Hello Friends
I always think what Mr. CK Prahlad had said in his recent book "The Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid". Now what is this pyramid? Who lives at the bottom? How are we connected? How we can make a difference? How we can take advantage of this situation?
All these questions started bothering me for quite some time now. He also said, 4 billion people are living under $2 per day. Now if we start exploring the enormous opportunities available around us and use of this resource pool - then only sky is the limit.
Now, 20% of 4billion lives in our own country. May 1% from our own village or town or our own neighborhood. How do we reach them? How can we empower them to lead a significant life? How can we develop them so that they can be part of this developing nation and make it a developed nation. They are the future.
I am just speaking out loud: Can we setup education / literacy centres in every district which imparts only those skills which are essential for any person from the above pool to lead a good. The training may include, basic education, life skills, basic language skills, etiquette, vocational training such as any job oriented courses etc. The challenge may also come from Roti/Kapda/Makaan. How do we help them in this context. Unless you meet these basic needs, he/she may not continue further with us.
However, this exercise cannot be a one time affair. It has to be long term, self sustained and continuous learning process. For this, the team which initiates the project may not be in a position to spend their entire time on project and one location as this is going to be a nation wide initiative. For this, a structure has to be evolved, check points have to be defined, progress have to be monitored and ultimately results must be measurable.
To make this happen, every one has to support whole heartedly for the benefit of entire society not just their village or town or locality. Important players in the whole process will be Government, Private parties, Companies, Individuals, Local Chapter leaders and the beneficiaries themselves.
You can share your thought about this posting
Jai Hind
Shyam S Mantha
Founder Trustee
August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
What is the fate of Child Labor?
Dear Friends,
It is very saddening to hear from a senior official from the government, during my recent meeting with him, that he and his team were very effective in enforcing the Child Labor Act but failed in taking next step in helping that child. He said, instead of pulling them out of houses on the name of Child Labor Act and leaving them on roads, better they work for somebody and earn their daily bread, shelter and some money. This is something like "Operation successful but patient died". What an irony!
Somehow i was not comfortable after hearing such an experience from one of the most authoritative man in state government. It started bothering me even hours after i left his office. I shared this experience and piece of information to all the people i met after my meeting with him till next morning. I couldn't sleep for hours. I didn't know what to do? Only one question was going aruond in my mind - How to respond or react to such situation. However, i started my day as usual, next day. Sometime after lunch hour, i started working out a plan and thought of going back to the same senior official. But then i couldn't dare to call or meet him. So i shared this plan with my well-wisher who actually took me to the officer couple of days ago. She was excited with the idea but then that exciting moment didn't last for too long.
She told me that you may start well with all good intentions but you may not timely support from government for various reasons or you may be busy with your other engagements or localites may intervene in your plan and spoil the whole show.
This again set me thinking in different direction. How about involving Private companies, individuals and initiate the project at a large and mass scale say one centre in every district. Thats how my project was born - "Vidyadan for every khandan". This means education for every individual in the house. Thats how you can empower every human being.
The idea was to
Till date, SMILE Trust was helping very few, handful of needy children with practically no financial support. Now, it has taken the giant step of making it public and share its experience with as many people as possible across the globe to join hands for a cause.
Lets join hands in making this dream a reality
Jai Hind
Shyam S Mantha
Founder Trustee
August 15, 2008
It is very saddening to hear from a senior official from the government, during my recent meeting with him, that he and his team were very effective in enforcing the Child Labor Act but failed in taking next step in helping that child. He said, instead of pulling them out of houses on the name of Child Labor Act and leaving them on roads, better they work for somebody and earn their daily bread, shelter and some money. This is something like "Operation successful but patient died". What an irony!
Somehow i was not comfortable after hearing such an experience from one of the most authoritative man in state government. It started bothering me even hours after i left his office. I shared this experience and piece of information to all the people i met after my meeting with him till next morning. I couldn't sleep for hours. I didn't know what to do? Only one question was going aruond in my mind - How to respond or react to such situation. However, i started my day as usual, next day. Sometime after lunch hour, i started working out a plan and thought of going back to the same senior official. But then i couldn't dare to call or meet him. So i shared this plan with my well-wisher who actually took me to the officer couple of days ago. She was excited with the idea but then that exciting moment didn't last for too long.
She told me that you may start well with all good intentions but you may not timely support from government for various reasons or you may be busy with your other engagements or localites may intervene in your plan and spoil the whole show.
This again set me thinking in different direction. How about involving Private companies, individuals and initiate the project at a large and mass scale say one centre in every district. Thats how my project was born - "Vidyadan for every khandan". This means education for every individual in the house. Thats how you can empower every human being.
The idea was to
- work on child labor project. SMILE’s role in the project commences after the government enforces the child labor law and sends the children to SMILE Campus
- SMILE is working on establishing its own campus in association with public and private involvement. First campus will be in the vicinity of Twin Cities. In 36 months, one campus in each district. The campus will be a self sustained campus with all facilities like Accommodation, Canteen, Education centre, healthcare centre, vocational training centre and recreational centre.
- partner with Government, Private organizations, Corporates, Individuals and foreign agencies for funding to ensure the project takes well.
- provide food, accommodation, rehabilitation, education, healthcare and vocational training to at least 100,000 underprivileged & normal students in 5 yrs.
Till date, SMILE Trust was helping very few, handful of needy children with practically no financial support. Now, it has taken the giant step of making it public and share its experience with as many people as possible across the globe to join hands for a cause.
Lets join hands in making this dream a reality
Jai Hind
Shyam S Mantha
Founder Trustee
August 15, 2008
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