October 2006 Catalyst Magazine

Fourth International ConferenceSustainable Development in India: Challenges and opportunities

Invites You to:

Dates: Oct 14-15, 2006 (Sat-Sun)CONFERENCE VENUES :

Oct.14: IIT Rice Campus, Wheaton, IL Oct.15: Hilton Lisle/Naperville3003 Corporate West Drive Lisle, Illinois 60532

Dr. B. K. Agnihotri, Former Ambassador-at-Large,Arvind Kejriwal, 2006 Magsaysay Award Winner,

President, Parivartan, New DelhiProf. Kamal S. Bawa, President-Ashoka Trust for

Research in Ecology & Env.MA/India

Dr. Abraham George, President- The GeorgeFoundation, New Jersey/India.

Keynote Speakers:

For more information: www.idc-america.org / [email protected] President: Dr. Mohan Jain Tel: 630-303-9592

This conference will focuson the 4 basic needs:

Water, Health,Education, and

Livelihoods.

India Development Coalition of America

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CCaattaallyysstt FFoorr HHuummaann DDeevveellooppmmeenntt

Printed at: Kalajyothi Process (P) Ltd, RTC X Roads, Hyderabad - 500 020 (A.P.) India

Editorial Coordination by P.S.Sundaram, Former Editor, The New Indian Express &Managing Editor, Media India, at MEDIA INDIA, Hyderabad.

Mail: [email protected] Phone: 040 2340 1212 /1313 Fax: 040 2340 1414

EDITORIAL TEAM

Dr. Bhamy V. ShenoyChief Editor

[email protected]

Ms. Bharati KalasapudiMr. Nasy Sankagiri

Ms. Aarti IyerMr. Lakshman Kalasapudi

Ms. Padmaja AyyagariMr. Rajesh Satyavolu

Dr. Srinivasa [email protected]

Advisory BoardDr. Thomas Abraham

Dr. Nirupam BajpaiDr. Suri Sehgal

Mr. M. ChittaranjanDr. Rao V.B.J. ChelikaniMs.Poonam Ahluwalia

Editorial BoardDr. Abraham George

[email protected]

Mr. Ratnam [email protected]

Mr. Anil [email protected]

Mr. Ram [email protected]

Mr. Balbir [email protected]

Mr. Yogi [email protected]

Dr. Raj [email protected]

Dr. Viral [email protected]

Ms. [email protected]

INDIADr. Rao V.B.J. Chelikani

International Foundation for Human

Development (IFHD)

Balaji Residency, 12-13-705/10/AB

Gokulnagar, Tarnaka

Hyderabad - 500 017, A.P.

India

91-40-27174189

91-40-55214993

USADr. Srinivasa Rao

Association for Human Development (AFHD)

208, Parkway Drive Roslyn Heights

New York,11577, USA

E-mail : [email protected]

For all Communication please contact:

[email protected]

Team

— An insight into the complex problems

of develoment and an attempt

to provide solutions.

Published by Dr. Vasundhara D. KalasapudiBharati Seva Sadan

Srinivasanagar Colony

Saluru- 535 591

Vizianagaram District, A.P. India

For Copies, Contact:

To present people, ideas, news and viewsperiodically to readers to promote networking among NGOs.

To publish peer reviewed professional articles on NGO movement that can promote sustainable development andbest practices.

To disseminate information on NGO movement to improve communicationwhich in turn can catalyze human development.

To provide a platform for all concernedwith sustainable development to catalyze the process of human development.

M I S S I O NM I S S I O N

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Preface: Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Is there a ‘Changemaker’ Inside you ?: Venkatesh M. Raghavendra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Everyone a Changemaker: Bill Drayton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Ashoka Strives for a Strong Citizen Sector of Changemakers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Best Visionaries Moving into Citizen Sector: Chaula Kothari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Networking for Social Transformation: S.M. Cyril . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Ashoka to Launch Anti-Corruption Initiative: Catalyst Interview with Diana Wells . . . . .19

Finding Diamonds in the Rough: Lily Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Catalyst Salutes Ashoka Fellows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

The Evolving Role of NGOs in Poverty Alleviation: Dr. Abraham George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

ERDS Spurring Silent Transformation: Kanchan Bhadury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Karmayog: Sucheta Dalal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Urban Wastage A Resource for Rural India!: Anshu K. Gupta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

An Institute to Build the Nation: Dr. M.A. Balasubramanya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Giving More and Giving Wisely: Aarti Madhusudan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Mann Deshi Sahakari Mahila Bank - A Boon for Women: Chetna Gala Sinha . . . . . . . . . .34

IRHS - A Tribute to Comman Man: Dr. Patricia Bidinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

A Great Initiative in Mental Health Delivery: Dr.Thara Srinivasan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Chicago IDCA Summit Raises Water Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Superstitions are Retardants of Progress: Narendra Nayak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Highway Rescue Project - A Lifeline Foundation Gift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Adventure Tourism Boosts Conservation: S.L.N. Swamy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Who is a Social Entrepreneur ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

The Skoll Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

2006 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Indian NGOs Meeting Many Challenges: Catalyst Interview with Bart W. Edes, ADB . . . .52

M. S. Swaminathan the Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Three Indians win Global Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Why Do We Need Social Entrepreneurs ?: Dr. Srinivasa Rao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Contents

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P R O F I L E S of A U T H O R S

DR.ABRAHAM GEORGE

Abraham George holds aPh.D. in BusinessAdministration, has writtenthree books on InternationalFinance, and was a success-ful entrepreneur in the UnitedStates for more than 25years. He is the founder andmanaging trustee of theGeorge Foundation, a chari-table trust working towardspoverty alleviation (www.tgf-world.org). His charitablework through The GeorgeFoundation in India for overten years has focused onpoverty alleviation, empower-ment of women, health careand education for the ruralpoor. Dr. George is theauthor of a highly acclaimedrecent book: IndiaUntouched: The ForgottenFace of Rural Poverty.

BILL DRAYTON

Bill Drayton is a social entrepre-neur. As a student, he wasactive in civil rights and foundeda number of organizations, rang-ing from Yale LegislativeServices to Harvard's AshokaTable, an interdisciplinary week-ly forum in social sciences. Hegraduated from Harvard withhighest honors and went on tostudy at Balliol College in OxfordUniversity, where he attained hisM.A. with First Class Honors.Beginning his career in 1970 atMcKinsey and Company in NewYork, he served in the CarterAdministration as AssistantAdministrator at the U.S.Environmental ProtectionAgency. In 1981, he returned toMcKinsey half-time andlaunched both Ashoka and SaveEPA and its successor,Environmental Safety.AsMacArthur Fellow he was ableto devote himself full time toAshoka. Mr. Drayton is currentlythe Chair and CEO of Ashoka:Innovators for the Public. He isalso Chair of Youth Venture,Community Greens, and GetAmerica Working!

Authors

CHAULA KOTHARI

Chaula first came to Ashoka asan intern in the U.S.A./Canadaprogramme and she did herMaster of Arts in InternationalRelations at Maxwell School atSyracuse University and firstlearnt about Ashoka FellowHarendra de Silva while writingher thesis on Tamil women

combatants in Sri Lanka. Before coming to Ashoka, Chaulaworked on a government research project on nuclear ter-rorism and at the UN on small-arms disarmament. Chaulawill be a key figure in Ashoka's Global Venture Integrationprogramming.

S.M.CYRILL

Born in Ireland, Sr. Cyril hasserved in India since 1956.As the headmistress of theLoreto Day School, Sealdah,Calcutta, she has transformeda program originally designedto serve privileged womeninto a school and home for thechildren of extreme poverty inCalcutta and the surroundingrural villages. Sr. Cyril's goalhas been to intervene so thatthese children do not endtheir lives in utter deprivationand despair. Sr. Cyril'sachievement has been totransform the Loreto DaySchool into what shedescribes as a "ResourceCentre for the Kingdom ofGod ensuring that even thepoorest child has a place inthe sun."In recognition of her work,Sr. Cyril has received awardsincluding recognition byUNESCO (1994) and theInternational ChristianStewardship Award in 2002given by the U.S. Conferenceof Catholic Bishops.

VENKATESH M.RAGHAVENDRAVenkatesh Raghavendra iscurrently part of Ashoka'sGlobal Development team,with particular focus on Asia .Ashoka's mission is to shapea citizen sector that is entre-preneurial, productive andglobally integrated, and todevelop the profession ofsocial entrepreneurshiparound the world.Raghavendra works with theAshoka Asia team, bridgingthe Asia programme with theglobal activities of Ashoka. Heis focusing on building rela-tionships with the businesssector, the diaspora popula-tion and other key investors ofAshoka.Venkatesh is also a part ofAshoka's global training team.He has managed Ashoka'sAsia programme since 2000.Prior to this position, he wasthe Ashoka Representativefor South India (his nativearea). He is the co-founder ofThe Adventurers, an outdoorand environmental organiza-tion working in the rainforestsof South Western India.

DR. PATRICIA BIDINGER

Dr Pat obtained her BSc from the University ofCalifornia and MS and PhD from Cornell Universitywhere she was a National Institutes of HealthFellow. She underwent practical medical training inIthaca, NY and rural areas of the US as well as atthe Government Maternity Hospital and theOsmania General Hospital in Hyderabad,India.Helping the less fortunate was an important goal inher life. She co-founded the Institute for Rural

Health Studies in 1981. It will celebrate its silver jubilee this October. Patspends 10 months of the year in India and two months as a Visiting Facultymember at the University of Cambridge in England. She is an early AshokaFellow and has also won the Ashoka and Mc Kinsey Community BasedInvestment Award.

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Authors

THARA SRINIVASAN

Dr.Thara Srinivasan isChennai-based and presentlythe Director of SCARF,a non-governmental, non-profit organization, whichsince 1984 has committeditself to schizophrenia careand research. Founded by agroup of philanthropists andmental health professionalsled by Dr. M. Sarada Menon,an internationally known psy-chiatrist, SCARF has estab-lished itself as a center ofrepute in rehabilitation andresearch. The present teamled by the Director Dr.Thara iscomposed of psychiatrists,psychologists, social workers,rehab personnel, administra-tive and support staff.

ANSHU K. GUPTA

A brilliant and inquisitive mind,he studied journalism as wellas Advertising & PublicRelations India (IndianInstitute of MassCommunication), and thenwent on to do a Masters inEconomics. While still a grad-uate student in 1991, he trav-eled to Uttarkashi, North Indiaafter a major earthquake.Missing out on his classes, helived in tents for days andhelped in the relief efforts.This was his first real expo-sure to the problems of ruralmasses in far off parts of thecountry, something thatshocked his urban sensibili-ties.After completing his studies,he joined the corporate sector.However, It was his longing togive back to society, do some-thing different that would ben-efit thousands and involvepeople's participation. He leftEscorts as Manager,Corporate Communications in1998 to work full time on hisidea.

CHETNA GALA SINHA

Economist,, farmer and activist,Chetna Gala-Sinha, 43, worksfor social change in some of thepoorest and most drought-stricken areas of rural India.She founded and is currentlythe president of a micro-enter-prise development bank, pro-moting property ownership andtraining for women. The Bank isthe first in its region to providelife, accident and hospitaliza-tion insurance for women andsponsors training in animalhusbandry, organic farming andveterinary medicine. The Bankhas its origins in cooperativesorganized by Gala-Sinha toassist women in raising goats,selling vegetables and weav-ing. In addition, Gala-Sinhaworks on behalf of landlesslaborers for property and waterrights. She has succeeded inchanging government policyand law regarding propertyrights for women.Currently sheis also a consultant to Ashoka,as Media strategist and chiefeditor of the soon-to-belaunched Ashoka India Website.

SUCHETA DALAL

Sucheta Dalal is an award-win-ning business journalist andauthor with over 22 years in theprofession, founded on manynewsbreaks, insightful analysisand high integrity. She was con-ferred the prestigious PadmaShri for journalism in 2006. Shewas awarded the Chameli DeviAward instituted by the MediaFoundation for excellence injournalism, and Femina'sWoman of Substance award forher work on the Harshad Mehtascam in 1992 and related writ-ing.She is a BSc. In Statistics fromKarnatak College, followed upwith a graduate and post gradu-ate degree in law (LLB andLLM) from Bombay University.Ms Dalal's journalistic careerstarted in 1984 with FortuneIndia magazine and she hassubsequently moved throughBusiness Standard, TheEconomic Times and then wenton to become Financial Editor ofThe Times of India. She is nowa columnist and consulting edi-tor for The Indian Expressgroup; a Consulting Editor forMoney LIFE a personal financefortnightly and also writes a col-umn for Hindustan Times.AARTI MADHUSUDAN

A a r t iMadhusudanis an enthusi-astic volun-teer who helpsGiveIndia inmore ways

than one. Aarti researches onvarious issues, helps getother volunteers, networkswith other NGOs, etc. She iscurrently managing the volun-teering effort for GiveIndiafrom Chennai.

SATHIRAJU SANKARANARAYANA

Born in 1936at Narsapur,in AndhraP r a d e s h ,India, com-pleted hisM a s t e r sDegree in

Economics from LoyolaCollege, Chennai and joinedthe services of All India Radioin 1963. After working in vari-ous capacities for 32 years, heretired in 1995 as StationDirector, Chennai. SankaraNarayana hails from a family ofartists. His father was a verycreative person and his elderbrother, Bapu is one of themost eminent artists of Indiaand a well known Film Director. Sankara Narayana currentlylives in Chennai, pursuing hispassion for drawing portraits.

LILY PAUL

Lily is a part of Ashoka's Asia team and hasbeen managing Special Projects for Ashokain Asia. She led a unique social market-ing initiative in the region promoting socialentrepreneurship through David Bornstein'sbook HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD. Shehas been building Ashoka's citizen base inBangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and help-ing social entrepreneurs collaborate with othersectors such as business and academia. Lily isalso a counsellor and works with families.

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conveys its thanks to Ashoka: Innovators for the Public for permitting publication of articles related to Ashoka activities, the Ashoka Team for helping in the editorial production of all Ashoka articles and the others for reviewing and editing of the same.

Acknowledgements

ASHOKA TEAM:

Ms. Sohini BhattacharyaMs. Nomito KamdarMs. Sandhya MoraesMs. Devashri MukherjeeMs. Alexis Ettinger

Ms. Beverly SchwartzMs. Dolon SenMs. Sandra SitarMs. Shivangini TandonMr. Devin McIntire

Ms. Jessie Margolis [email protected]

Ms. Namrata [email protected]

Ms. Bharati Kalasapudi [email protected]

Ms. Miguel Miro-Quesada [email protected]

Ms. Emily Estrada [email protected]

Mr. Patrick Lynch [email protected]

Mr. Bruce Margolis [email protected]

Mr. Umang Kumar [email protected]

Catalyst accepts no responsibility, directly or indirectly, for the views and opinions expressed by the authors as well as for the pictures used in the articles.

REVIEWING AND EDITING TEAM:

We can do no great things only small things with great love.

”

”

Mother Teresa

-

-

Ms. Lily Paul

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Preface

THE central theme of the third issue of Catalyst is Ashoka, a nonprofit organization devot-ed to the cause of developing social entrepreneurship. For-profit organizations like private

companies or publicly held corporations create material wealth for the society while socialentrepreneurs contribute to generate human wealth. It is this human wealth in return that pro-duces material wealth with a huge multiplier effect to help solve the problem of poverty, oneof the objectives of Catalyst.

It was the genius and insight of late management guru, Peter Ducker who first realized thatNon—Profit Organizations (NPO) or Non—Governmental Organizations (NGO) also requiredthe application of sound management principles and it resulted in a systematic study to builda body of knowledge. While the future management historians will appreciate the contributionof Peter Ducker to NPOs and NGOs, they would equally like to admire the significant contri-bution of William Drayton for first coining "social entrepreneurship" and then promoting socialentrepreneurs throughout the world.

Ashoka has influenced directly or indirectly many philanthropic organizations like Skollfoundation started by Jeff Skoll of eBay, Acumen Fund started by Rockefeller Foundation,Cisco Systems Foundation and three individual philanthropists and many others. Since thebeginning of human history, man has been influenced by an urge to help fellow humanbeings. Many successful rich families in every country of the world have always establishedcharities to help the less fortunate. Though teaching how to fish is better than giving fish isappreciated by all, it is not often practised. Ashoka not only believes in this old chinese wis-dom, it has taken one step forward by urging social entrepreneurs to revolutionize fishingitself.

For a country like India with more than 1.1 billion people, and more than 60% of the popu-lation actually below the poverty line (official BPL is based on unrealistic criteria), we needthousands of social entrepreneurs to fight poverty. India's problems like several democraciesare made difficult because of the poor governance, total abdication of one's social responsi-bilities by the literate class and the resultant non-functioning of democratic institutions.

On paper there are more than a million (some even claim it is two million) NGOs in India.The fact that Ashoka has been able to identify only about 262 fellows, shows that we needfar more social entrepreneurs. Many NGOs start in India not because of the felt need, butbecause of the ready availability of foreign funding. Often the agenda and strategy for someNGOs are set not based on India's ground realities, but by the perceived objectives of foreigndonors. It is here one can actually admire and appreciate the objectivity of an institution likeAshoka.

Ashoka model social entrepreneurs are able to contribute significantly today in India evenunder the most unfriendly and corrupt political system as shown by many Ashoka -AmericanIndia Foundation Fellows. It is our hope and Ashoka's challenge that some of these fellowswill indeed revolutionize "fishing" by bringing systemic changes in the corrupt body politic ofIndia. Right To Information Act is indeed a big step forward, just like Consumer Protection Act(CPA) was in 1986, to fight the corrupt system. But we all know that CPA failed to bring aboutconsumer revolution despite the act being a fine and path—breaking legislation in the world.

Honest, dedicated and competent people often stay away from the messy need of fightingthe system today because politics is bad. We need some outstanding Ashoka Fellows whocan overcome the stigma of politics to cleanse politics while not being swayed by the power.

Dr Bhamy V. Shenoy

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Guest Editorial

ON the evening of what was touted as 7/11 by themedia, I was sitting in the Bangalore airport on my

way to New Delhi. The TV monitors in the airport startedbeaming news of the Mumbai train blasts. After the initialreactions of shock and anger, the immediate thought thatcame to my mind - what are 'social entrepreneurs' doingabout this? My mind then raced to the work of many ofthem I know in Mumbai.

Teesta Setalvad is transforming school curricula to ridthem of religious and other types of biases. Shakil Ahmedand his team of volunteers help the residents in Mumbaislums demand their rights and exercise their power as cit-izens, without fearing the police, the bureaucrats, or themuscle-flexing politicians. Beena Lashkari is equippingslum children ages three to eighteen with formal educa-tion, keeping them in school. The list goes on. SonaliOjha working with youth, Shielu Srinivasan focusing onsenior citizens, Mathew Spacie using sports as a vehiclefor social change, Dr. Armida Fernandez offering maternalcare to low-income families - all of these change-agentsare Ashoka Fellows based in Mumbai and they share incommon the determination to solve systemic problems inour society.

Yes, wherever possible they rushed to the train stationsand the nearest hospitals to the aid of the injured and theneedy. Subsequently and very quickly, they made theirvoices heard as a community of concerned individuals.But most importantly they are fighting the larger battle,and a daily one, of prejudice, class and caste differences,basic education, accountability in government and publicdelivery-systems. Driven by innovation and their spirit ofenterprise, they are holding together a complex communi-ty - Mumbai in this instance - and striving to establish asemblance of balance, fairness, and equity, creating hopeand offering opportunity. They are fighting the potentforces of exploitation, discrimination and denial of oppor-tunities which they know will spawn unrest and frustrationthat can lead to "explosive situations" in societies.

