offenses. So the commandant took him around Ganderbal and showed him the open mosques, and allowed him to talk to the local people about life in Ganderbal District. And the man, who had not killed anyone, ended up joining the army. If all the miliary commanders around the world were like this man, there would be no need for militaries at all.

Diane also brought with her a couple of laptops from New Zealand to train the disabled youth and help them attain life skills to be able to support themselves. The program has met with tremendous popularity and Diane is flooded with more students than she can handle, so that some of the older students also take up the responsibility of teaching the newer entrants.

Follow Diane’s intriguing journey with Hope Disability Centre and her experiences in India at her blog.

About YFS:
There is a growing desire among the youth in India to volunteer their time and talent for community development. But most of them are not currently involved in volunteering work because of three major reasons:
1. Not knowing where to start.
2. The fear that it may be too much of responsibility.
3. Concern that it cannot be done with their limited time availability.

“Youth for Seva”(YFS) was formed in April 2007 to fill this gap so that youth with an intention to volunteer and with different time commitments can easily find meaningful opportunities to serve the community.

Mission:
The mission of YFS is to inspire youth to volunteer, connect them to the grass roots projects, and provide ongoing support and training to the volunteers and the NGOs.

Achievements:
Since its inception in April 2007, YFS had secured the help of nearly 1,100 volunteers and assigned them suitably. However, in 2008 they were one of the NGOs to partner with Teach India program of Times of India, and helped engage more than 2000 volunteers in various government schools and slums of Bangalore. Besides schools, YFS has also helped hospitals, old-age homes and other institutions secure volunteers to help them with their needs.

Interview with Venkatesh Murthy – Co ordinator:
I met Venkatesh Murthy, Co-ordinator of Youth for Seva, several aspects of the vision of YFS were revealed. After working in the US for nearly 12 years, and observing the deep sense of community service ingrained in the culture, Venkatesh began to yearn to bring in a similar culture in the youth of his home country. So he moved back to India in early 2007, and began to float the idea of a community building and involvement program for individuals. His ideas received a lot of positive response, and he was encouraged to lay the foundation of Youth for Seva in April 2007.

Venkatesh was also deeply influenced by his readings of the ancient Indian scriptures, which talked of the 5 debts of man – his debt to his teachers, to his ancestors, to animals, nature and society. He believes that if only man would consider it his duty to repay his debts, we would not be witnessing the widespread damage to our habitat, environment, wildlife and the sufferings of the poor.

Though Youth for Seva is an NGO, Venkatesh wishes he could do away with the entire notion of NGOs.

“I want to encourage the concept of Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) – each individual taking charge of improving the conditions all around him. With a holistic approach encompassing all the five debts, it is possible for each person to do his bit and we will not have to worry about the world. Instead of calling up an NGO and asking them to pick up old clothes from your house, you could donate them to the construction workers at a nearby site. Instead of going to the slums and teaching children, you could start with taking lessons for your maid’s or watchman’s children. It’s all about looking around you and bringing about change”

Venkatesh’s ideals are reflected in Youth for Seva as it empowers the youth to find their niche, and participate in the change they want to bring about. Hopefully, this will lead to his mission of Individual Corporate Responsibility, where they will no longer be NGOs. Just a world full of hope.

How you can help:
Youth for Seva offers various options to the youths with varying time commitments.
• Few months after graduation and before starting your professional career-Volunteering provides true-to-life experience and also helps you develop better communication skills and leadership qualities. If you volunteer for three months or more, you are eligible for a fellowship (stipend).
• For few hours every week throughout the year you can be associated with one or more projects closer to your home or college.
• Semester breaks-Here you can volunteer full time for 10 days or more. Your time will be utilized based on your interests and abilities. Remember that the longer you volunteer, the better are the fruits of service.
• We can assist Master of Social Works (MSW) students in doing their project work with credible NGOs.
• You can sponsor a school kit containing a school bag, 10 notebooks, one pen, pencil, eraser and geometry box for needy children with a donation of Rs.200
• Non-field work- You can help us with your writing, photo and video skills, graphics work and/or website development. Just let us know your areas of specialization and we will try to find ways to help the NGOs which share the same interests.
• Something that every one can do is subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Whether you want to work with children, physically and mentally impaired or senior citizens at schools, hospitals, slums or old-age homes, Youth for Seva has something for everyone as long as you have the desire to help others.

Contact Youth For Seva at:
8/28, Bull Temple Road,
Bangalore – 560 004
Karnataka, India
Tel: 9900227382
Email: youthforseva@gmail.com

Read more about Youth for Seva and register to volunteer with them at http://www.youthforseva.org/