Nonprofits cooperate

By Lauren Grimanis

After a week full of travel, orientation and meetings; we are all excited to settle into work and get started. The “Dream Team” consists of Prachi, Constance, Chris, and me. Each day we travel on the stuffy, crowded buses through Bangalore’s traffic to reach Dream A Dream‘s office in Jayanagar (Map). The office is a two-story converted house that sits on a quiet side road close to Ashoka Pillar. Twenty five motivated and committed people working at Dream A Dream gave us a warm welcome.

Constance, Lauren, Prachi, Chris and Moledina outside the Dream a Dream office

The thing that has impressed me the most in India’s nonprofit sector is the constant support and networks of other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) throughout India. There is not competition, but camaraderie and collaboration. Over the past week at Dream A Dream, three representatives from three separate NGOs visited the office. They spoke about their organization and interacted with the Dream A Dream staff.

Kalyani Subramanyam from Naz India was the first to visit Dream A Dream’s office. Naz India seeks to provide awareness of HIV/AIDS and offer support to those living with HIV/AIDS. Kalyani is the coordinator for their GOAL program. This program uses the sport of netball to empower young, underprivileged women in India. Through their educational and netball programs they develop life skills. It was amazing to hear about Kalyani’s experiences working with these girls and how they gain confidence and break stereotypes.

Our second visitor was George Abraham, founder of the Score Foundation , an organization that has created the Eyeway initiative. Eyeway works to empower and understand opportunities of the visually impaired in India. What distinguishes Score is George’s approach. He believes and advocates that the problem is not blindness, but the mindset, of both society and the visually impaired. In fact, not until halfway through his talk did I realize that he was visually impaired and, as he told us later, legally blind. He has played a major role in promoting cricket for the visually impaired in India. Cricket is the most popular sport in India, best compared to baseball. The sport has been adapted for the visually impaired in several ways, the most significant being a rattling ball. This allows players to hear the ball and gives them awareness as to where the ball is in relation to them. George was a remarkable man to meet and listen to as he had so much energy and joy for life.

The final visitor was Bijal Shah, who is on an IAF (Indian American Foundation) fellowship with Saath India. Saath works with impoverished individuals in the slums of India to improve their lives through services and support. The organization offers training, life-skill development programs, and basic English courses. Bijal is working with the organization to create a sustainable enterprise so that their programs and services are not reliant on government funding. Bijal is doing work similar to GSE! Bijal told us that one of her biggest challenges is the 110 degree F weather in Ahemdabad, Gujrat, where she works. On hot days, since she does not have air conditioning, she pours buckets of water onto her floor to cool her apartment down. Prachi thought we should try this at UTC, while Constance implemented the technique the first day at work by “pouring” (spilling) a bottle of electral water on the floor!

Despite the differences in goals and objectives of the organizations, similar themes, projects, and concerns rose from the discussions. It was amazing to see the interactions between these non-profits and the support they can provide for each other.

A couple of non-work related highlights from the week:
– Dream team going for high tea at Sangitha’s house located at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) campus.
– Charades at Varsha’s house where we saw some interesting theatrics of fellow GSE-ers
– Ordering “way too much” pizza for 7 people according to Indian Dominos and eating all of it.
– Watching Professor Moledina “dance” and “sing”.
– Losing my wallet containing drivers license, cash, credit cards, and most importantly my blockbuster card, in an auto rickshaw.
– Went to the Jayanagar Police Station to file a FIR (First Information Report) with Prachi and Pooja Rao (volunteer anchor at Dream A Dream) about my missing wallet. It was an interesting experience.
– To my surprise and new found respect for Indian auto drivers, they contacted one of the CSIM students via his business card in my wallet and informed them about my missing wallet. Got my wallet back!
– Experiencing Ben and Chris battle and slay three cockroaches.
– Learned the art of tying bow-ties.

Spread the bow-tie mantra. Moledina and Akshay.