Social entrepreneurship may sound like the newestbuzzword these days, very handy to government, busi-ness, media and civil society alike. But it has been prac-ticed for ages although not under that term. Social entre-preneurs like Florence Nightingale who transformed theprofession of nursing, Vinobha Bhave with the land reformmovement, James Grant who headed UNICEF andlaunched the "child survival revolution" have left their foot-prints on history. The role of social entrepreneurs andtheir huge contribution is increasingly being recognized.The Magsaysay Award presented last month to AshokaFellow Arvind Kejriwal for his crusade against corruptionin India is a very current example.

Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka, coined the term "socialentrepreneurship" when he initiated the AshokaFellowship in 1980. The term has become part of themainstream development lexicon now. Today Ashoka,which was first launched in India, operates in 62 countriesand has invested in over 1700 Ashoka Fellows. Ashoka'sparadigm of investing in innovative local solutions andnurturing them to national and international scale througha range of support and services has changed the way weview development and philanthropy.

Particularly within the Indian context, socialEntrepreneurs are creatively powering the systemicchanges that are required to ensure that all citizensreceive services, and are fairly treated. At a momentwhen forces like cable television, the trappings of a con-sumer culture, malls, and fast food chains are conspiringto raise the aspiration levels of the emergent Indian yup-pie, social entrepreneurs provide the perfect counterbal-ance to remind people of the role they need to play as cit-izens.

Considering the sheer size of India and its complexity ofissues, Ashoka has known all along that "we cannot do italone". So when we found like-minded organizations likethe American India Foundation (AIF), and discovered analignment of values and vision, we partnered with them atfirst opportunity. Our partnership with AIF (www.aifounda-tion.org) is now in its fourth year and has enabled us todouble the number of innovations/social entrepreneurs weare able to invest it. Today Ashoka-AIF Fellows are work-ing in Bhavnagar, Bongaigon, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar andevery other imaginable area of the country and on everyissue that matters. Diaspora leaders like Rajat Gupta,Lata Krishnan, Desh Deshpande and many others haveendorsed the contribution of social entrepreneurs to thefuture of the country and have joined hands in the cause.

We are honored that Catalyst has focused this issue onthe efforts of "social entrepreneurs" and their relevance toIndia, especially the emergent India. You will read the sto-ries of Ashoka Fellows, covering topics as diverse aswomen's co-operative movements in SouthernMaharashtra to schooling for have-nots in Kolkata to mar-keting rural innovations in Chennai. The common threadthat you will see is a lifetime of dedication, constant inno-vation, nimble execution and strategies that can tip entiresystems and not just nibble around the edges of the criti-cal issues. We are sure that these powerful examples androle models will inspire and challenge you to improve yourown community or to rally behind the work of these incred-ible Ashoka Fellows, realizing Ashoka's vision of "every-one a changemaker". �

[email protected]

Is There a ‘Changemaker’ Inside You?

VENKATESH M. RAGHAVENDRA

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Ashoka

INTRODUCTION

RODRIGO Baggio has been relentlessly pursuing hisvision, of bridging the digital divide that plagues the

Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, since long before the term gainedcurrency. His chain of community-based computer trainingschools now serves hundreds of slums worldwide. Whilebeginning his work in Rio, he learned just how motivated andcapable of learning the young people in the Favelas were.And also how competent the Favela community was inorganizing.

Consider the impact Rodrigo has on a community when heintroduces his program. It is not a school created by the gov-ernment or outsiders. It is a school created, funded and man-aged by people in the community. The students are respon-sible for learning and then making their way. Think how manypatterns and stereotypes are crumpled by these simple andvery obvious facts. It is a uniquely economical model thatstrengthens the broader community and serves as a founda-tion for other initiatives long into the future.

As important as Rodrigo's impact is on the digital divide,this second dimension of his impact is far more important -the idea of catalyzing new local changemakers into being.

The whole process is enormously contagious. Whenchampions build the teams they need to launch the idea theyhave adopted they are providing not only encouragement butalso training to potential next-generation local changemak-ers. As their numbers multiply, so does the number of sup-port institutions, making the next generation of entrepreneur-ing and changemaking easier. Not only do people not resist,but they respond readily to this change. Who wants to be anobject when they could be changemakers, when they couldlive lives far more creative and contributory?

The most important contribution any of us can make nowis not to solve any particular problem, no matter how urgent.What we must do now is to increase the proportion ofhumans who know that they can cause change. And who,like smart white blood cells coursing through society, willstop with pleasure whenever they see that something isstuck or that an opportunity is ripe to be seized.

Yet this will not be easy. Society can-not significantly increase the propor-tion of adults who are, and know they

are, changemakers until it changes the way all young peoplelive. Yet, this "everyone a changemaker" world is anunreachable fantasy unless the youth years become years ofpracticing being powerful and acquiring the required under-lying skills: applied empathy, teamwork, and leadership.

If young people do not grow up being powerful, causingchange, and practicing these three interlocked skills, they

will reach adulthood with a self-definition that does notinclude changemaking and a social skill set that largely pre-cludes it. Those without will be marginalized.

The children of elite families grow up being expected totake initiative and being rewarded for doing so. This confi-dent ability to master new situations and initiate whateverchanges or actions are needed is in essence what definesthe elite.

However, the other 97 percent grow up getting very littlesuch experience. Adults control the classroom, work setting,and even extra-curricular activities. Most school and otheryouth cultures are not competent and do not support initia-tive-taking. This situation, coupled with society's attitudes,drums home the message to this majority: "You're not com-petent or perhaps even responsible."

Over the last century, many other groups - includingwomen, African Americans, even colonial peoples - had tomake their way from such debilitating stereotypes to becom-ing fully accepted, capable contributors. These groups had totravel strongly similar human and community transformationpaths.

Building on the history of these earlier movements and onthe accumulated experience of hundreds of leading socialentrepreneurs working with young people, Ashoka and manypartners* have prototyped and are beginning to launch atscale the equivalent of a women's or older person's move-ment for young people.

Although this movement must ultimately change howeveryone thinks about and relates to young people, it isyoung people and their peer communities who will have tochange most. It is essential that they be central actors - bothin actually shifting to the new pattern and in championing thechange.

To manage this eventually massive emergent movementAshoka has created an independent but close partner, YouthVenture. To build and launch this movement, Ashoka, YouthVenture, and their partners are following a strategy that exer-cises enormously powerful jujitsu-like leverage; leverage thatworks on four mutually reinforcing levels, summarized inTable 1.

Each of these four needs the others. But they will not snapinto place together or everywhere in society instantly. Thismakes the job facing the pioneers much harder than it will befor their successors; and it requires a phased, several-stagestrategy. The central challenge is getting to the scale wherethe synergies between these four levels - and acrossschools, neighborhoods, and regions - kick in and becomeirreversibly self-multiplying. Ashoka/Youth Venture, recogniz-ing this is the heart of the matter, has been experimentingwith a dozen different avenues and is gaining increasingtraction.

Everyone a Changemaker

Transforming theYouth Years

BILL DRAYTON

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Ashoka

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES.

�Partnering with national organizations with many chapters (e.g., the Girl Scouts) or broad reach (e.g., YouthServices America).

�Co-venturing with public-spirited corporate partners (most recently with Staples in Europe and Latin America).

�Communicating the stories of Youth Venturers broadly (including a growing relationship with MTV in the U.S. andMexico).

�Replicating the successful United Way model. After two years, almost all the schools have multiple Youth Ventureteams; the area's community college gives college credit for high school Venture work; and virtually all young peo-ple in the area experience multiple Venture models.

�Building a network of stand-alone, volunteer-led local Youth Venture organizations akin to Scout, 4-H, and LittleLeague groups.

�Building links to youth communities (e.g., punk rock bands, debate groups) built around a common interest thatcut across institutions and geography.

�Getting to scale locally: Using all avenues in a few medium-sized metropolitan areas or small provinces or states(e.g., New Hampshire).

Although the movement is far up the learning curve, it needs many more partners who are excited by thismovement-building challenge of accelerating to scale. And it needs to communicate its alternative vision for theyouth years and ultimately for a rapidly multiplying proportion of the population who has the power to change things.The millennium when only a tiny elite could cause change is coming to an end.

But to move beyond, we must end the infantilazation of young people. They and the rest of us must enable allyoung people to be fully creative, initiatory, and powerful changemakers. �

[email protected] from Innovations a journal from MIT Press

TABLE 1: THE MOVEMENT'S JUJITSU: FOUR LEVELS OF LEVERAGE

A C T I O N S

In any school, community, or country eachyear, 1/2 of 1 percent of the young peoplehave a dream and create a lasting venture.

Each venture engages a team (typically 3-5 inthe core group plus 20 who tutor, coach,broadcast, etc.)

1% of a school or youth community launchesVentures with an average 25 participants.Over two years: 20% to 25% of the wholeinstitution is engaged, likely "tipping" its youthculture.

Society questions the current pattern, buildsan empowering movement for young people.Youth Venture participants provide role mod-els/champions. The press joins in.

IMPACTS

By leading, these young Venturers becomelifelong leaders. They have mastered theessential skills of empathy, teamwork andleadership.

Everyone learns teamwork, that they canlead, and how to do so. This multiplies thenext generation's proportion of "natural" lead-ers.

As Venturer peer groups recruit and sell theirwork, they can both tip their school or neigh-borhood youth culture and also will weardown old attitudes and logistic barriers.

Everyone redefines the youth years and livesthem as a time of expected initiative, compe-tency, and contribution.

13


Ashoka

A true social entrepreneur is a visionary who does not just build a new school or clinic butinstead innovates an approach that transforms an entire education system or

medical system. He or she does not leave societal needs to government or businesssectors but solves the problem through systemic change, spreading the

solution and persuading entire society to take the plunge.

Ashoka Strives for a Strong Citizen

Sector of Changemakers

IT was the summer of 1963 and Bill Drayton was trav-elling through India with Vinobha Bhave, a Gandhian

famed for persuading both individuals and villagesto legally give up their land in order to redistrib-

ute it more equitably to the landless poor.Bhave's idea of how to break the end-

less cycle of poverty resulted, ulti-mately, in the peaceful redistribu-

tion of over 7 million acres ofland. It was then that the

young Drayton first wit-nessed the power of one

individual to tip an entiresystem, and improve thelives of millions.

It's a model ofchange that Draytoncalls social entrepre-neurship--a term hecoined to describeindividuals whoshare qualities tra-ditionally associat-ed with leadingbusiness entrepre-neurs -vision, inno-vation, determina-tion, and long-term

c o m m i t m e n t - b u trather are committed

to systemic socialchange. According to Drayton, a

true social entrepreneur isa visionary who does not just

build a new school or clinic, butinstead innovates an approach

that changes an entire education ormedical system. Rather than leaving

societal needs to the government orbusiness sectors, he or she finds what is not

working and solves the problem by changing thesystem, spreading the solution and persuading entire

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Ashoka

societies to take new leaps. With the belief that the most powerful force for

social change lies in the hands of social entrepre-neurs, Drayton started Ashoka: Innovators for thePublic in 1980 to find these rare, highly powerfulindividuals.

Named after the peace-loving third century BCIndian emperor, Ashoka aims to identify leadingsocial entrepreneurs around the world, providethem with "social venture capital" and professionalsupport, and connect them to a global peer net-work. Ashoka elected its first social entrepreneur -or Ashoka Fellow - in India in 1981. Today, thereare over 1,700 fellows in 60 countries - with ideasthat have contributed to such activities as savingover 9 million hectors of the Amazon Rainforest,increasing school enrollment in rural Bangladeshby 44%, and equipping almost one million at-riskchildren with computer and internet skills inBrazilian slums.

The collective impact of the entire AshokaFellowship is even more telling: Within five years,over 93% of the fellows have had their work individ-ually replicated by other organizations, and morethan 50% have changed national policy.

While fellows may achieve initial impact on theirown, it is the support of Ashoka that allows them tosustain, scale, and spread their idea in the sixbroad fields in which they work: learning and edu-cation, environment, health, human rights, civicparticipation and economic development.

As a result of gathering these individuals global-ly, Ashoka has created a network of incalculablepower, which is not so much about funding, thoughfellows do receive a modest stipend. Rather, thesefellows, who typically work alone in hostile condi-tions, receive support, share ideas and knowledge,and, quite literally, find protection.

Even more powerful, fellows enter an environ-ment that fosters and supports collaborationsamongst each other. Fellows with innovative solu-tions in similar fields - regardless of geographicalregion - share insights and together distill the bestprinciples emerging from their work. For example,Ashoka's environmental fellows addressing issuesof water-from access to water to sanitation to envi-ronmental conservation-realized that the intersec-tion of their approaches could lead to greaterchange than they could achieve alone. As a result,the India Sustainable Water Project was born, andthe collaboration is now working to distill their col-lective insights into action and change of policy.

And so together, Ashoka and its global network offellows, business entrepreneurs, policy makers,investors, academics, and journalists are nowworking collectively to ensure that social entrepre-neurs and their innovations continue to inspire anew generation to create positive social change.

The foundation to this momentum is an under-standing, as Drayton says, of how we are serving

"the most powerful and most hopeful historicalforce of our era." In other words, Ashoka sees itselfat the core of a historical moment: a dramatictransformation in society in which social entrepre-neurs are paving the way for the "citizen sector" togrow and establish itself as an innovative and pow-erful force to improve the lives of people aroundthe world.

The citizen sector, commonly referred to as thenon-profit or non-governmental sector, is a termused by Drayton to describe a sector not by "whatit isn't", but rather "what it is"-a sector made up ofcitizens, for citizens. This sector, stagnant for hun-dreds of years, has experienced a similar revolu-tion in growth and productivity in the past 25 yearsthat the business sector saw in the 1700s with theIndustrial Revolution.

Now, according to Drayton, the citizen sector hasbeen generating jobs at 2.5 to three times fasterthan the rest of society, and in the US, for example,the number of IRS-recognized citizen sector organ-izations has more than doubled in a decade. Withthe number of organizations dramatically risingaround the world and its level of sophisticationincreasing, the citizen sector is now at a criticalpoint in its development.

Understanding these historical forces at work,Ashoka is responding by building an infrastructurethat supports the growth and sustainability of thesocial entrepreneurship field and entire citizen sec-tor. Much needed tools and systems are now beingcreated, including seed financing and capital,bridges in business and academic sectors, andstrategic partnerships that deliver social and finan-cial value. Ashoka's work in this area is helpingclose the historical gap between the business andcitizen sectors, creating important avenues for inte-gration and synergy between both sections.

Once these systems are in place, believesDrayton, will we finally experience an "everyone achangemaker" world. This will be a world, he says,where each individual has the freedom, confidenceand societal support to respond quickly and effec-tively to social challenges. To that end, Ashokastrives to shape a global, entrepreneurial, andcompetitive citizen sector, one that allows socialentrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world's cit-izens to think and act as changemakers.

That is why Drayton is now ensuring he reachtomorrow's changemakers as soon as possible.

Through his latest creation, Ashoka's YouthVenture, young people are empowered to take ini-tiative and create change within their community. Itsupports youth to start their own social venturesand as a result, is transforming the way societyviews young people as able agents of change.

"Today only 2 or 3 percent of people controlchange," says Drayton. "Imagine a world whereeveryone is a changemaker." �

www.ashoka.org

15


Ashoka

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16


Ashoka

Best Visionaries Moving into Citizen Sector

Ashoka is a world of fun for creative problem-solvers. It is a home to visionary entrepreneursgiving them freedom to create and experiment with solutions on a global level.

IN India, alongside the much-written-about technology boom,there is another sector quietly undergoing an image

makeover. Surprisingly, it is the social sector or, as it is morerecently called, the citizen sector. Long associated with khaadikurtas and protest morchas, the citizen sector in India hasalways lagged far behind the business sector. Ironically, mostsocial change in the country is linked not to social action but tothe empowerment of the middle class thanks to a growingeconomy. However, a closer look reveals the truth behindthese perceptions. According to the latest Economic Survey ofIndia (ESI), expenditure on the social sector by both centraland state governments has been con-sistently rising. There has also been animpressive drop in poverty levels.

The survey also predicts a shifttowards a healthier balance betweenquality and quantity. An area where thisquality/quantity differentiation is evidentis in the human capital being attracted tothe sector. Today, the sector attracts toptalent with solid credentials and diversebackgrounds. A look at some of the mainmovers and shakers in the sector con-firms this - Vijay Mahajan, founder ofBASIX, India's first microfinance institu-tion, is an IIMA graduate; Satyan Mishra,the man behind the Drishtee.com ruralinternet kiosk model holds an MBA fromDelhi University; Arvind Kejriwal, one ofmain forces behind the new Right toInformation Act is a former Income Tax officer. Clearly, the citi-zen sector is no longer about people desiring to do "socialwork" but rather, it is a magnet for some of the best minds whowant to apply their skills and experience to solving deep-root-ed problems of national, and often global, scale. It is no longerunusual today for experienced corporate sector executives toswitch careers midway and join the citizen sector - SKSMicrofinance's Vikram Akula immediately springs to mind.

One reason behind this shift is just the sheer scope andnature of the work involved - where else can an entrepreneurenjoy the challenge of trying to solve problems of large magni-tudes that have eluded policymakers, activists, economists,political theorists and countless armchair philosophers? It isnot surprising that people who love predicting consumer trendsand strategizing on how to corner markets would also enjoy fig-uring out how to market education opportunities to street kids

or design a service delivery mechanism for providing electrici-ty in urban slums. Secondly, as David Bornstein writes in Howto Change the World, "The citizen sector is going throughchanges that are comparable to those that occurred in thebusiness sector over the past three centuries." The businesssector has traditionally been served by entire industries devot-ed to preparing people for meeting its needs - businessschools, technical and leadership development resources, setstandards to evaluate performance and award achievement,accreditation institutes, magazines and publications on talentin the sector, recruiting firms and many more similar services.

On the other hand, till recently, the citi-zen sector had no such infrastructure;schools and universities had littleexpertise in preparing students forcareers in the sector and there werehardly any services for people who wantto transition to the citizen sector fromother fields.

This scenario is gradually changing -top management schools around theworld now offer programmes in socialentrepreneurship. Working in the citizensector is now considered a legitimatecareer choice and there is serious com-petition to get into the best schools andjobs connected to the sector.

Ashoka is the pioneer in thinkingabout ways of meeting the talent gap forthe citizen sector and views its own

recruitment strategy as a means of resourcing the citizen sec-tor. Many recent additions to the global Ashoka family are aperfect example of the shifting trends we just discussed -Arthur Wood, who leads Ashoka's Social Financial Servicesprogramme, made a seamless move from being an invest-ment banker to engaging global financial services firms toenter the business of social investing and increasing flow offinance into the sector. The common thread running through allthese examples is a thirst for innovation and entrepreneurship.We are setting the benchmarks for quality human resourcesand our staffing model has inspired other organizations in thecitizen sector. Ashoka's unique recruitment philosophy andapproach enable us to bring together some of the best vision-aries and creative thinkers to collectively brainstorm aroundimportant systemic challenges. �

[email protected]

CHAULA KOTHARI

In 1979, we set out to make our school a resource centre for development and for social inte-gration for impoverished people. As we look back on our efforts we can see how, by seizingevery opportunity, our programme has grown on its strengths. Now as we look forward to thefuture, and we see the quality of students emerging from our school, we hope that our school

has also become a resource centre for social transformation.

17


Ashoka

Networking for Social Transformation

SINCE 1964, I was aware of and uneasy about my roleas an English medium school principal in India. The

school provided a well-rounded and high-quality educationto the children of wealthy families while thousands of theirpeer groups were receiving no education. I began to ques-tion the outcome of an education system which inadvertent-ly does little to break down the vicious cycles caused by thedivide between the affluent and the poor - where moneyguarantees a good education, increasing employmentopportunities, and, in turn, enables one to earn enoughmoney to pay for the education of the next generation.Conversely, the poor are trapped in their economic statusbecause they don't have access to good schooling, andthus have very limited access to job opportunities.

Consequently, in 1979 the school's staff and I began anexperiment in which dramatic changeswere made in the school's managerialpractices, over the years, which result-ed in a growing network of nonprofitworkers, government officials, policeofficers and businessmen. The pur-pose of this experiment was to provideas many children as possible with edu-cational and life opportunities.

We began by chang-ing the school'sethos. The school

started admitting a student body of 50% affluent and 50%impoverished children. The children from wealthy familiesprovided financial security for the school. Four-year-oldswere admitted on a lottery system, pooling children fromboth rich and poor communities. Soon the school had ahealthy mixture of children with different levels of intelli-gence, religious backgrounds, and socio-economic statuses- resulting in a fully integrated school!

With the help of an NGO called CINI, next we got involvedwith impoverished village schools. These schools had aratio of 120:1 children to teacher. In a few cases just onemaster looked after the entire primary school. Often condi-tions were so cramped that each Thursday, we used to take150 of our children outside for teaching. We worked with3,500 rural children in 12 rural schools. Our 10-year-olds(Class V) teach the Pre-primary and Class I levels; Class VIstudents are in charge of teaching Class II; VII and VIII chil-

dren teach Class III students; and IX & X students teachclass IV.

We started working with street, or "rainbow," children. Allaround us were children with no access to education. Theylive by their wits on the streets. We created a school forthem where they are welcomed and can come and go asthey please, regardless of what state they are in. Most oftenthey wear dirty and ragged clothes. The non-rainbow stu-dents invited them in until they realized they were welcome.Soon the rainbow children began bringing their friendsalong with them.

Students teach rainbow children to helpthem catch up. The government man-dates everyone from Class V upward tohave 2 periods a week of WorkEducation or SUPW. This entails that allday, everyday there are 50 children, free,eager and ready to teach other childrenon a one-to-one basis. They learn rapid-ly until they reach the class appropriateto their age. As soon as they can read inBengali or Hindi (their mother tongue)they shift to using books provided by thegovernment, and are integrated into themainstream classes. We integratedhundreds of street children thus into ourschool over the years. Today many are

functional and happy citizens.Not satisfied with only teaching the children in our own

school district, we began to train teachers from remote vil-lages and slums where some teachers are unwilling to go.In this way we could extend good teaching methodologiesto many children who are too far away to come to ourschool. Called the "The Barefoot Training", the pro-gramme has brought us to collaborate with NGOs and builda network that reaches many parts of the country andexpand even internationally.

The Barefoot Training is now included in the GovernmentProgramme, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). Working with50 NGOs in Kolkata, we carried out a city-wide survey,revealing that 44,646 children are out of school. Of thesechildren, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has alreadyplaced 5,000 in existing schools. Currently, with the help ofabout 60 NGOs and funding from SSA, 10,000 children are

Experiment’sOrigins

Students TeachChildren

S. M. CYRIL

18


Ashoka

in the process of being placed in schools. Furthermore,this collaboration has helped open 450 centers to cater to26,000 rainbow children all over the city. We have beenrecognized by the government as the apex training bodyof primary teaching methods to teachers. We have trainednearly 1,400 to date. The NGOs, who take responsibilityfor hiring teachers and center managers, send theirrecruits to us for training. The CLPOA, a forum of all theNGOs of the city, receives money from SSA, disburses itand looks after the overall management of the pro-gramme.

Our HDCL programme has expanded our network dra-matically. In this programme children reach out to domes-tic slave children. Loreto students, who are children of rel-atively wealthy families, meet domestic slave children traf-fickers within their parent's social circles. Loreto studentspressure the "employers" to send the slave children toschool. They successfully got 300 domestic slave chil-dren admitted into schools. We have built a 30 schoolsnetwork that works with other NGOs in Kolkata and thesurrounding area. Save the Children Fund has funded thisproject and aided in the network development process.

Childline and the National Education Group (NEG) havealso helped create a national network of NGOs throughthe zonal office over the past ten years. We are now try-ing to contact more school principals to include them inour latest effort to support the use of large school facilitiesduring 2 p.m. to 8 a.m. off-hours as a home for at-risk girlson the streets. We already have 300 such children inLoreto Sealdah, 140 in Loreto Bowbazar and 119 inLoreto House. To enroll principals interested in joining us,we planned a 2-day workshop in August for which a largenumber of principals have already signed up. This work-shop is one of many implements that will encourage net-working and result in the improvement of education inIndia.

Networks are built when people working towards acommon goal come together to share ideas, experi-ences and resources to help each other. This synergyresults in a far larger achievement than the sum of theefforts of people working alone.��

[email protected]

SER is an independently owned and operated online business newsletter, published 10 times per year (Jan-Jun, Aug-Nov) in PDF and HTML.

New issues are posted to the SEReporter.com web site monthly. Premium content is available only to paid subscribers.

Editorial Mission

"To build entrepreneurial management into the existing public service institution may be the foremost political task of this generation."

--Peter Drucker, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

SER provides North American social entrepreneurs and nonprofit enterprisedirectors with practical news and information, business tools, and inspirationthat will improve the profitability and social impact of their social purpose ventures, without sacrificing their tax-exempt missions. SER serves venturesincluding those pursuing earned-income strategies for new or existing programs, profit-making enterprises, and those developing partnerships withfor-profit businesses.

www.sereporter.com

Diana joined Ashoka in the 1980s after graduating from Brown with a BA in SouthAsian Studies. Diana also has helped in creating the Fellowship Support Services, asocial networking system for Ashoka social entrepreneurs. She has conceived and

developed Ashoka's widely respected Measuring Effectiveness Programme.

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Ashoka

Ashoka to Launch Anti-Corruption Initiative

CATALYST INTERVIEW WITH ASHOKA'S CO-PRESIDENT, DIANA WELLS

Catalyst for Human Development: What was the moti-vation behind the founding of Ashoka?

Diana Wells: Well, if you trace the history of the socialsector, you will find that prior to the late seventies, theonly players in this field were government social welfareprojects or multilateral institutions like UN, World Bankand so on. The idea that any random individual citizencould just up and start a social initiativewould have raised many eyebrowsback then. Today there exists an entirecitizen sector. When Bill startedAshoka, he looked around, saw theseinformal, individual initiatives anddecided that Ashoka's role would be tohighlight only social entrepreneursusing the most innovative approachesin their work. And since then innovationhas been our strategy of choice.

CFHD: What would you define as thevalues behind Ashoka's philosophyand work?

DW: We strive to understand the world,understand the person we are dealingwith, the people we are serving. Ourgoal is not just solving the presentproblem but making that change sys-temic and sustainable. We encourageentrepreneurship and initiative takingas well as value collegiality. We are acommunity that works together, that helps one another,that is more than the sum of the parts. And finally, westrive to be empathetic in our work across different cul-tures, communities and situations. The Ashoka family isa dynamic network of people with eclectic backgrounds,along with tons of creativity and enthusiasm.

CFHD: Ashoka's first Fellow was from India and youhave a strong connection to the country. Tell usabout Ashoka's work in India.

DW: India has changed so much in the last decade in theprivate sector. The economy is booming and the energyin the country is just incredible. Now, look at the citizensector . Has it advanced at the same pace? No. The citi-zen sector in India must be nimble enough to catch upwith the economic growth. Ashoka has redefined in Indiasocial innovation to beyond traditional development andpoverty alleviation. For instance, CV Madhukar of

Parliamentary Research Services, pro-vides MPs with the research they needto make more effective policy deci-sions. Vineet Rai started Aavishkaar, aventure capital fund for rural innova-tors. Another example is PratimaJoshi, and use of GeographicInformation System (GIS) technologyfor urban development. These uncon-ventional initiatives represent thechanging citizen sector in India.

CFHD: So what next on the Ashokafront?

DW: We like to be one step ahead ofothers. For instance, while CSR is stilla new concept in many places, wehave already moved on to the nextstep : business-CSO(Civil SocietyOrganisations) partnerships. The CSOpartners serve each entity's coremotives, (profit as well as social mis-sion) creating a win-win situation for

both rather than a donor-grantee relationship. Ashoka'sSocial Financial Services is inventing funding streams forthe sector. Our Global Academy is reaching out to acade-mia to help prepare young people for social entrepre-neurship careers. In order to succeed and become sus-tainable, social entrepreneurs (much like business entre-preneurs) require infrastructural support. Ashoka is sim-ply building the infrastructure for the sector while helpingin finance, human resources, partnerships and so on.

In India, we are on the verge of launching an anti-cor-ruption initiative, which will be led by Ashoka fellows

DIANA WELLS

20


Ashoka

working in this field. The initiative will engage the busi-ness sector as well as policymakers and aim for systemicchanges to tackle the problem. Ashoka is providing thesupporting framework and infrastructure that is neces-sary to seed and sustain such cross-sector collabora-tions.

CFHD:What attracted you to Ashoka?

DW: I joined Ashoka in 1988. My background is in anthro-pology and I have always been interested in South Asia.While travelling abroad, I observed that imposing west-ern development ideas in less-developed communitieswithout regard to local context was often more detrimen-tal than beneficial. Hence when I learnt about Ashoka, Iwas immediately attracted by Bill's philosophy of findingsocial entrepreneurs within the local community. It madeso much more sense. And, when you link these localentrepreneurs into a global network that facilitates learn-ing, you have created a most amazing tool for systemicchange. During my first months at Ashoka, I observedteam members returning from visits abroad and helpingby bringing back requests from individual fellows for

information on funding sources. I also helped with con-necting fellows to potential partners, and resource mate-rials. I realized that fellows could swap insights and learnfrom each other and hence I started Ashoka's FellowshipSupport Services programme. This initiative has nowevolved into a highly sophisticated global fellowship net-work of social entrepreneurs collaborating with eachother and collectively impacting policy and systems.

CFHD:Any interesting stories in Ashoka operations?

DW: (Laughs) There are so many… especially from theearly days when we operated on a shoestring budget.Sushmita, our former President, and I were reminiscingonce. She told me that in India she would have herdaughter cut Post to half so as to get more use out ofthem. I too remember that in the pre-internet era. Wewould often have to hold off sending out letters becausewe did not have enough funds to cover the cost of stampsto send mail outside US. We have come a long way fromthat. I am proud to say that economy and efficiency arestill the hallmarks of this organization.�

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Ashoka

Finding Diamonds in the Rough

IN sixty countries around the globe, Ashoka is leading arelentless search for visionaries with ideas for social

change. Ashoka has created an extensive process to iden-tify and select social entrepreneurs. This process includestesting the strength of their ideas to deliver large-scale andunprecedented social impact. For fellows, the search andselection process critically contributes to the evolution oftheir ideas as they reinvent, rethink, and refine their vision.

Ashoka Fellow Ratnaboli Ray states: "At a time whenpeople paid little attention to my ideas, Ashoka spent hourslistening. So many times during the search and selectionprocess, I had tried to reconsider my strategies, throw outunrealistic plans, and react to hypothetical situations… Itwas one of the most introspective and forward thinkingprocesses I have ever experienced."

When Bill Drayton began his journey to identify socialentrepreneurs, he would record information about eachvisionary he met on a small index card. In time, he was ableto map out the network of people he met doing innovativework. He would tap into the intelligence of each new socialentrepreneur he found to lead him to other visionaries.Twenty-five years later, Ashoka has formalized this strategyinto a rigorous process, known as Venture, to find and electthe highest quality social entrepreneurs with the most pow-erful new ideas. Today, Ashoka staff from around the worlduse a standard 5 step-selection process which assesses thecandidates' match with Ashoka's criteria for election to theFellowship.

NominationApplications are welcome from anyone, but Ashoka's globalnetwork of nominators, who are leaders in many fields, playa critical role in identifying candidates who meet Ashoka'sselection criteria.

Initial ReviewAshoka country representatives review each candidate'sapplication. Then they conduct reference, backgroundchecks, site-visits and interviews. Lastly, the country repre-sentative makes a recommendation to support worthy can-didates.

Second Opinion ReviewAn Ashoka board member or outside senior professionalconducts an intensive second opinion review.

Selection PanelA selection panel of senior social entrepreneurs, led by aboard member of Ashoka or outside senior representative,

decides whether the candidate is likely to become a highlycapable social entrepreneur at the national level.

Board ApprovalThe final stage is approval by Ashoka Board of Directors toensure high standards, consistency and spot policy prob-lems.

The results of this rigorous process are telling. Ashokahas selected over 1,700 Fellows who are dedicated to pio-neering systemic change; 97% of fellows continue their orig-inal work after 10 years; 95% of Fellows have their workreplicated by other organizations; and 50% have changednational policy. Ashoka fellows not only realize their corevision as they receive financial support, but also becomepart of a peer network of like-minded innovators. �

[email protected]

ASHOKA'S SELECTION CRITERIA

A Knock-out Test: Unique ideasDoes the idea envision an entirely new solution to aproblem?

CreativityHow creative is the person as a problem-solver andvisionary? How does the person approach obstaclesand opportunities? How does he or she create originalsolutions?

Entrepreneurial QualityHow committed is the person to his or her idea? Will itbe impossible for him or her to rest until their visionbecomes a new reality?

Social Impact of the IdeaWill the new idea create solutions that transcend tonational and global problems? Is the idea practical,useful and replicable? How many people will be affect-ed?

Ethical FiberCan you intuitively trust the candidate? Are his or hermotivations deeply rooted in a commitment to serve oth-ers?

Selection Process

LILY PAUL

22


Javed AbidiJohn AbrahamSunil AbrahamGeorge AbrahamDamodar AcharyaMaharukh AdenwallaRavi AgarwalAnil AgarwalFlavia AgnesShakil AhmedGlory AlexanderMohammad Nooruddin AminHarry AndrewsRenu AppachuSunita BagalRohit BalujaKedar Ranjan BanerjeeRahul BanerjeeDilip BanerjeeSachidulal BanerjeeRani BangAbhay BangSanjay BapatAbhijit BardhanMerry BaruaPranjal BaruahSushobha BarvePaul BasilAnjana BatraRashida BegumMaxine BernsteinSusheela BhanMihir BhattJeroo BillimoriaChhanda BosePurobie BoseIndu CapoorPurnendu ChakrabortySohini ChakrabortyIndrani ChakravartyPritham ChakravartyMadhav ChavanRakhee Choudhury

Maria CleteAndreas D'SouzaGloria D’SouzaPriscilla Nirmalkumari DanielTulika DasSubroto DasMina DasSoumyadeep DattaT. J. DavidRoma DebabrataNimisha DesaiSister Jeanne DevosVasudha Vasanti DhagamwarMinal DoshiNeichute DouloSaumya DuttaArmida FernandezJudy Frater

S.N. GananathVasant GangavaneC. K. GangulyEnakshi GangulyRajeev GeorgeDr. Dhrubojyoti GhosePradeep GhoshAmol GojeB.G. GokulanSantosh RagunathGondhalekarColin GonsalvesPrema GopalanParomita GoswamiKaran GroverRamchandra GunariVandana GuptaVibha Gpta

Anuja GuptaAnshu GuptaPandurang HegdeJude HenriquesMohan Hirabhao HiralalRakesh JaiswalG.L. JanardhanStanny JebamalaiAlphonse JemonieLeena JoshiAnil Prakash JoshiAshok KadamHarini KakkeriRaveendran KannanAnuradha KapoorTarak KateAshok Row KaviChingmak KejongArvind KejriwalSunil KhairnarHasina KhanVineet KhannaRajeev KhedkarInderjeet KhuranaAnand KothadiaBrij KothariK.A.V.R KrishnamachariSunitha KrishnanMadhavi KuckrejaKiran KulkarniMandira KumarPrabhat KumarSneh KumarSuresh KushtagiYambem LabaDr. Hanif LakdawalaBabloo LooiyongbamPralhad MalvadkarAshru MandalDr. Dhirananda MandalRaghunath ManwarVibha MarfatiaRoland Martins

SALUTES ASHOKA FELLOWS

so-cial en-tre-pre-neursociety’s change agent:

pioneer of innovations thatbenefit humanity

23


Ayyappa MasagiM.V. MathewRaja MenonJyoti MhapsekarSatyan MishraHaushala Prasad MishraDinesh Kumar MishraShaheen MistriRajat MitraGeorge Mathew MolakalKapilananda MondalCyril MooneyDadasaheb MoreEmami MurmuP. MuthuRamesh NandwanaShyamala NatarajanNalini NayakDebashish NayakM. B. NirmalSonali OjhaShree PadreShivaram PailoorA.R. PalaniswamyS. PandianGanesh PangareRita PanickerM.G. PapammaVikram ParchureM.L. ParshuramAshraf PatelPriti PatkarAbhijit PathakAditya PatnaikS. N. PatroKalyan PaulIsidore PhillipsAnil PilgadkarArvind PitreJagdish PradhanRaju Purohit and DeeptiShahLenin RaghuvanshiVineet RaiS. RajagopalanJanaki RajanY.J. RajendraRavichandra Raju

Geeta RamanujamGita RamaswamySagari RamdasMilind RanadeIlango RangaswamyD.RangarajRama RaoPadmanabha RaoJaya Prakash RaoSridevi RaoBalkrishna RenakePrasad RasalAshok Kumar RauRatnaboli RayAromar ReviKishor RitheAnselm RosarioKrishna RoySikha RoyMira SadgopalSuman SahaiPalagummi SainathAshok SalviJ. M. SampathS.SanthiPradip SarmahKailash SatyarthiSunita SatyarthiaVasant SavangikarNirupama SekhriSoma SenguptaTeesta SetalvadNaginbhai ShahAnil ShaligramHeeralal SharmaSudhirendar SharmaAnant SharmaShantharam Umanath ShenaiSuchitra ShethParul ShethFalgun ShethBeena Sheth LashkariRavindra ShetyeAvinash ShirkeAbhay ShuklaMartand Mapu SinghLaxman SinghYogendra Singh

Anil SinghAman SinghChetna Gala SinhaSujit SinhaMatthew SpacieSheilu SrinivasanS. SrinivasanNirmala SrinivasanDr. Thara SrinivasanH. SudarshanA.K. SusheelaS.L.N. SwamyMadhavi Suneel TambayK.A. ThomasVijay UttarwarRajeev VartakSarat Babu VasireddyDr. Prem VictorAnu WakhluSonam WangchukRomulus WhitakerMurali MohanRajiv KhandelwalMadan Mohan RaoAshoka BhartiBalaji SampathShanti RaghavanMuthu VelayuthamKitayun Rustom andRashnehSharad SharmaVishal TalrejaBhargavi DavarPratibha ShindeM.D. RajmaneDeep PurokayasthaAmlan GangulyAbhishek Ray C.V. MadhukarHasina KarbhihKousalya PeriasamyPratima JoshiRehana AbidSeema Prakash and PrakashMichaelSolomon Jaya PrakashVineet RaiV. S. Chary

24


Micro Finance

THERE are several participants in the developmentalarena: national and foreign governments, international

agencies, private companies, and non-governmental organ-izations (NGOs). In developing countries, governmentshave traditionally been the agents for health care, educationand job training, especially in rural areas (which is where themajority of the population in most developing nations lives).This situation has arisen due to the inability of rural popula-tions to pay for basic services.

NGOs have taken up projects in support of governmentinitiatives to improve the quality of education and health-care, while focusing on specific critical areas such asHIV(Human Immunodeficiency Virus)/AIDS, illiteracy,financing of small businesses and women's empowerment.Despite the positive contributions by NGOs in many areas,they have not been involved in major developmental under-takings that are intended to create large employment andwide income generation through sustainable businesses.This is partly attributable to the fact that NGOs generallylack good managerial skills and organizational structure totake up business ventures, and donor funds are usuallyrestricted to narrowly defined projects that address specificconcerns.

The expression "social entrepre-neurship" was coined to reflectsome form of corporate benevo-

lence toward the poor, and many new NGOs have beenformed under this banner. Mohamed Yunus who foundedthe Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1976 meant exactlythat when he started giving poor people credit and assist-ed them in their local business ventures. Subsequently,with donor and government funds, several NGOs aroundthe world started offering small loans to women who couldnot otherwise obtain credit directly from commercial banks.Many developmental experts have now termed micro-cred-it a revolutionary concept in solving global poverty.

Many variations of the original micro-credit model wereintroduced by lenders. Some offer loans only to groups(Sanghas) as opposed to individuals, and each group isheld responsible for repaying the loan by their members.Commercial banks that were previously lending directly toindividuals and groups began advancing loans only to anew set of micro-credit lending intermediaries. Soon, gov-ernments, international agencies and donors entered this

arena, making cheap funds available to commercial banksfor this purpose. As the number of layers in the lendingstructure increased, the focus turned to ensuring that therewould be as much lending as the available funds wouldallow, and the risks associated with nonpayment of princi-pal and interest would be minimized. The intermediariesbecame less interested in whether the funds are extendedto those who are really poor or would be used for any busi-ness activity.

Today, there are several for-profit funds and supposed-ly not-for-profit organizations marketing micro-credit lend-ing in developing countries and some of them come withadvertised returns on investment. One such leading micro-credit intermediary in India recently publicized in a majornewspaper that he has been charging 36 percent interestuntil recently when he dropped the rate to 24 percent forsome borrowers by making the lending process more effi-cient. After all, credit card companies charge as high as 28percent interest for credit-risk customers, it argues.

The assumption is that every poor person can be res-cued from poverty fairly quickly and easily with a modicumof money. Micro-credit to the poor is intended mainly forstarting or expanding small businesses run by beneficiar-ies. Many make the claim that the micro-credit facility(loans of around $100 to each impoverished person) haselevated tens of millions of people out of poverty in thedeveloping world. Moreover, assertions that more than 90percent of the people who receive micro-credit are gen-uinely poor, that most of them succeed in businesses start-ed with these loans, and that they repay the loans at 24percent annual interest or higher, go essentially unchal-lenged.

I have seen that a small number of people, mostly villageleaders and their family members, operate the few shopsin their villages. They are the only ones who have the nec-essary support mechanism, knowledge, and skills to makea business succeed. A great majority of the rural popula-tion who are poor do not have the ability to start or ownbusinesses, with or without access to credit; it is unrealis-tic to expect them to succeed in business.

Our foundation's study of some 17 villages and over 50micro-credit programme in South India shows that lessthan 5 percent of those who receive such loans start anybusiness of their own (mostly unsustainable, such as buy-ing some sheep and selling them a little later, hopefully at

DR. ABRAHAM GEORGE

Micro-finance is nota Panacea

The Evolving Role of NGOs in Poverty Alleviation

The supportive role played by NGOs in the delivery of basic services by the government iscommendable. But, it would be a mistake to involve them in activities that are best suitedfor the private sector. And, disappointment in the performance of government and lack

of sufficient trust in the private sector are not good reasons to lean on NGOs for carrying out tasks for which they are not suited.

25


Micro Finance

a profit equal to the wages foregone), and less than 2 per-cent remain in that business beyond the first 2 years afterstarting. Only a few among the poor can expect to succeedas entrepreneurs with such small amounts of money andwith little other support, training, or skills.

The truth is that most beneficiaries of micro-credit repaythe loan from income received from their regular jobs andfrom grants provided by governments for self-help pro-gramme. Not surprisingly, it is the intermediaries - commer-cial banks and loan facilitators - that stand to gain the mostfrom the spread between the cost of funds and loan interestrates.

For example, commercial banks in India receive funds fromthe government-run National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) at 5-6 percent for micro-credit pro-gramme. They lend at 10 to12 percent to the micro-creditintermediary that in turn lends at 24 to 36 percent to the finalbeneficiary.

So what makes micro-lending so popular for intermediariesand the poor alike in countries like India? If you lend moneyto a poor person, and he/she returns it, and if this process isdone twice (no need to start any business, but maintain goodpaperwork), then the poor person is eligible for a governmentgrant for $100 or more. The free money from the governmentcan be used to repay the third time a micro-loan is made tothe beneficiary. The government is now short by the amountof grant made, but both the poor person and the micro-cred-it businessman are assured of their capital and returns.

Why do we have to go through this roundabout way to offerfree money to poor people, when there are several directmeans to reduce their debt burden? The answer is this:micro-credit is often a "hand-out" to the poor on the pretext ofan exciting concept, namely, social entrepreneurship, whilethe intermediaries are assured of high returns.

A new breed of educated and well-trained loan sharks,with support from banks, is now getting into the micro-creditbusiness in India. It does appear that this form of lending hastaken over as the trendy cure-all for those pushing "socialentrepreneurship." There is constant publicity in the mediawith success stories, and it seems that the few exceptions inentrepreneurship give the impression that most poor benefi-ciaries are able to run sustainable businesses with littlemoney. It is doubtful that the present form of micro-credit, aspractised in India, results in any sustainable development tobenefit the poor.

As the number of NGOs prolifer-ates, there is increasing concernabout the nature of their activities,

and whether public funds are used by them appropriately tobenefit the poor. Unlike private companies, NGOs are sel-dom brought to public scrutiny for their effectiveness. Thereis not much accountability for their activities; even seriousinefficiencies are accepted as though they are in the natureof the "NGO business." If this situation is to improve, an hon-est assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of NGOsas institutions of public service must be undertaken. The cri-teria for making public funds available to them must matchthose activities for which they are best suited.

While NGOs differ widely in their respective capabilities,past performance reveals where they have been generallymost successful. NGOs have been good advocates formany social causes, pointing out problems and offeringideas for improvement. They are capable of carrying outimpartial investigations to obtain relevant information, andmake recommendations and lobby to get laws enacted. Indoing so, NGOs have effectively contributed to the formula-tion of public policy on a variety of issues dealing with pover-ty, environment, consumer protection, women's rights,among others.

The supportive role being played by NGOs in the deliveryof basic services by the government is commendable.NGOs have been instrumental in mobilizing community par-ticipation in a variety of projects through awareness creationand dissemination of appropriate information. By gaining theconfidence of the poor communities they serve, NGOs haveeffectively reached out to the people in the government'seffort to deliver services.

NGOs undoubtedly have a major role to play in the effortto alleviate poverty. However, it also must be recognized thatmost NGOs are not organized to effectively execute majorprojects. Further, it would be a mistake to involve NGOs inactivities that are best suited for the private sector.

By appropriately channeling public and donor funds, NGOactivities can be confined to those areas in which they havesufficient strength. Disappointment in the performance ofgovernments and lack of sufficient trust in the private sectorare not good reasons to lean on NGOs for carrying out tasksfor which they are not suited. �

[email protected]

Nonprofits have to recognize that they’re business, not just causes. There’s a wayto combine the very best of the not-for-profit,philanthrophic world with the very best of thefor-profit, enterprising world. This hybrid is the

wave of the future for both profit and nonprofit companies.

”

”

Bill Stricklan - Author, “Genious At Work”

The Future Role of NGOs

26


Rural Development

Economic Rural Development Society

Spurring Silent Transformation

ERDS programmes and its tireless workers are succeeding in their effort to leave rural India a bit better, and they are not resting

as a lot more needs to be done.

Arecent visit I made to observe several projects beingconducted by the Economic Rural Development Society

(ERDS) was highly encouraging and enlightening. ERDS isdedicated to aiding in the economic development of theseregions, mainly through the use of volunteer work. Their vol-unteers include grassroots workers, primary school teach-ers, women's self-help group coordinators, nutrition pro-gramme coordinators, sanitation project leaders, and crèchecoordinators. The team leaders and managers lead theirteams under strained and difficult conditions. ERDS's mainoffice is in Calcutta, with ongoing projects in five centres dis-persed throughout rural Bengal. We visited four of the ERDSprojects during the trip, in Boral, Thinagar, Vikahar andGazole.

To get to the Gazole project, we took a train through twodistricts in North Bengal, Malda and South Dinajpur. Wereached the Gazole project, located in the vicinity of somevery poor villages. This is a new multifaceted project forERDS. They run a primary school, a crèche, a women's self-help team building project supported by micro-credit, and asanitation project supported by the local government to pro-vide scientific toilets to villagers, a majority of whom still usethe open fields as toilets. There are other projects in thepipeline as well: one to provide clean hand-pump water tovillages with water shortages, and another to provide foodand clothing to the elderly destitute-who, incidentally, arecurrently without anysocial support from thegovernment. AlthoughERDS carries out allthe projects, theyreceive valuable sup-port from variousIndian and internationalNGOs and governmentministries as well.

On the surface, itlooks like very simpleand ordinary work. Butthe important thing is tosee the motivation thatis driving the work. Amajority of the workersinvolved in ERDS'sefforts are local resi-dents. I had the distinctfeeling that they were

doing something far and beyond the call of duty, and itstruck me as a sign of the spirit of this organisation.

Sixty years after the independence of the country, many ofthese villages are still without electricity! Some of them arelocated close to national and state highways. I visited onesuch village with a social worker from the Thinagar project.The village is just six or seven hundred meters away from agood metalled road that connects two major towns of thedistrict, and yet it lacks paved roads, electricity or even safedrinking water. It is inhabited by an Adivasi tribe, ancientinhabitants of Bengal. We had the opportunity to talk with a15-year-old girl about the assistance she has received fromthe ERDS projects. The girl, Sabina Soren, studied the 1stthrough the 4th standard in an ERDS primary school, spon-sored through Children's International. Since then she hascontinued her studies thanks to a Sahay sponsorship froman American donor, and is currently studying the 9th stan-dard.

Sabina told a heart-rending story. Her mother had died ofunknown causes just 15 days back, possibly because oflack of money Free state government hospitals are infa-mous for their treatment standards. Sabina's elder brotherhad died of disease just two weeks before that, possiblyfrom treatable causes no different from her mother's. This15-year old girl is now faced with doing everything in herhouse - from cooking to looking after her old father - and

then going for her finalexams of 9th standard.Any person that can faceup to this under suchextreme circumstance issuperhuman.

Thanks to ERDS and theefforts of other NGOs,Sabina and others like hercan study up to the highschool level, even in vil-lages with no electricity orwalkable roads. But thenwhat? The sponsorshipprogramme ends whenone is 19 years. Therearen't enough jobs avail-able in these districts for ahigh school educated girl,and not enough money togo for higher studies.

KANCHAN BHADURY

I asked Sabina what she wants to be. She said that shehad two choices. One is to work in the fields, like a normalday wage labourer, if work is available. The other option,which requires money her family doesn't have, is to go forhigher studies. Sabina said she would like to study nursingif she had the opportunity.

Her desire to be a nurse is even more poignant when oneconsiders the fact that in the Adivasi villages, tribal customsand superstitions are still rampant. Which poor villager,whose biggest problem is where the next meal is going tocome from, would choose to have his son or daughterspend their entire childhood and youth learning somethingthat will not only prevent them from being a daily-wagelabourer, but will make them unemployed, disaffected anddepressed youth? The poor parents who are told to sendtheir son or even daughter to school will ask another ques-tion in return: what will that do? Help make them sit at homeand not even earn a meal? This is the environment thatdedicated organisations like ERDS are trying to improve, byincreasing the opportunities which proper education canprovide.

To top it all, the girls in these rural villages are subjectedto early marriagewhich removesthem from school-ing, even at theages of 9 or 10.Families end upselling away theirdaughters, as theburden of the costof dowry for a mar-riage is enormous.This takes placeregularly evenwhere it has beentermed illegal by thelaw. Unfortunately,the government themeans of spreading awareness or the administrativemachinery to ensure adherence. The people at ERDS rec-ognize the importance of encouraging families to send theirdaughters to school instead of marrying them off young.

At each of the meetings, workshops or classes that Iattended, I was reminded of the enormous public servicethe organisation is involved in. Three specific incidents areworth mentioning here, to highlight the effect of the workbeing done by these modern day followers of Gandhi. Thefirst incident was a conversation I had while attending aseminar organised by an ERDS social worker in a remotevillage. The subject of the seminar was "creating awarenessamong very poor villagers against child marriage." Thirtypeople attended the seminar, 24 of whom were women.The woman I spoke with talked about how she copes withraising four children, all girls, who are often considered to bea burden in the rural areas of India.

I asked if she faced a tough family situation by giving birthto four girls. The woman cried, saying that they are so poorshe cannot even provide three meals a day for the family!She could not even afford to send her 15-year-old daughter

to the free school, since both mother and daughter areforced to work in the fields for a living. However, she doessend her three younger daughters to school, even though itsaps her entire energy, and income.

It may seem unfair that the eldest daughter must workwhile the younger daughters can go to school. However, themother's resolve was strong. She declared that eventhough feeding an extra mouth is too much, she is not goingto marry off her eldest daughter before she reaches mar-riageable age. It is worth mentioning here that all thewomen attending the meeting were married much beforethe legal marriage age. This generational shift in the waythese women are perceiving women's rights is the result ofthe ERDS child marriage awareness programme.

Another incident I came to know of was while attending asocial support programme for the old and abandoned peo-ple. I spoke with a 70-year-old woman whose children hadthrown her out of the house. As a result she was living bybegging. However, since ERDS enrolled her into the pro-gramme she has been regularly getting food and clothingand now does some basic work so she does not have tobeg any more.

Yet anotherwoman spoke to meabout how she ismaking a reason-able earning fromthe small saving andmicro-credit pro-gramme run throughERDS. She is amember of a team of10 village women.When asked if herhusband, a Muslim,questioned here n t r e p r e n e u r i a lactions, sheanswered, "No". On

the contrary she said not only has her husband begun to lis-ten to her more often, and actively supporting her member-ship of this self-help group, but his love for her hadincreased!

But the most satisfactory part of my interactions was inseeing the expectant and eager faces of the children whoare getting a chance to develop in life, thanks to the primaryschools being run by ERDS and the child sponsorship pro-gramme. These programmes, run with the help and assis-tance of other NGOs, are the grand ones in the firmamentof the work of ERDS and its tireless workers. They are suc-ceeding in their attempts to leave the world a bit better, andthey are not resting. Mr. Madhu Basu, the guiding light andgeneral secretary of the association, says that they are justbeginning, and a lot more needs to be done. How true! Untilevery Sabina Soren finds her feet firmly in the ground andevery elderly parent finds social help, and until mothers findthe confidence to stand on their own feet to better them-selves and their families, this work needs to be taken fur-ther. �

[email protected]

27


Rural Development

28


Social Service

Launched by Vinay Somani (through his R O Somani Charitable Trust) in 2004, Karmayog, with over1000 page views a day, has grown rapidly to reach a national and international audience. But its

most significant breakthrough was probably after the deluge of 26 July 2005 in Mumbai that killed 500persons.

Karmayog set up a flood resource website within a day, offering services, volunteers, money andmaterial. The crisis exposed the absence of a formal mechanism for Government and civic authoritiesto interact with NGOs and share information. Karmayog helped form an NGO-coordination committeecomprising 65 NGOs. Karmayog itself is a similar e-meeting ground for NGOs in mumbai and acrossIndia. It also has a 5,000 - member discussion group and 1,60,000 - strong email group. Karmayogclicked for two reasons.

First, because of its intense and knowledgeable discussions on everything-from vermicomposting torelief operations to the problem of stray dogs. Active discussions are facilitated by a yahoo group thatallow flexibility of access (htt://groups.yahoo.com/group/karmayog).

Secondly, Vinay Somani's business background helps it to function with businesslike objectivity, whichis inclusive but firm. Volunteers, donors and NGOs often tend to post short and incomplete messagesseeking or offering help. He clears the messages with a reminder to fill out appropriate forms listed onthe website. This clarity of content and approach is an important strengh. Somani started out with a sim-ple format for volunteers and donors to interact with each other in an on-line forum. This led to meet-ings and discussions, and Karmayog began to feel the need to create better profiles and share its infor-mation and learnings with socially sensitive people.

Today, its e-group allows even experts to share their views and receive feedback that are at timescontrary to their own ideas. Karmayog's thoughtfully designed formats extract detailed information fromNGOs on organizational structure and specific needs providing comprehensive information to donorsand potential volunteers on quality of assistance required (money, infrastructure, volunteering) and itsdelivery. It also encourages people make donations of as little as Rs. 100 a month to help carefullyselected NGOs. Sector-mapping is another initiative. Karmayog volunteers have collated a list ofschools and NGOs working with hearing-challenged persons as well as ENT hospitals, hearing aid man-ufacturers and doctors.

The volunteer list on karmayog.com has 650 listings from all over the world, offering to devote all ora part of their time to public service. Many students and tourists visiting India have signed up to volun-teer with NGOs for a couple of months and have found placements. Others have found jobs in their areaof interest. An orphanage for street children in Mumbai found a good Samaritan in Spain.

At a more personal level, individuals have been able to make their specific skills work on a part timebasis, fulfilling an important need among voluntary organizations. If you want to be a karmayogi by find-ing the right cause to support, or volunteer with, check out www.karmayog.com. �

[email protected] Dalal's article was first published in MoneyLIFE magazine.

KarmayogSUCHETA DALAL

Karmayog means selfless service. Or, as the Bhagwad Gita says, “Working to thebest of one's abilities without becoming attached to the fruits of work” is

called karmayog.com - a netbased meeting ground of people whoneed to help those who want to give, or simply spread

an important message.

29


Social Service

Urban Wastage A Resource

for Rural India !ANSHU K. GUPTA

Goonj's vision is to spread the idea so far and wide that anybody thinks ofdiscarding something reusable, they know of a channel to reach it

to a person who needs it most, in the Indian countryside.

MANY years ago, when I was into active journalism,while roaming around in search of a human inter-

est story I accidentally met Habib on a chilly morning inDelhi. It was his designation that came as a real sur-prise: DILLI POLICE KA LAAASH DHONE WALA. Hiswork consisted of picking up abandoned dead bodiesfrom the roads for just 20 rupees. And two meters ofwhite cloth. More amazing was his commitment andthe way he handled these bodies. I spent many morn-ings and evenings with him learning his modus operan-di. And then some things were said which shook me tothe core…. For example he said - "In winters, my busi-ness goes up" and his little daughter said innocently -"When I feel cold at night I just hug the dead bodytightly and sleep with it."

I didn't know then that I would come across any suchthing as involving the importance of clothing. Nor did Iknow anything about NGOs, social causes or organ-ized ways of working for a cause, though I often won-dered why people didn't give their underutilized clothesto people on the roads.

And then I saw how people brought bundles of cloth-ing in support of Uttarkashi earthquake victims. Iremember skipping my mass communications classand running to Uttarkashi to observe, photograph anddo something for those people. The rural realities shat-tered my urban sensibilities. I saw many people cover-ing themselves with rags, many in tatters stitchedtogether out of old gunny bags used for packing pota-toes. I remember an elderly man wearing this kind ofjacket requesting me again and again not for food orshelter but for a woolen or a blanket. I was alsoshocked by some senseless, insensitive donations ofpoor quality of clothing sent by people from urbanIndia. What many had not realized is that these needypeople have their dignity and not everyone in the vil-lage is a beggar. In the name of donations people sentall kinds of torn and dirty clothes, even used undergar-ments. Further, agencies involved didn't sort the reliefmaterial before distributing it.

The image of a corpse wearing just torn trousers anda shirt on a cold winter morning still haunts me. Thisman did not lack food, but died from exposure to thecold while so many others had plenty of unwantedclothing.

In 1998, after leaving Escorts, we initiated GOONJ.

The idea was to motivate people to give away theirunwanted clothing and get it to the villages. We askpeople to come out of the mindset that clothing is onlywanted during a disaster and to understand reality isthat there is a continuous need. People in Kashmirsuffer in winters every year, not just after an earth-quake. Hundreds die every year because of lack ofproper clothing in winter.

There is a different and a more disturbing dimensionto this issue. Let me relate to you a real life story abouta woman's most ignored and hushed up basic need.It's about those five days when every woman in theworld needs a sanitary napkin. A poor woman from asmall place called Shikohabad, known for its glassbangle industry and notorious for the problem of childlabour, used a piece of cloth from her blouse, as a san-itary napkin and died of tetanus because of the metalhook inside. In many parts of the world, especially inIndia, women from the villages especially from thelower income group, end up using the most dirty anduseless cloth, since they can't afford anything betterand are not aware of the health risks involved. Whenwe started highlighting this issue many more horrorstories started pouring in. There are cases where acentipede entered a woman's body through a dirtypiece of cloth used as a napkin. Research shows adirect relationship between cervix cancer and hygiene.

We think the solution is not that tough. When we seean old cotton ladies suit, saree or a bed-sheet lyingwaste in the almirah of an urban household we imagine

30


Social Service

that just by tearing it in small pieces and after sanitiz-ing it we can provide sanitary napkins to 20 women. Itinvolves no issue of affordability, no problem in dispos-al, no plastic sheet, nothing technical.

We started GOONJ eight years ago, gathering 67articles of clothing on a simple premise that after 3years, whatever we haven't used we don't need. Webegan spoking with friends and relatives, collectingsome material, distributing it as we tested marketingand needs-level strategies. We emphasized the impor-tance of giving it with dignity and sensitivity to cultural,religious and geographical nuances. When the pro-gramme grew a little we submitted formal requests tofunding agencies. They always replied: " It does notfall in our parameter." Our efforts continued for years,and no agencies engaged in supporting us. Providingadequate clothing was simply not seen as a worthycause. This challenge only increased our resolve.

As much as the funding agencies and corporate sec-tor ignored this issue, the masses came forward over-whelmingly, understood the issue and supported uswholeheartedly with finances and material. GOONJthus started growing as a people's movement.

Today VASTRADAAN deals with over 10,000 kgs ofmaterial every month. The test marketing was done onDelhi roads but today we work with over 100 agenciesin 17 states of India. In cities we have a strong networkof people, corporations, schools, resident welfareassociations who support us in collection. In the vil-lages we have a network of social activists, AshokaFellows, grassroot NGOs, and for Kashmir andArunachal, units of the Indian army who are our imple-mentation partners.

A strong feedback system ensures systematic distri-bution of the clothing. Partnership with local groupsgives us a better understanding of local issues andneeds and the initiative 'cloth for work' uses the mate-rial as resource for development in rural India. Underthis initiative, GOONJ, with the help of local partners,identifies a much needed development activity in a vil-lage, like a damaged road or a dirty lane and the vil-lagers work to make improvements. Instead of money,they get clothes as wages. Imagine the potential valueof old unused clothing in your cupboard - roads couldbe repaired in Morigaon, Assam or irrigation technolo-gy could be installed in Sunderban Delta, West.

India still has 35% of its population living below thepoverty line, with the majority of the poor living in thevillages. Basic resources essential for survival are hardto procure, for example, medicines for the sick, orbooks for school children are far from available in manyof the remote and isolated rural areas because theyhave escaped the attention of state policies. On theother side of the spectrum, India is said to be undergo-ing its biggest consumer boom with the ever-increasingpurchasing power in the cities and towns. 'Conditionsof plenty' along with shrinking space for the urban soci-eties result in excess materials being accumulated thatcan be utilized, but is now wasted. GOONJ is just mak-ing use of this reality.

'SCHOOL to SCHOOL,' winner of the changemakers

Innovation award, is another programme that channelsurban excess to poor rural schools. The idea is to bringunused school material and clothing from wealthyschools to undeveloped village schools to bolster basicschool resources. Today hundreds of kids enjoy uni-forms and school supplies that they would otherwisehave been thrown away. Between growing studentpopulations on both sides of the economic divide, apermanent source of warm clothing is a linkage asevery time the urban school kids discard, the villageschool kids will have what they so desperately need.

Now GOONJ is in its expansion phase. Post-Tsunami, when we approached the Tamil Nadu govern-ment for 2 million donated clothes, we were sure thatwe would be able to handle that kind of quantity. Todayafter a year of highly quality conscious sorting andpacking, some of that material has gone to Tsunamiaffected people, breaking the myth they were notaccepting old clothes. When clothes were provided ina dignified manner, properly sorted, they were readilyaccepted.

Apart from reaching different parts of the country thismaterial has also gone to earthquake victims inKashmir and Pakistan through the Indian Army with thehelp of the Pakistani High Commission. A big chunk ofthis cloth, which is not fit for wearing, is being turnedinto cloth sanitary napkins, sitting mats and schoolbags, to be given to people across India. WhenDeutche bank decided on its own to support this uniqueproject and Safexpress offered free transportation wefelt that clothing has started becoming an issue….

Today other countries are trying to study this modelwhere we have built a wide network in many parts ofthe country, on the very basic issue of clothing. Thisnetwork and systems can be utilized for anything. Ifone talks about health- then medicines and sanitarynapkins, if we talk about Education- then school mate-rial, in the normal course - clothes, utensils, footwearand other basics and in a disaster situation just addration, tarpaulin and other disaster relief material.

One doesn't need to start afresh in the event of a dis-aster. Just by activating the existing pipelines spreadall over the county one can achieve the purpose. It'sthis concept which won us our second ChangemakersInnovation award.

The scope of the concept can be envisaged from thefact that today, apart from clothes, we are even dealingwith things like furniture and computers. Thus we areusing clothing as an entry point into the entire move-ment of treating urban wastage as a resource for ruralIndia.

In future I hope GOONJ is able to offer a solution toan often talked about reality of India- the rising dispar-ity between rich and poor, and how this is a problemthat is only going to get worse.

Our vision is to spread the idea so far and wide thatwhenever anybody thinks of discarding somethingreusable they know of a channel to reach it to a personwho needs it most. �

[email protected]

31


Social Service

An Institute to Build the NationVivekananda Institute of Leadership and Development

DR. M.A. BALASUBRAMANYA

OVER the years non-profit institutions have become thefulcrum for socio- economic transformation of India.

These institutions (which include Non-government as wellas Cooperative Organizations and CooperativeMovements) have come a long way from the days whenthey were perceived to supplement governmental pro-grammes. A little known fact that this "Third Sector" is oneof the largest employers in India stands testimony to this.Today, these institutions have pioneered innovative ways totransform human life and values. They work on the princi-ple of concern and commitment, rather than profits.

These organizations suffer from the vexed problem ofunavailability of trained manpower. Vivekananda Instituteof Leadership and Development (VILD) was founded toserve India by increasing the competence of developmentalorganizations and hence improving the chances of attract-ing funds and delivering value. VILD will also take a con-structive role to integrate and catalyze NGOs, Corporates,Governments and Individuals to grow the amount of socialdevelopment and raise the quality of efforts that are under-way.

The programmes are designed to devel-op the competencies required for those-

who seek to serve and build a career in the developmentsector. Competencies not only include "managementskills" but values, commitment and integrity. Education inVILD campus is filled with experiences to combine

"Commitment with Competency". Our pedagogy isdesigned to make our students aware of their inner strengththat will sustain their developmental efforts and continue tomotivate them. It is designed to teach the management andleadership skills to make a sustained impact in the develop-ment sector. The experiences awaken ones values thatserve as a beacon to solve problems, to work with and moti-vate people, to have satisfaction through work, to motivatehimself to entrepreneurial aspirations in the developmentworld. The course not only studies the economics of a non-profit organization but also provides access to everyone'sinner wisdom to live.

VILD is best explained by the infinite love of SwamiVivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi towards all humanity ingeneral and India in particular. When the combination ofvalues and excellence unfold, the goal of building a grandnation could be achieved - the India that SwamiVivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi visualized. This meansbuilding the nation-builders. Once we 'build' the builders,the nation-building will be taken care of.

The-two-year Master of Non-Profit Man-anegement course allows the learner

the time to be exposed to the intricacies of managing all thedifferent facets of a non-profit organization.

The course consists of 18 Core Subjects, 2 ElectiveSubjects, 2 Capsules of Apprenticeship, a Research basedProject Work that is equivalent to two subjects and a VivaVoce at the end of the fourth semester.

The year was 1984. A group of youngmedical students at the Mysore MedicalCollege were starting to feel that the

career in medicine they dreamt of pursuing was very differ-ent from the practice of medicine around them. Theybelieved they had in them to make a difference and make apositive impact on the lives of the poor and the marginal-ized. And so, they started the Swami Vivekananda YouthMovement (SVYM) with the initial assets of high ideals andall the positive benefits of inexperience.

SVYM's experiences combined with the supportive con-versations with many Non-Profit (NPOs) and Donor organi-zations provided the insight and energy to launchVivekananda Institute of Leadership and Development inMysore. �

[email protected] www.svym.net and www.vild.edu.in

Approach

Programmes

Our ParentOrganization

VILD, in collaboration with the University of Mysore, offers India’s first ever University-recognised Master of Non-Profit Management in an effort to find

solutions to the vexed problem of unavailability of trained manpower to lead projects and organisations in the non-profit sector.

32


Social Service

Giving More and Giving Wisely

How GiveIndia was Born

THE traffic lights turn red and the cars screech to a haltat a busy signal…a 7 year old boy, in an oversized

shirt and bare feet rushes towards the opened windowswaiting vehicles, of his eyes gleaming with hope thatsome kindred passenger will throw a few coins at him.Tonight he wants to go to bed without a thrashing fromthe "master" for not having "earned" enough.

The gentleman in the car ahead, on the other hand ismore exasperated than usual at this sight. The air condi-tioner in the car is not working. He has had to lower thewindow to get a breath of fresh air. He slaps his foreheadimpatiently and tells his driver to quickly raise the windowglasses before the young boy on the road can approachhis car and "harass"him. He has had along hard day withhis auditor on wherehe can invest the 2million dollar profithe has made. Theboy runs dangerous-ly between the carsto one that seems tohold greater prom-ise. This is a com-mon sight on ourroads and many ofus have been anaudience to it.

GiveIndia wasborn out of thevision of one individ-ual who believedthat if we wanted abetter society - a more just and equitable community -then we must encourage and support those that havetaken the steps to bring about change.

GiveIndia is founded on thebelief that "equal opportunity" isthe cornerstone of civilization.

Every human being must have roughly the same oppor-tunity to succeed in life, irrespective of where or howhe/she is born.

The last two decades have witnessed the gap wideningbetween the rich and poor in India. While the poor don'tget a fair chance to succeed in life due to lack of accessto decent education, healthcare and livelihood opportuni-ties, the well-off continue to enjoy benefits from a global-ising economy - greater incomes, decreasing taxes,100% inheritance, etc. The net result is a ticking time-

bomb of growing social unrest.Given the failure of our political leaders to provide ade-

quate response, private action has become indispensa-ble and perhaps the only real solution to address theneeds of the underprivileged.

The fundamental premise of GiveIndia's operatingmodel is that the donor is an "investor" looking for returnsof some kind (most commonly the satisfaction of knowingthat their money made a difference to someone else'slife). While it is possible that there are people who givewithout any expectations, our efforts are targeted atthose who need to know that their money is making a dif-ference.

In 2000,GiveIndiapioneered

online donations inIndia. GiveIndia offersdonors an online mech-anism to donate to wor-thy NGOs. The organi-zations promoted mustfulfill stringent criteria,in a variety of fields ofwork, emphasizingaccountability andtransparency. Donorsuse the informationgenerated about theseorganizations to selectthe organizations theywould like to support.

Our Payroll Giving Programme isdesigned to allow employees of partici-pating companies to donate as little as Rs

50 [write in dollar value for this] every month, directlyfrom their salaries. An employee can choose to educatea child, help a blind person see or provide a wheelchairto a disabled person, among other options.

GiveIndia is the Charity partner of theMumbai & Delhi Marathons. Thesemarathons have helped us reach out to

large number of new donors by allowing them to run andraise money for a cause. By "piggy backing" existingevents that are already planned, it is ensured that thecost of fundraising is less than 10%.

AARTI MADHUSUDAN

InternetGiving

PayrollGiving

CharityEvents

The Need for aGiving Culture

33


Social Service

ABOUTTHE FOUNDER

GiveIndia is the brainchild of Venkat Krishnan who graduated from IIM-Ahmedabad in 1993 and started his career with the media. He then helped set upSony Entertainment Television in India as part of the core management team. In

1996, he co-founded Eklavya Education Foundation (http://www.eklavya.org/) alongwith 3 other IIMA alumni. He set up GIVE Foundation in 2000, to create a "giving cul-

ture" in India by providing people with opportunities to contribute to good causes,with very high standards of transparency and accountability. GIVE (GivingImpetus to Voluntary Effort) today raises over US $ 200,000 a year through

http://www.giveindia.org/ and affiliated efforts. GIVE also channels overUS $ 1million a year to India's voluntary sector through its

Corporate Philanthropy and GrantManagement services.

No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which

by far the greater part of the numbers are poor and miserable.

”

”

- Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations

GiveIndia helps companiesdesign, execute and monitor aphilanthropy strategy by helping

them tie-up with NGOs. Since inception in 2002, we haveworked with over 15 companies in a variety of sectors.

The GiveIndia team helpsFoundations with a variety ofservices aimed at helping them

channel their funds to the right organizations, or, havingmade a donation, verifying whether it was used for thepurpose stated. The team works with High Net worthIndividuals to help them identify and support projects

that they have in mind.

We help nonprofit organizationsdesign, restructure and upgradetheir accounting systems to helpthem report their financials to

donors and statutory authorities in a more transparentmanner. We guide and train them at every level by study-ing and assessing their needs and helping them plan.�

[email protected] www.giveindia.org

Corporate ClientServices

Customized ClientServices

Financial andAccounting

Management

34


Women Finance

Mann Deshi Sahakari Mahila Bank -

A Boon for WomenCHETNA GALA SINHA

EVERY day, Nakusa isreminded of her painful

childhood, as her name inMarathi means unwanted.Nakusa was the fifth daugh-ter of her parents. Soonafter her birth, Nakusa'sfather married anotherwoman. She recalls withsadness how her entire family was thrown out of theirhome and onto the streets.

With no one to turn to, the family traveled to the nearbycity of Karad in search of work and shelter. They lived ona footpath in Karad City and found it exceedingly difficult tofind work. Nakusa had not eaten for two days and washungrily watching some men have tea and snacks. "I real-ized then, that if you watch people while they are eating,they will give you food because they want to get rid ofyou." This is how she learned to beg.

Nakusa did not allow her dismal upbringing to predestineher future. Several years ago, she approached MannDeshi Mahila Bank for a Rs 10,000 loan, which she usedto free herself from the clutches of a moneylender. Afterrepaying that money, she took a Rs 30,000 loan to buyland and an Rs 60,000 loan to develop the land into afarm. Today, she is the proud owner of 3 acres of land, 1cow, 2 buffaloes, and 100 chickens. Nakusa no longertoils painfully as a construction laborer because she ownsand manages productive assets. She is now the director ofthe Self-Help Group Federation and coordinates three self-help groups.

The Mann Deshi Mahila umbrella of operations encom-passes three distinct organizations - Mann Deshi MahilaSahakari Bank, Mann Vikas Samajik Sanstha, and MannDeshi Mahila Bachat Gat Federation, which are non-profitorganizations that provide a variety of services to clients..Founded in 1997, the bank is a regulated cooperative insti-tution run by and for women and India's first rural financialinstitution to receive a cooperative license from theReserve Bank of India. The bank is headquartered inMhaswad, a village in the district of Satara, south of Pune.

All Mann Deshi clients are poor women with annualincomes averaging 22,000 rupees. The Reserve Bank ofIndia requires that 60% of the bank's loans go to the sec-tors designated 'priority or weak.' In 2004, Mann Deshisurpassed all expectations as 85% of the clients camefrom the designated sector. What is also significant is 70%

of the clients come from back-ward castes.

It is the mission of thisMahila Cooperative Bank toprovide women in the drought-prone area of westernMaharashtra with the toolsnecessary for achieving finan-cial independence and self-

sufficiency. Experience has shown that when women con-trol the household finances, more money is spent on chil-dren, education, healthcare, and other important domesticitems.

Mann Deshi's highest priority is its clients. It aims toimprove the lives of its clients holistically, by providing aunique combination of financial and non-financial services.Individuals can receive loans of less than Rs15, 000 withthe signatures of two other women, who serve as guaran-tors. The Mann Deshi Bank lends money to the self-helpgroup federation. The Federation, inturn, re-lends the

money to self-help groups. The Bank requires all of its bor-rowers to open savings accounts and to save.

The Bank, along with MannVikas and the Self-Help GroupFederation, provides low-inter-

est loans and some scholarships for girls to attend school.It also lends bicycles to girls who can't afford to take thebus to school. In the year 2004, the Bank has lent 200bicycles under its Bicycle Programme. �

Mann Deshi group envisions a future where financial services are available to women who aspire to make life better for future generations.

Promoting the right of women to own property: Inearly 2004, the Mann Deshi Bank succeeded in convinc-ing the Revenue Department of Maharashtra to includewomen's names on stamp papers, which are required intransactions of immovable properties. Women can nowuse these papers in court to prevent their husbands fromselling or divesting household property. Encouraging home ownership among the ruralpoor: The Mann Deshi Bank has created an incentivefor women to become homeowners by giving them aone-percent rebate on interest paid. Creating women leaders: Mann Deshi has trainedseveral hundred women to lead self-help groups, man-age accounts, and keep financial records.

Continued Innovations inRural Development

[email protected]

35


Health

IRHS - A Tribute to Common ManDR. PATRICIA BIDINGER

‘WE don't mind answering your questions, Amma, but whydon't you do something useful? The baby is sick.' And

thus began our career as village researchers. Bhavani was 25with an M.Sc. in nutrition, including a gold medal. I was sport-ing a newly acquired Ivy League PhD in International Nutritionand Development Policy with specialties in medicine and agri-cultural economics. The setting was a remote village in adrought-prone district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The year was1982. Bhavani and I, an American, had just set up our 'Institutefor Rural Health Studies' and this was our first research project.We had been offered a one-room cowshed by the villagesarpanch, complete with one light bulb and a mud floor! Suchgenerosity was hard to come by in such an impoverished sur-rounding.

Our research was focused on studying the variation in foodsupply and its relationship to nutritional status. All families wewere studying about had children underfive. We were measuring a wide rangeof inputs from labor force participationand harvests, to food consumption andhealth with everything in between, butthe villagers, while cooperating fully,begged us to fill the real gap in theirlives - medical care. And if we couldn'tprovide that, at least, they begged,"help us to find it and protect us frombeing neglected". And thus began ourreal careers as health providers as wellas researchers. The need was great.The first week I left Bhavani and ourresearch assistant alone in the village to return to Hyderabad,a baby died in her arms.

We have never looked back since those hard early days andhave continued to combine research with the provision ofhealthcare, both curative and preventative. Bhavani was an'elderly' 34 before she allowed herself to marry and return toher native West Bengal. In those intervening years she was mycolleague, my best friend and my teacher. That included teach-ing me how to eat properly with my fingers.

The Institute for Rural Health Studies (IRHS) has certainlynot lived up to its name given the amount of direct healthcareand preventive health provided over these past 25 years. Isuppose we should look for a new name that more aptlydescribes what we do. But a bi-directional organization canoffer staff more opportunities to learn research techniques, canprovide policy makers with sound policy with which to formulatehealth policy - all the while offering some of the poorest vil-lagers in the world the medical assistance they need to returnto a productive life.

Our research has included some pioneering and importanthealth policy work. The Central Planning Commission has usedtwo of our research papers for policy formation. The WHOsought us out for a unique longitudinal study on cervical cancerbased upon our own pioneering study of cervical cancer in ruralareas. Currently we are working with the London School ofHygiene and Tropical Medicine and Unilever Research on astudy on hand washing and behavioral change.

But the joy of our lives centers around the two clinics IRHSruns in the remote rural areas of Mahbubnagar District and itsrelated program 'Travellers Aid for the Sick'. The rural clinicsare staffed entirely by local people who have been, and contin-ue to be, trained by short-term American and British volunteerdoctors. A laboratory, gynecology unit, pharmacy plus generaloutpatients make up each clinic. Outreach work is preventativeand includes teaching.

More than 600 primary school chil-dren are taught health education eachweek, classes for teenagers on issuesof heath and sexuality are held onFridays and extensive home visitsmade covering antenatal care andchild heath up to the age of three.

When primary healthcare is not suf-ficient, clinic staff know they can senda patient directly to the DistrictHospital where IRHS PatientCounsellors will assist them to accesscare. At the District Hospital, the IRHSalso runs the state's only rural cervical

cancer screening outpatient service. This is a duplicate of thevillage-to-village programme, also run by IRHS in which eachweek a different village is selected for provision of both earlydetection of cervical cancer and treatment using colposcopy,biopsies and cryotherapy.

In the central bus station (the largest in Asia with 75 plat-forms), the state transport company has built for the IRHS anoffice from which to base its service to rural people seekingmore advanced healthcare. Run by two trained PatientCounsellors, the Travellers Aid for the Sick center receivespatients from the clinics and helps them to reach the mainHyderabad government hospitals where they can access care.

Back at the bus terminal, at all times, one Patient Counsellorscouts the platforms looking for incoming rural villagers from allover the state who have come to Hyderabad, a city of 7 millionpeople, to seek medical care not available to them in theirremote villages. In addition to this service, the counsellors inthe bus terminal also offer first aid, and counselling on HIV pre-vention and reproductive health. �

Hundreds of children, who are taught health education every week, have been able to havecorrective open-heart surgery and other complicated surgeries. Institute for Rural Health

Studies (IRHS) has either arranged for the funds or has partnered with various corporate hospitals to obtain free surgery for children.

[email protected]

36


Health

A Great Initiative in Mental

Health DeliveryDR. THARA SRINIVASAN

Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) has established itself as one of the premier Mental Health Delivery agencies in India and overseas. It successfully blendedcost-effective care and rehab programmes with high quality research and academic

activities. In Chennai and the villages of Tamil Nadu, the word 'schizophrenia'has become much more familiar and associated with more hope

and optimism than before.

NEARLY 15 million Indians suffer from minor forms ofmental disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Another 7-8 million suffer from major psychotic disorderslike schizophrenia. Yet mental health remains a low pri-ority for not just policy planners and medical profession-als, but also for the community in general. Low aware-ness about mental disorders, myths and misconceptionsand the social stigma in seeking treatment are responsi-ble for this situation.

For this reason, a group of mental health profession-als, philanthropists and other citizens in Chennai formedthe Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) in1984.

Initially, a day care center was established to offerrehabilitation for people with schizophrenia. The need toexpand was imminent and so we moved into a biggerbuilding which had an outpatient department, as well asa day care center for men and women. Soon after, weadded inpatient facilities where patients were admittedfor short periods of time and provided rehabilitation tech-niques which prepared them for life in the community.The efforts of SCARF were recognized nationally andinternationally by bodies such as the World Associationfor PsychosocialRehab i l i ta t i onand the WorldH e a l t hOrganisation.

Research isan equallyimportant activi-ty on the agen-da. The Madrasl o n g i t u d i n a lstudy, a 20 yearfollow-up of 100patients ofschizophrenia,is a landmarkstudy and one ofthe few of itskind from the

developing world. Other social factors such as familyrole, social networks, coping mechanisms and differenttypes of help seeking behaviours have all been wellresearched. SCARF became a Collaborating Centre ofthe World Health Organisation for Mental HealthResearch and Training due to its credibility in research;this is a rare honor for an NGO.

The tragic incident at Erwadi in 2002, where 26 peoplewere chained in a hut were charred to death is a

blackspot in Indianhistory. Followingthis disaster, theG o v e r n m e n tof Tamil Naduordered the imme-diate closure ofsuch "treatmentcenters" and isnow trying to pro-vide mental healthservices in remoteareas of the state.To this end,SCARF developedthe innovativeprogrammes asdetailed below.

SCARF'S PRIMARSCARF'S PRIMARYY OBJECTIVES OBJECTIVES �To deliver comprehensive mental health care to all sections of society, with

a special emphasis on rehabilitation of those suffering from a severe mentaldisorder, schizophrenia; family support and education are an integral part ofthis programme.

�To conduct research into various aspects of schizophrenia, the results ofwhich will have a meaningful impact on those suffering from it and their fam-ilies; training various groups of allied health professionals such as psychol-ogists, social workers, nurses and occupational therapists about the basicprinciples of mental health care is a further goal.

�To increase awareness on mental health issues to facilitate early detectionand reduce stigma.

37


Health

For over 15 years, SCARFserved the rural communities inTamil Nadu with the aid of the

International Development Research Centre (IDRC)from Canada, some Italian NGOs and the WHO. One ofthe main goals is to increase awareness about mental ill-nesses with the specific aim of dispelling myths and mis-conceptions using traditional folklore and audio-visualmaterial. Even those who held the belief that only magi-cal and religious treatment can help were slowly con-vinced to take psychiatric medication. Traditional heal-ers were also involved. More than 200,000 persons invillages around Tamil Nadu were screened for mentaldisorders. If someone was diagnosed, she or he wastreated. Simple measures, such as the distribution ofgoats and livestock, were taken to allow the mentallydisabled to earn a livelihood.

In 1990, I was elected a seniorAshoka fellow to work in the

urban slums of Madras for two years. I chose two slumsby the sea (both of which were subsequently affected bytsunami) and another slum further inland. A door-to-doorsurvey revealed great mental morbidity. Therefore, anoutpatient clinic was started two days a week. Manyawareness programmes were also conducted using cin-ema and music.

At this time, there were over 100 health posts inChennai, which were similar to primary health centers(PHCs) in villages. This was under the World Bank’sIPP-V project. With the permission of the state govern-ment, I trained all the multi-purpose workers in thesehealth posts to identify serious mental disorders andmake appropriate referrals. Other side tasks for themutli-purpose workers include working with the familiesand ensuring follow-up with the patient. The World Bankrecognized this initiative as an innovative project. Thus,I became a panelist to elect other Ashoka fellows.

SCARF's most recent innovationis using telemedicine for the community projects. After

the Tsunami, OXFAM supported this project. We linkedto two centres in tsunami affected regions and offeredcounseling and treatment. Now, with support fromDeutsche Bank, we have enlarged the scope of thisservice. This is novel because it is cost effective byreducing the need for infrastructure and saving muchtravel time.

SCARF supports the educationof 40 children every year -these are children whose

fathers are too disabled by mental illness to work andsupport the children's education. A child guidance clinicalso helps children and their parents.

Although disability caused by mental illness has beenrecognized worldwide decades ago, the Indian govern-ment included it in the Persons with Disabilities Act onlyrecently. This move resulted after much lobbying, inwhich SCARF played a leading role.

The greatest challenge is tosimplify the understanding of

mental illness and communicate it effectively to the pub-lic. While a child with spastic limbs or a woman withblindness are quick to attract sympathy, this is not sowith mental illness. Even educated people do not under-stand it. The picture of a woman collecting garbage onthe road or an aggressive man talking to himself evokesmore fear and disgust than empathy. We had to system-atically overcome this challenge through various means.

There is also the stigma associated with mental ill-nesses. Donors who would have no hesitation in havingtheir help acknowledged by eye or heartcare institutions,very often did not want their names to be displayed inSCARF. Of course, there is the low priority accorded tomental health in general and rehabilitation in particular.Fundraising is another major task, since mental healthdoes not appear on the agendas of many internationaldonor agencies. �

[email protected]

Community MentalHealth

An Ashoka Fellow

Telemedicine

Family and ChildSupport

Challenges

38


Water

CLEAN Water is essential to life but is not available tomany in India and many parts of the world. The

India Development Coalition of America (www.idc-amer-ica.org) organized a 2-day summit in Chicago from June16-18, 2006, to bring together people interested in watermanagement, both from the USA and India. The issuesthat were focused on at the summit included a) gover-nance requirements in water management, b) communi-ty and agricultural demand management, c) water qual-ity issues and health, and d) municipal and industrialwastewater treatment.

A highlight of the Water Summit was a keynoteaddress by Dr. Ashok Mehta of Mumbai, India, Presidentof the Lions Clubs International. He emphasized thatapart from the eyesight treatment programmes thatLions Clubs are well known for, these Clubs in Indiawere starting water projects and the 6,000 clubs in thecountry would be interested in working with IDCA todevelop and implement water projects in India.

Among others who spoke were Satyen Pitroda,Chairman, Knowledge Commission, Govt. of India,Lawrence Walsh, Chief Executive, Will County, Illinois,USA, Arthur Wilhelmi, State Senator, Illinois, USA, Arun

Kumar, Indian Consul General in Chicago, TerrenceO'Brien, President, Metropolitan Water ReclamationDistrict of Greater Chicago, USA, and John Sheaffer,President, Sheaffer International, Glen Ellyn, USA, aworld renowned water expert.

The consensus arrived at on water at the Summit wasthat proactive steps should be taken to conserve water,

provide clean water for communities, and treat wastewater to promote recycling and reuse of water. Four

workshops held on the occasionsuggested a) Rainwater harvestingprojects in Assam, b) Drinkingwater and sanitation project inVizianagaram, A.P., India, c)Arsenic removal project in WestBengal, d) Implement inexpensivedesalination technologies in Indiae) work with Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII) to implementseveral water projects in India, f)implement wastewater recyclingand reuse systems in India and g)work with Indian WaterworksAssociation (IWWA) to implementwater quality measurement andreporting programmes in urban andrural areas. IDCA felt that raisingmass awareness about the severewater problems facing India should

be given high priority. The water summit helped raise awareness of water

problems in State of Illinois, USA and India, and result-ed in several projects that will be implemented by IDCAmembers in association with several groups in India(including Lions Clubs and CII members) to improve thewater situation in India. �

Chicago IDCA Summit Raises

Water Awareness

Dr Sam Pitroda, Chairman, Knowledge Commission,Government of India and Mr Jay Sehgal, Executive

Director, Sehgal Foundation

Mr Punia, Sehgal Foundation, Dr Pitroda and Mr Ram Krishnan

39


Superstition

Superstitions are Retardants of Progress

NARENDRA NAYAK

IN a vast country like India - whose population has beeninstilled with gullibility, blind devotion and idol worship -

one has to expect a myriad of superstitions. There existsa broad spectrum of such superstitions that vary slightlyfrom metropolises to rural areas. For example, urbanitescan fall prey to more benign things like astrology,numerology and vastu, while a tribal member may takemore extreme action, murdering his neighborhood witchthought to have been casting a spell on his family, or sac-rificing a neighbor's son so that gods favour him with hisown.

Recently, the country has seen more extreme conse-quences of this superstition. Fanatics demolished amosque that is the supposed birthplace of their godRama. A minister in theUttar Pradesh state

government offered a reward for the head of the Danishcartoonist who drew cartoons of the prophet Mohammad.Communal pogroms killed thousands in Gujarat in whatappeared to be a planned holocaust, due to a train firethat killed a number of people returning from Ayodhya.Such incidents occur repeatedly, causing loss of life andproperty and destroying peace.

How do these things happen? Throughout the lastthree decades of my research of such phenomena, I havecome to several conclusions about the most effectivemethods to educate people and steer them away fromirrational beliefs. I have shared my experiences, attempt-ing to convince people in both India and abroad of theneed for scientific temper. This movement is designed tohelp the people who are taken in by unscrupulous

claimants of miraculous and supernatural powers.We have developed a three-pronged approachto this problem. First, the public is alerted to

tricks being passed off as miracles by the so-called godmen, by performing them. Next,an explanation follows on how they aredone. Lastly, the incidents are investigat-ed and methods noted and informationis added to the miracle exposure pro-gramme. As a part of this campaign,those who claim to have supernaturalpowers are asked to demonstrate themunder fraud-proof conditions.

How do such superstitions retardprogress? If they didn't exist, we wouldhave reached much higher levels ofprosperity as a whole. For instance,India has more holidays than any other

country because of its multi-religious,multi-cultural background. As a result,

national holidays are held for important eventsin every religion. To this we may add many

other national holidays - such as IndependenceDay, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanthi. The loss

of productivity due to holidays alone is estimated tobe upwards of 5%.Superstition has also forced the relocation of many

important infrastructural facilities, such as highways.There are several instances of the sudden, suspiciousappearance of new idols or religious relics, which arepassed off as miracles. In many cases, a place of wor-ship is then constructed at the site. As the attraction

If Superstitions did not exist, India would have reached much higher levels of prosperity as a whole. For instance, India has more holidays than any other country because

of its multi-religious backround. The loss of productivity due to holidays alone is estimated to be upward of 5 per cent.

40


Superstition

becomes more popular, numerous buildings spring uparound it, and roads are narrowed, diverted or destroyed.Once built, it is very difficult to tear down these enclavesdue to the religious outcry that would ensue and which nogovernment could afford to ignore.

These superstitions pervade every aspect of our publiclife. Satellites are launched after Rahu Kalam. Institutesof Science are opened only at auspicious timings.Ministers take oath only after the determination of a timedeemed appropriate by their astrologer. In fact, whenone of the thermal plants run by the National ThermalPower Corporation was having problems, a solution wasproposed by a vastu expert. This so-called science ofvastu - considered quackery elsewhere - is in India con-sidered a super science.

Although thought to be highly educated, in reality vastuexperts range from middle school dropouts to foreign lan-guage teachers. To specialize in vastu, one only needs aglib tongue and a quick wit. Since vastu experts controlthe designs of engineers and architects, hundreds ofhours are spent altering a building's blueprint to make itvastu compatible. Vastu experts even have a hand indesigning government buildings. Each time a new minis-ter assumes office, interiors are changed according to thedemands of his vastu consultant, particularly becausewhat is considered acceptable by one expert is not nec-essarily adequate by another's standards. And, everytime a change is made, public money is spent.

Another problem with these godmen is that they do notcomply with Indian laws. Many terrible crimes can occurin their establishments without any punitive action.Although there is often a public outcry, punishments aremostly confined to small-time practitioners, with theirmore prominent counterparts escaping unscathed.

There are a few exceptions. A godman from Tamilnaduhas been sentenced to lifetime in jail for his criminalactivities. Another from Bangalore has been condemnedto death for drugging and burying his wife alive. But, sev-eral mysterious deaths in the town of Puttaparthi havebeen brushed under the carpet by authorities.

Godmen win over devotees by demonstrating theirsupernatural powers and so-called miracles. These mira-cles can be divided into the following categories: sleightof hand, immunity to fire or chemicals and telekineticpowers. For example, one prominent godman uses thesleight-of-hand trick to produce holy ash that he distrib-utes to devotees, as well as conjuring fine jewelry forwealthier followers. Other godmen show immunity to fireby passing flames over their body or praying with lit cam-phor on their palms. In one particular instance, a famousgodman called Sadachari claimed to use his stare toignite a sacrificial fire in order to destroy enemies of thethen Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was later discov-ered that he used a few grams of potassium perman-ganate hidden in the firewood and couple of drops ofglycerine to light the flame. Devotees are not limited topoor, uneducated Indians, however; they also includeworldly Westerners.

To disprove these feats, we replicate them and followwith explanations of the scientific principles behind them.The audience also is encouraged to contemplate the rea-

soning behind each. Afterwards, if projection facilitiesare available, we show footage of godmen performingparticularly impressive miracles such as hanging a per-son through hooks passed through the skin or walking onglass. The program concludes with a request bring to ourattention any so-called miracles or supernatural phenom-enon. Our campaigns have reached a wide cross-sectionof people, from university professors, research scholarsand doctors to tribal members and school children. �

[email protected]

41


Accidents

Highway Rescue Project A Lifeline Foundation Gift

Lifeline is endeavouring to see that every accident victim on Indian highways has immediate access to Emergency Medical Services (EMS). In collaboration with other NGOs, it is engaged in ensuring Gujarat has an EMS legislation.

TRAUMA support systems are not solely the domain of doc-tors and medical professionals. They require a network of

various stakeholders to save lives on the highways. LifelineFoundation's HIGHWAY RESCUE PROJECT has demon-strated how this can be achieved in India.

Today, while Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) rank as the 9thmajor cause of deaths world-wide, they are the leading causeof mortality between the ages of 15-44 years. By 2020 it ispredicted to rank as the 2nd major cause of deaths world-wide.

India ranks for high RTAfatality rates in the world.

It has only 1% of the world's vehicles butaccounts for 6% of the world's accidents.The country recorded 92,000 deaths in2003-04. RTAs cost the country Rs. 75,000crore or 3% of its GDP.

While in developed countries, driversand passengers account for more than70% of deaths, the majority of those killedor injured in India are pedestrians andusers of two-wheelers and public trans-portation. Road safety experts call them"vulnerable road users". Not even at thegovernment level is there a clearly definedpolicy to make the parties concerned toadminister post-accident trauma care.

Out of all accidents leading to fatalities:�20% die on the spot due to open skull

injuries, major cardio-vascular injuries, multi-organ injury orsudden acute blood loss;

�30% die due to delay of transportation or during transporta-tion, which is often primitive; and

�50% die in hospitals within 5 days of admission, due to infec-tion and multi-system failure.

The above facts prove that timely evacuation and bettertransportation of victims can definitely save lives. CurrentlyEmergency Medical Services is still in its infancy in India.Lifeline Foundation conceptualized, developed and launcheda Highway Rescue Project (HRP) for the country for the firsttime on July 1, 2002.

HRP was founded by Dr. Subroto Dasand Sushmita Das in August 1999 afterthey survived a terrible accident on a

rainy night on the NH8 Highway. With broken bones,bleeding faces and damaged knees, they were left strandedand fought all night for their lives and the lives of their col-

leagues. After four hours of being stranded, in the early morn-ing, help arrived. Dr. Das and Sushmita spent their recoverytime planning HRP. Using the inspiration they got from thetraumatic experience for three years, the couple developed aplan to improve such practices as traffic management, drivereducation, safety research and development to make sure thatlives are not lost on highway.They developed such rescue util-ity ideas as integrated and centralized ambulances. Withoutowning a single facility, the two spent three years coordinating

ambulances, cranes, metal cutters, policefacilities, hospitals and blood banks tolaunch HRP on 1st July 2002.

With no South Asian programme prece-dents of this magnitude for guidance,Lifeline developed a pilot project to makethe 263 km of NH8 between Ahmedabadand Surat safer. Lifeline employees care-fully mapped the highway, incorporatingevery highway landmark, developed soft-ware to locate accident callers and set upa 24-hour control room team. TodayLifeline serves 1401 kms of national high-ways in Gujarat and 337 kms inMaharashtra. Within 6 months, it is to beexpanded on NH2 in West Bengal andNH8 in Rajasthan. Lifeline's network ofproviders includes 164 ambulances inGujarat and 30 in Maharashtra, 67Hospitals, 42 Cranes and metal cutters, 27Blood Banks and 56 Police Stations. The

central control room at Baroda responds to any distress call. In48 months of its launch HRP saved the lives and limbs of near-ly 1,800 seriously injured accident victims on highways of boththe states.

Lifeline is trying to ensure every citizenhas immediate access to EMS. It has

partnered other NGOs in getting a draft resolution on EMS Actfor Gujarat. The state would be the first in the country to havesuch an act. The draft act will address funding ; establishmentof protocols and systems ; credentialisation of Trauma carepersonnel and hospitals and scope of practice ; benchmarkingand licensing of ambulances and transportation networks ;standardisation and certification of training programmes ; cre-ation of a nodal EMS agency at the State level ; and Singlephone Number for Public Access in Emergencies. �

[email protected]

In India

The HumanResources Project

Future Directions

42


Ecology

WESTERN Ghats, the vanishing rainforests of southernIndia, has exceptional biodiversity. It stretches over

1,500 kms along the southwestern peninsular India, andholds several million years of geographical history and anenormous ecological value. It shelters innumerable varietiesof fauna and flora, many close to extinction. The region's mainwatershed is located here. Spices and commercial crops,such as cashew, coffee, tea, and rubber, are grown here. Theregion is also rich in mineral deposits, which has resulted inextensive irresponsible commercial land exploitation. TheGhats had over 60% of the world's forest cover in the 1950s,but now has less than 38%. Such human activity as toxicindustrial discharging, virgin forests logging and hydroelectricdamming have created massive ecological imbalance.

A group of organizations in theWestern Ghat region have takensteps to make conservation a way of

life. One strategy developed was to encourage a large crosssection of people to take adventure tours in the region to

experience the unique beauty, bounty, and culture that existsthere. This has created a tourism industry that would gener-ate an income for local people, and awareness about thevalue of the region. The thrill of nature has inspired many tofight for the conservation of the area. The strong connectionpeople develop with the wilderness of Ghats is slowly buildinga volunteer base that will provide the manpower needed for astrong conservation movement. The Adventurers' Western Ghats Restoration Project is aholistic approach involving every aspect of the Ghats. Theorganization has pioneered adventure activities that appeal toall people. It has been responsible for setting new ecotourism standards globally. It has also supported the devel-opment of extremely successful adventure-based therapyprogrammes for people and rehabilitation for drug-addictedstreet children.

The Indian Institute of Adventure gener-ates employment through field trainingadventure programmes. This organiza-

tion has collaborated with Kannada University in Hampi to inte-grate this type of learning into its education programme in whicha certificate course in Eco tourism is provided.

Eco-managers are bridges between the organization and

Adventure Tourism Boosts

ConservationS. L. N. SWAMY

The eco-paradise, called the Western Ghats, is breathtaking. The complex and long-termstruggle necessary to conserve it is quite vital for the region. The adventure-tourism

model is one tool that goes to strengthen the conservation movement -- an interaction between urban and rural organisations.

Conservation aWay of Life

Indian Institute of Adventure (IIA)

43


Ecology

community. While catalyzing involvement of community onissues related to environment, they are the organizations,torchbearers that run the outdoor programmes. This uniqueform of employment allows them to get paid to share theirvaluable know-how.

Focused on building barefoot natu-ralists teams, the AmateurNaturalists Team (ANT) has estab-

lished its own Training center atKagadalu in Sira Taluk, Karnataka.Using street plays, folk music andDrama, the organization demon-strates the role of nature. ANT alsois key in encouraging children andyouth to take up environmentalresearch which is essential forfuture conservation strategy devel-opment.

The training of young girls in theart of Chittara is generating oppor-tunities for the preservation of aunique Indian culture. Part timeand full time training programmes,offered by Chittaradangala, havesuccessfully involved women of

some 30 villages. This has led to the development of anindustry which is spurring economic development, helping500 women in Bangalore rise from poverty.

Yuvak Sanghas, or youth organizations, spread across thehilly regions of Ghat. They envision and work towards envi-ronmental and cultural conservation. Many focus on con-

serving the folk dances and ballets of Western Ghat cultures.Organized training and choreography involving experts haveled to invitations to demonstrate the folk dances in largercities.

GHATS is an economic venture that bol-sters the income of rural villagers by

adding shelf life to renewable non-timber forest products.These products have unique value because the delicacies

prepared by the women areexceptional. The challenge isto bring consistent high-qualityproduct production throughtraining and branding. Urbanvolunteers are supporting theventure in market research,packaging and marketing theproducts. The venture hasspread to a large part ofWestern Ghats. Ram Naik, aleader from the remoteWestern Ghats village Kanoor,has made his village into amodel one for the WesternGhats Restoration Project(WGRP).

WGRP aims to support con-servation at a macro level.This involves creating a widedatabase of all the flora andfauna found in the Ghats. To

create a strong conservation strategy, a basic understandingof the existing species is essential. The Ghats have been his-torically important too. Tucked deep in the forest there areforts in strategic locations. The WGRP has taken up thedaunting task of ensuring the restoration, documentation andprotection of these forts. �

Amateur NaturalistsTeam

GHATS

44


Social Change

WHAT do Jane Addams, Maria Montessori andMuhammad Yunus have in common ? All are exem-

plary social entrepreneurs, leaders who have identifiedsustainable solutions to social problems that have funda-mentally changed society.

Jane Addams founded Hull-House in 1889, a socialsettlement to improve conditions in a poor immigrantneighborhood in Chicago, then expanded her effortsnationally. Addams gained international recognition as anadvocate of women's rights, pacifism and international-ism. Her work ultimately resulted in protective legislationfor women and children.

Maria Montessori, the first female physician in Italy,began working with children in 1906 and created a revo-lutionary education method that supports each individualchild's unique development.

Muhammad Yunus revolutionized economics by found-ing the Grameen Bank, or "village bank," in Bangladeshin 1976 to offer "microloans" to help impoverished peopleattain economic self-sufficiency through self-employ-ment, a model that has been replicated in 58 countriesaround the world.

"Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fishor teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have rev-olutionized the fishing industry."

- Bill Drayton, CEO, chair and founder of Ashoka, aglobal nonprofit organization devoted to

developing the profession of social entrepreneurship.

Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business,social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for socie-ty, seizing opportunities others miss and improving sys-tems, inventing new approaches and creating sustain-able solutions to change society for the better. However,unlike business entrepreneurs who are motivated byprofits, social entrepreneurs are motivated to improvesociety.

Social entrepreneurs are:

Social entrepreneurs tackle majorsocial issues, from increasing the col-

lege enrollment rate of low-income students to fightingpoverty in developing countries. These entrepreneurialleaders operate in all kinds of organizations: innovativenonprofits, social purpose ventures such as for-profitcommunity development banks, and hybrid organizationsthat mix elements of nonprofit and for-profit organiza-tions.

Generating social value -not wealth- isthe central criterion of a successful

social entrepreneur. While wealth creation may be part ofthe process, it is not an end in itself. Promoting systemicsocial change is the real objective.

Like business entrepreneurs, socialentrepreneurs see and act upon what

others miss: opportunities to improve systems, createsolutions and invent new approaches that create socialvalue. And like the best business entrepreneurs, socialentrepreneurs are intensely focused and hard - driving -even relentless - in their pursuit of a social vision. Because social entrepreneurs operate within a socialcontext rather than the business world, they have limitedaccess to capital and traditional market support systems.As a result, social entrepreneurs must be exceptionallyskilled at mustering and mobilizing human, financial andpolitical resources.

Whether they are working on a local or international scale,social entrepreneurs share a commitment to pioneeringinnovation that reshape society and benefit humanity. Quitesimply, they are solution-minded pragmatists who are notafraid to tackle some of the world's biggest problems.�

www.skollfund.org/aboutsocialentrepreneurship/index.asp

Who is a Social Entrepreneur ?

Ambitious

Mission Driven

Strategic

Willingness to Self-Correct: Firms - and especially those rapidly growingfirms in the social sector - need to be adaptiveto their environments. Leaders who can keepup are the ones who will benefit; those whocan't stay fit and relevant will never be effec-tive.

Willingness to Share Credit:Sharing success with others is not simply a

way to enlist more help or garner larger contri-butions; for social entrepreneurs, arguesBornstein, it should come from inborn humilityand strength. This selfless appreciation is atrue measure of character.

Willingness to Break Free of EstablishedStructures: Think Jeroo Billimoria, Veronica Khosa, andVera Cordeiro. Oftentimes, entrepreneurshipis the child of rigid, stifling structures that act

as barriers to change. This innovativeapproach to business or social changedefines the entrepreneurial field.

Willingness to Cross DisciplinaryBoundaries: Identify all the stakeholders in your firm beforeyou do anything else, Bill Drayton once cau-tioned. Work across functional boundaries toensure you have the complete support andinterest of your business' stakeholders. Then,make them all NEED your firm.

Willingness to Work Quietly: These people do not crave recognition orfame or wealth; they want - rather, they need- change. It is this idea that is at the core of themotivational complex of entrepreneurs - theabsolute need to do something. As JeanMonnet once noted, ambitious people fall intotwo groups: those who want to "be someone"

and those who need to "do something."Strong Ethical Impetus: This is what reallyseparates the traditional entrepreneur fromthe social entrepreneur, and Bornstein says itcan be summed up in one question: "Does theentrepreneur dream of building the world'sgreatest running-shoe company or vaccinat-ing all the world's children?"

Strong Ethical Impetus:This is what really separates the traditionalentrepreneur from the social entrepreneur,and Bornstein says it can be summed up inone question: "Does the entrepreneurdream of building the world's greatest run-ning-shoe company or vaccinating all theworld's children?"

— How to change the world: By David Bornstein

S I X Q U A L I T I E S O F S U C C E S S F U L S O C I A L E N T R E P R E N E U R S

45


THE Skoll Foundation was created by Jeff Skoll in 1999to pursue his vision of a world where all people, regard-

less of geography, background or economic status, enjoyand employ the full range of their talents and abilities. Skoll,who was the first employee and first President of eBay,believes that strategic investments in the right people canlead to lasting social change.

The Skoll Foundation's mission is to advance systemicchange to benefit communities around the world by invest-ing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.Social entrepreneurs are proven leaders whose approach-es and solutions to social problems are helping to better thelives and circumstances of countless underserved or disad-vantaged individuals. By identifying the people and pro-grammes already bringing positive changes to communitiesthroughout the world, the Skoll Foundation empowers themto extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamental-ly improve society.

The Skoll Foundation invests in social entre-preneurs through its flagship award pro-

gramme, the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship.These three-year awards support the continuation, replica-tion or extension of programs that have proved successfulin addressing a broad array of critical social issues: toler-ance and human rights, health, environmental sustainabili-ty, economic and social equity, institutional responsibility,and peace and security.

The Skoll Foundation connects social entre-preneurs with key people and resources

through a number of academic, business and communitychannels which serve to advance the work of individualentrepreneurs, as well as the field of social entrepreneur-ship as a whole. To further academic study and build knowl-edge of social entrepreneurship, the foundation launchedthe Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in November2003 at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

As part of its aim to advance the field of social entrepre-neurship, the Centre funds five Skoll Scholars who partici-pate in the full Saïd MBA programme and supports SkollFellows who do research in and teach social entrepreneur-ship.

The Centre also convenes the Skoll World Forum onSocial Entrepreneurship, an annual conference that bringstogether the world's foremost practitioners and thoughtleaders in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship.

To foster connections online, the Skoll Foundation

launched and built Social Edge, an online community atwww.socialedge.org where social entrepreneurs, nonprofitprofessionals, philanthropists and others in the social sec-tor connect to network, learn, inspire one another and shareresources. The site strikes a balance between the visionaryand the practical, with spirited discussions, online work-shops and access to resources and experts.

The Skoll Foundation celebrates socialentrepreneurs through a range of projects,

such as the public television documentary series, The NewHeroes, that tells 12 dramatic stories of social entrepre-neurs in eight countries. Hosted by Robert Redford and fea-turing the inspirational work of individuals addressingdiverse social issues around the world, The New Heroes isdesigned to inspire hope and ignite action among membersof the general public.

Through such initiatives, the Skoll Foundation is not onlytapping the expertise of entrepreneurial men and women totransform social systems but also is celebrating how eachof us has the ability to take action and make a difference.

As the foundation's reach and impact have grown, itsstructure has evolved to meet the growing needs of those itserves. Today the Skoll Foundation encompasses two sep-arate corporations: a private foundation, The SkollFoundation, and a public charity whose legal name is TheSkoll Fund.

The Skoll Fund, created in 1999, is a supporting organi-zation associated with Community Foundation SiliconValley of San Jose, California. The private foundation waslaunched in 2002. Each entity is governed by its own boardof directors. The two entities share grantmaking, pro-gramme and administrative resources. Both organizationswere founded to support social entrepreneurship, andtogether they are known as the Skoll Foundation. �

The Skoll Foundation

Invest

Celebrate

Connect

For more information, visit the Skoll Foundation's www.skollfoundation.org

Skoll

Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources

with a new capacity to create wealth.

”

”

- Peter F. Drucker, American Educator and Writer

46


Skoll Awards

Grant Amount: $525,000over three years

Mindy Lubber was a founding board member ofCeres, Inc., in 1989 and became its presidentin 2003. The organization's goal is to advanceinstitutional responsibility and environmentalsustainability, persuading corporations tochange their practices by galvanizing institu-tional investors. More than two dozen compa-nies took action on climate change as a resultof Ceres' 2003 summit. Its 2005 conventionproduced a 10-point Call for Action thatincludes an investor commitment of $1 billionto clean energy technology. Ceres plans to per-suade 25 more companies to make publiccommitments on climate change by 2008.

www.ceres.org


Jeroo Billimoria has devoted her life to helpingchildren in India and around the world.Realizing that children living in poverty need anadvocate, she founded Childline, which hasfielded 3 million calls for assistance from streetchildren in India's largest cities. She expandedthe concept into an international organizationcalled Child Helpline International (CHI), whichsupports helplines in 71 countries. She usedthe same model to found Child SavingsInternational (CSI), a global network of organi-zations empowering children to plan and savefor the future. The pilot programme servesmore than 70,000 children in India, usingschool-based "Aflatoon Clubs" that preparechildren to succeed academically, manageincome and help to break the cycle of poverty.

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Grant Amount: $480,000 over three years

Sakena Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute ofLearning (AIL) in 1995 to restore education andhealth programmes in Afghanistan that were dra-matically cut during 30 years of warfare. Theorganization's 18 Women's Learning Centers pro-vide services to more than 3,50,000 Afghanwomen and children each year. Its 16Educational Learning Centers have trained10,000 teachers and have provided school sup-plies to thousands of young Afghan students,while its university has prepared 125 students forcareers as community leaders. AIL plans toexpand its teacher training programmes and itspartnership network to 100 new community-based organizations, ultimately training 3,300new teachers and improving the health of5,00,000 women and children.

www.creatinghope.org/ail.htm

Grant Amount: $1,215,000over three years

While in college learning to make smart bombs,Jim Fruchterman hit upon the idea of using char-acter recognition to make books available to peo-ple with reading disabilities. The experienceinspired him to create Benetech, a company thatutilizes technology to address social needs. With25,000 books, its Bookshare.org is the world'slargest library of electronic books for the dis-abled. Benetech's Martus project, used in 60countries, helps collect and disseminate informa-tion about human rights abuses. In addition todeepening the impact of its current projects,Benetech plans to launch high-potential new proj-ects, build its capacity and advance the field ofsocial entrepreneurship.

Jim Fruchterman, CEO of The BenetechInitiative, has been awarded a 2006MacArthur Fellowship from the John D. andCatherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

www.benetech.org

TECHNOLOGY SERVING HUMANITY

2006 Skoll Awards For Social Entrepreneurship

47


Skoll Awards

Grant Amount: $1,515,000 over three years

A product of inner-city schools in Denver, J.B.Schramm noticed that many of his peers werenot going to college, and he became the direc-tor of a teen center in a low-income neighbor-hood of Washington, D.C., to address thisproblem. It was there that he recognized thegap in college enrollment is not only about tal-ent or ambition, but also about resources andaccess. College Summit focuses on buildingsupport systems during the critical transitionfrom grade 12 to "grade 13" by mobilizingteachers, parents, schools, colleges and com-munities to help students continue their educa-tion. (College Summit students have enrolled incollege at a rate of 79 percent-significantlyhigher than the national rate of 46 percent forlow-income students.) College Summit alumnihave maintained a college retention rate of 80percent. The cost per student has dropped,while the number of students served annuallyhas risen from 925 in 2002 to more than 6,000in 2005. The organization plans to serve28,000 students between 2006 and 2009.

www.collegesummit.org

Grant Amount:$765,000 overthree years

While writing a com-munity guidebook ontoxic chemicals,Gary Cohen felt

compassion for families living near waste siteswho were struggling to protect their children.He co-founded Health Care Without Harm in1996 to inspire healthcare providers to adopthealthier products and practices. The organiza-tion has built a collaborative network of 435groups in 52 countries. Health Care WithoutHarm and its partners have closed more than90 percent of medical waste incinerators in theU.S. and have virtually eliminated mercurymedical products in U.S. hospitals. HealthCare Without Harm recently produced CleanDesign Magazine, Highlights of the 2006CleanMed Conference, which details someinnovative ideas from the growing "green"movement in the healthcare industry.

www.noharm.org

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three years

Taddy Blecher wasready to emigratefrom South Africawhen he took asecond look at hisnative country. "I

saw aching poverty," he said, and he madea life-changing decision to do somethingabout it. In 1999 he and his colleaguesopened CIDA City Campus to provide dis-advantaged youths a chance to earn afour-year business administration degree.At a cost of just $9,500 per student, CIDAhas produced 1,800 graduates with poten-tial lifetime earnings of $635,000 to $1.5million who teach and sponsor other stu-dents. CIDA plans to open new campuses,increase enrollment and create a franchisemodel called University-in-a-Box entirelybuilt and managed by students.

www.cida.co.za


Albina Ruizstarted worry-ing abouthealth andenvironmentalproblemscaused bygarbage inPeru whenshe was anindustrialengineering

student. She came up with the idea of cre-ating local enterprises to collect andprocess garbage, charge affordable fees,reduce waste in landfills and generateincome by recycling. After promoting herconcept as a consultant for 15 years, shefounded Ciudad Saludable in 2001. Theorganization is generating employment andfacilitating cleaner cities. It has trainedauthorities in 43 municipalities, works with800 informal recyclers and is helping thegovernment develop Peru's first nationalwaste management plan. Ciudad Saludableplans to expand in 20 major cities.

www.ciudadsaludable.org

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Skoll Awards


Quratulain Bakhtearigrew up in a refugeecamp outside of Karachi,where she helped newrefugees arriving inPakistan gain access tobasic health care andeducation. Frustrated bya lack of efficacy in inter-

nationally sponsored development projects, shecreated Institute for Development Studies andPractices (IDSP) in 1998 to train and inspirestudents to become involved in Pakistan'ssocial and economic development. The IDSPmodel, which cultivates trust in local communi-ties, has been taken to 40 districts in the coun-try and has graduated 1,200 students, 80 per-cent of whom help lead national and interna-tional community development organizations.IDSP plans to create a broader network oflocally based learning institutions throughoutPakistan.

www.idsp.org.pk


A former public defender and ordained minister,Karen Tse moved to Cambodia in 1994 to trainpublic defenders. After witnessing many viola-tions of the rights of citizens, she foundedInternational Bridges to Justice to promote sys-temic global change in the administration ofcriminal justice. The organization has dramati-cally improved and even saved the lives ofeveryday citizens by training and supportingcriminal defense lawyers and establishing anetwork of Defender Resource Centersthroughout China. Plans call for expansion inChina, as well as Vietnam, Cambodia and othercountries where programmes are expected toreach critical mass due to public awarenessand the creation of professional associations oftrained advocates and judges.

www.ibj.org

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Grant Amount:$615,000 over three years

Working in a publichospital in Rio de

Janeiro, Vera Cordeiro felt helpless and frus-trated when children who were successfullytreated for an infectious disease returned tothe hospital and died from the same diseaseafter becoming reinfected at home. Realizingthat she needed to treat whole families, sheraffled off her belongings and startedRenascer Child Health Association in 1991 towork intensively with poor families. Renascerserves approximately 350 families per year,helping to lift them out of poverty. Its modelhas been replicated at 14 other independentcenters. Plans are ready for helping an aver-age of 1,000 new individuals every 18months.

http://www.criancarenascer.org.br/ingles/Inicial-Ing.htm


Andrea and Barry Coleman share a passionfor motorcycles. Through the racing world,they became involved in fundraising for chil-dren in Africa. After noticing how frequentlyvehicles broke down and seeing women inchildbirth being carried to the hospital inwheelbarrows, they remortgaged their houseand founded Riders for Health in 1996. Theorganization trains local health workers tocarry out daily vehicle maintenance and pro-vides technicians who visit monthly to servicevehicles, thus making healthcare availableeven in remote areas of Africa. In areasserved by reliable vehicles, vaccination rateshave risen, death rates have dropped, and theefficiency of health workers has increased 300percent.

www.riders.org

49


Skoll Awards

Grant Amount: $1,215,000 over three years

On a trek to Nepal, John Wood visited aschool whose crumbling library was almostdevoid of books. Remembering how muchhis hometown library has affected his life, hereturned a short time later with more than3,000 books. He founded Room to Read in2000 to provide educational resources tochildren who might otherwise face lifelongilliteracy. The organization has helped morethan 8,75,000 children by constructing 200schools, establishing more than 2,500libraries, providing 1.1 million new children'sbooks, creating 85 computer and languagelabs, and funding 1,757 girls' scholarships inIndia, Nepal and Southeast Asia. Room toRead plans to continue partnering with com-munities to serve 1.9 million more children by2008.

www.roomtoread.org


A cancer diagnosis and successful treatmentprompted Heidi Kühn to want to give back tothe less fortunate and to live close to andnurture the land. Inspired by the internationalcampaign to ban land mines, she foundedRoots of Peace in 1997 at her family's homein the California wine country. The organiza-tion takes practical steps toward sustainabledevelopment and enduring peace by convert-ing minefields to vineyards, agricultural fieldsand safe migration corridors for wildlife.Roots of Peace has helped renew productionin Croatia's wine-growing regions. InAfghanistan, it has removed 1,00,000 landmines and proved farmers could earn moregrowing grapes than poppies. The model isbeing replicated in Angola and Cambodia.

www.rootsofpeace.org

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John Marks founded Search for CommonGround at the height of the Cold War to buildbridges between East and West. The organi-zation has provided productive methods andtools for governments, community organiza-tions and journalists to sow the seeds forinterethnic harmony. It has produced mediaprograms designed to create understandingamong ethnic communities, and it hasworked with medical institutions to establisha system to monitor infectious diseasesacross the Middle East. Search for CommonGround has established multi-pronged con-flict prevention programmes in Angola,Burundi, Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia andSierra Leone. The organization intends tobring its media program to global scale andachieve measurable changes in public atti-tudes toward conflicts.

www.sfcg.org


Born in Cameroon, Blaise Judja-Sato was asuccessful U.S. businessman when a devas-tating flood in Mozambique prompted hisreturn to Africa. While helping with reliefefforts, he saw how difficult it was to getmedicines across the "last mile" to those inneed. He founded VillageReach to solveinfrastructure gaps in remote areas, includinglocating quality suppliers and providing reli-able transport and training in vaccine man-agement and safe waste disposal.VillageReach has equipped and trained staffin 88 clinics that serve 1.5 million people inMozambique. It plans to reach an additional3.5 million people and replicate its model inother countries over the next three years.

www.villagereach.org

50


Innovation

Attended by over 600 of the World's Leading Innovators and Entrepreneurs from 55 Countries, including severalpre-eminent thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and developers, the WSIE is the first-of-its kind forum, which aims to develop practical solutions to address the most important issues facing emerging nations and to inspire the

development of the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators to fully celebrate the opportunities of the 21st century in a climate of global prosperity.

Given below are some of the highlights of the participants who attended the Summit which was held in the first week of April 2006 at Muscat, Oman.

C O M M I T M E N T H I G H L I G H T S

Dr. Alexander Boehmer, Coordinator, MENA-OECD Investment Programme Committed to establish the MENA-OECD Enterprise Financing Network aimed toimprove the regulatory conditions for financing entrepreneurship. The Networkaims to foster entrepreneurship finance in the region by: · Creating a plat-form to connect entrepreneurs, financiers, research bodies, and government reg-ulators · Providing avenues for private sector participants to effectively input intokey investment policy reforms relevant to financing of entrepreneurship

Dr. Johnathan Lord, SVP, Chief Innovation Officer, Humana Inc. Pledged to create internships for the benefit of WSIE country participants interest-ed in the healthcare industry. The purpose of these internships would be to helpimprove healthcare systems abroad by providing the appropriate personnel theeducational and professional opportunity to learn about the latest developmentsin healthcare.

Des Ryan, Business Support Manager, Qatar Science & Technology Park(QSTP) Committed, through QSTP, to providing a range of capacity building programs thatinclude the setting up in Qatar within the next year a proof of concept fund, a newenterprise fund and a technology venture fund. These important funds for entre-preneurs will be supported by a range of entrepreneur skill program including anentrepreneur course, a mentoring program and a workforce development initia-tive.

Nick Moon, Managing Director, KickStart Pledged that in the coming year his company will develop at least one new tech-nology that will enable local entrepreneurs to start profitable businesses for as lit-tle as $40, and that KickStart's program will create at least 15,000 successful newmicro-enterprises and take over 75,000 people out of poverty forever.

World Summit on

INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIPA BETTER GENERATION IN THE MAKING

51


Innovation

Ms. Laurie Adams, Visionary, Developer, & Owner, E'TerraCommitted to help others through sharing of knowledge in sustainable developmentand help engage local rural residents in creations of touristic, educational, and agricul-tural programs unique to their specific area.

Dr. Claude Béglé, COO, DHL Express Germany & Managing Director, DHLExpress Central Europe Committed to personally mentor a young entrepreneur in thefield of express / logistics from a WSIE member country, and use his personal time tocoach the entrepreneur and discuss his/her plans. In addition, Dr. Béglè committed toorganize an invitation for the entrepreneur to come to DHL's headquarters to Bonn,Germany for introduction to the company and the industry and provide contacts to otherentrepreneurial and innovative teams.

Dr. Jag Uppal, Department of Professional Studies, School of Business &Management, National University, USACommitted to professionally mentor two interns/employees of a Tourism Department ina developing nation from his own time.

David Wortley, Project Manager, NTI Creative Industries Centre for KnowledgeExchange, De Montfort UniversityCommitted to provide access to the virtual collaboration technologies at De MontfortUniversity to support and facilitate virtual meetings/seminars for the development ofknowledge exchange. He also committed to promote and profile local entrepreneurs.

Dr. Geoffrey Oldham, Honorary Professor, University of SussexCommitted to raising the funds necessary for SciDev.Net to launch an Arabic languageportal and to expand its Middle East and North African Regional Network. This will helppromote more informed decision-making about the role of science technology andinnovation in the economic and social development of the region.

Debra M. Amidon, Founder and CEO, ENTOVATION International Ltd.Committed to (1) create visibility of WSIE findings in published works and throughouther global network of innovation strategists (E100) in the Knowledge Economy; (2) cre-ate a youth component of the Network (J100) to develop and empower the futureLeaders of a Knowledge-based Society; and (3) expand E100 participation to includea new broad representation of talent from the Middle East and beyond. Already newmembers have been invited to represent Palestine, Lithuania, UAE, Jordan, SouthAfrica, Egypt and Oman.

Ms. Suzanne Pahlman, Guest Researcher, Stockholm Environment InstituteCommitted to complete a report for WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The aim is tohighlight positive examples/innovative initiatives in the Arab World, which could lead tonew export solutions, to ensure sustainable development where both people and plan-et can prosper.

Richard Watson, CEO, Global Innovation Network Committed to share informationby granting WSIE participants free access to one of his recent entrepreneurialefforts www.nowandnext.com, an online publisher specializing in future trends,innovations, and ideas. Reports are published every two months. This site is avail-able to WSIE attendees only. To log in, participants may refer to their WSIE reports(page 45) to acquire username and password to access the site.

52


NGOs

MANY IndianNGOs are meet-

ing such challengesas women's empow-erment, fighting thedreaded AIDS syn-drome, promotingeducation and help-ing farmers in cropdiversification andthey deserve allencouragement andsupport he said in anexclusive interview toCatalyst for HumanDevelopment.

Excerpts from the interview with Bart W. Edes, whoheads the NGO and Civil Society Center at ADB:

Catalyst for Human Development : The AsianDevelopment Bank has launched a net-work to bring together all non-govern-mental organisations and privatesector across the Asia Pacificregion last year. How is theresponse ?

Bart W. Edes: The ADB held ameeting in Thailand in 2004 whichwas attended by some 30 NGOsand corporates. The intention was topromote sustainable development,eradicate poverty and to improve thequality of life in the region. I am glad tosay that the response was encouragingand the network was launched in February2005.

Many corporates are persuading the NGOs to work forknowledge capacity building. There is a common groundfor both and they can work together in helping the poorthus complementing the efforts of the Governments.They are forging partnerships to provide disaster relief,protect the environment, address health needs, promoteeducation, and assist marginalized and disadvantagedcommunities. The network would also help the NGOs,

which are unable to make long term plans, as their tradi-tional sources of revenue are purely temporary in nature.

CFHD:How do you view the role of NGOs in India ?

BWE:India is an amazing country with a vibrant civilsociety. Diverse views are expressed with authority. Infact I have met many NGOs working at grass root levelwhich are meeting a variety of challenges like empower-ment of women, fighting HIV/AIDS, education, promotingrenewable energy and educating farmers in diversifica-tion of crops. They are really doing a good job and sup-porting the Government in its developmental activities.

CFHD: With regard to funding, do you think that themoney that is being released is utilised properly ?

BWE: The ADB sees and checks the antecedents andrecords of hundreds of NGOs in India with which we are

associated. We also look at details likewhether they are registered, paying tax

regularly and making informationavailable to public, before we

release funds. Moreover, we arenot expected to disburse smallgrants directly. We will edu-cate the NGOs on their activ-ities and guide them throughour newsletters. PRAXISIndia, which is a not-for-prof-it, autonomous, development-- support organisation, has

been doing an excellent job tofacilitate the promotion of par-

ticipatory practices in humandevelopment initiatives in an inte-

gral manner.

CFHD: What are ADB's views about YES ?

BWE: Asian countries like India and Philippines are inadvantageous position compared to other continents asa very high young population who can change the world.As far as YES is concerned, it deserves support. It isalso working with Governments, NGOs and businesses.The members of YES are practical, showing results.ADB will wholeheartedly support its activities.�

Indian NGOs Meeting

Many Challenges

CATALYST INTERVIEW WITH BART W. EDES, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Bart W. Edes, Head, Asian

Development Bank'sNGO and Civil Society Center, is all praise for

many Indian NGOs working at grass roots

level.

53


Portrait

PROFESSOR M S Swaminathan, considered one of the most influentialAsians of the century, is truly a living legend, who will go into the annals

of history as a world scientist of rare distinction, as the Secretary General ofthe United Nations described.

Born on 7th August 1925 in Tamilnadu, Swaminathan, a Ph.D in Geneticsfrom Cambridge University, used his skills in Genetic Engineering and hispowers of persuasion to make famine an unfamiliar word in Asia. Hisimmense contributions towards the agricultural renaissance in India led himto be popularly referred to as 'The father of the Green Revolution'.

Professor Swaminathan's aim was to make India self-sufficient in foodsupply. He accomplished this by setting up his own laboratory with a teamof scientists. Seeds developed in Mexico were brought into India and, aftercrossbreeding them with local species, created a wheat plant that yieldedmuch more grain than traditional types, this was a breakthrough in GreenRevolution. He used to spend a lot of time in educating farmers while serv-ing as the Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi.

Professor Swaminathan is a Fellow of many leading scientific academiesof India and the world and is the recipient of numerous National andInternational awards. The United Nations Environment Programme con-ferred upon him the title of 'The Father of Economic Ecology'. He is therecipient of 46 honorary doctorate degrees from Universities across theworld and holds many honorary positions in International Committees andOrganizations. He is the President of the Pugwash Conference on Scienceand World Affairs and has about 11 honorary positions including that ofUNESCO-Cousteau Professor in Ecotechnology for Asia. He is alsoChairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), whichwas established with the funds received from the World Food Prize. MSSRFis currently doing research in areas like Coastal Systems Research,Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Ecotechnology and Sustainable Agriculture inorder to attain agricultural and rural development in India. �

M. S. Swaminathan the LegendPortrait by Sathiraju Sankara Narayana

54


Awards

About mid last year TransparencyInternational released a survey detailingcorruption trends in India. After pollingover 14,000 respondents in 20 Indianstates, the organisation assessed thatIndians pay some 20,000 crores in bribesannually while availing services from oneor more of eleven public utility services.The trend reflects more than just vastamounts of illegal money transfer. It epito-mizes what has become a way of life -62% of citizens polled said that theythought corruption was "real" and admit-ted to having used a bribe or a "contact" (euphemism forgetting work done by not strictly transparent methods) toget a job done.

Even as Transparency International India was releas-ing its dismal survey findings, a movement for changehad already taken root and begun at the grassroots,with the everyday citizen demanding his right to know.Spearheaded by a Delhi-based citizen's group,Parivartan (change), working for transparency andaccountability in governance, local politicians andbureaucrats were being challenged by the very citizenthey were elected to serve.

The face of Parivartan is the dynamic and capableArvind Kejriwal. Recipient of the prestigiousMagsaysay Award in 2006, Kejriwal activated India'sright-to-information movement empowering New Delhi'spoorest citizens to fight corruption. Kejriwal was grantedan Ashoka Fellowship in 2004, four years after hefounded Parivartan after watching opaque governmentprocedures first hand at an earlier job as a tax officerwith the Indian Revenue Service.

Parivatan was set up to deal with bribery and extortionwhich the common man experiences for everything heneeds-from a license to a passport. If there was a prob-lem getting a job done, Parivatan would intervene onbehalf of the citizen. But how far could they go and howmuch could they cover?

The question was answered with the passage of theRight to Information (RTI) Act in Delhi in 2001, a land-mark piece of legislation applicable in all Indian statesexcept Jammu and Kashmir. It holds officials account-

able to citizens, who can file petitionsunder the Act to request information, docu-ments, status of work and thus questiongovernmental negligence, misuse, corrup-tion or apathy.

Heading Parivartan's small team of vol-unteers, Kejriwal began work publicizingthe Act, encouraging people to use it andurging that they not be cowed down by theopen hostility unleashed by politicians andbureaucrats who were often being ques-tioned for the first time.

Five years on, Kejriwal acknowledgesthat there have been "huge changes-cultural changes" -on both sides. Bureaucrats were getting used to the factthat they have to be transparent. People have now start-ed demanding accountability.

Once the Right to Information Act came into effect in2001, Kejriwal began training programmes to spreadawareness about the potential of the act. Parivartanbegan work in a slum in East Delhi. Launching the DriveAgainst Bribe campaign with the support and coopera-tion of the media, Kejriwal has been trying to encourageevery section of society to get involved with the RTI Act.

What began as work in Delhi has now spread throughthe country. Trainers from various NGOs came to Delhito be taught under a special model and then went backto their cities to swing the RTI into motion.

Kejriwal is still trying to "develop linkages". Work alsobegan with student groups in Delhi to show them howrelevant the RTI Act can be to their lives.

Kejriwal now hopes to move Parivartan's work beyondRTI. "It gives you information but doesn't ensure your par-ticipation in governance," he points out, about the Act. SoParivartan will move logically into the crucial areas oflocal empowerment in matters of governance. �

www.parivartan .com

Three Indians Win Global Awards

For Best Human Service

ARVIND KEJRIWALGood Governance

55


Awards

Sunita Narain, 43, has been with theCentre for Science and Environmentfrom 1982. She is currently the director ofthe Centre and the director of the Societyfor Environmental Communications andpublisher of the fortnightlymagazine,Down To Earth. In her years atthe Centre, she has worked hard atanalysing and studying the relationshipbetween environment and developmentand at creating public consciousnessabout the need for sustainable develop-ment.

AWARDS 2005: Stockholm Water Prize (2005) forCSE for its work in promoting effective water manage-ment along with improved human rights" under thedynamic leadership of Sunita Narain.

2005: Padma Shri by the Government of India, NewDelhi.

Over the years, she has also developed the man-agement and financial support systems needed for theinstitution, which has over 100 staff members and adynamic programme profile. She is currently in chargeof the Centre's management and plays an active rolein a number of research projects and public cam-paigns .

Her research interests are wide-ranging - from glob-al democracy, with a special focus on climate change,to the need for local democracy, within which she hasworked both on forest-related resource managementand water-related issues.

She began her career by writing and researching forthe State of India's Environment reports and then wenton to study issues related to forest management.

For this project she travelled across the country tounderstand people's management of naturalresources and in 1989 co-authored the publicationTowards Green Villages advocating local participatorydemocracy as the key to sustainable development. Inthe early 1990s she got involved with global environ-mental issues and she continues to work on these asresearcher and advocate.

Narain remains an active participant, both nationallyand internationally, in civil society. She serves on theboards of various organisations and on governmentalcommittees and has spoken at many fora across theworld on issues of her concern and expertise.

She has written numerous articles innewspapers, magazines including aweekly/fortnightly/column on environmentand development, Green Politics andDown To Earth for leading dailies.

A crusader of pollution-pre Delhi, SunitaNarain dreamt of world’s cleanest-publictrasport-network for the city. Says Sunita,“New Delhi was choking to death. Airpolution was taking one life per hour.”

According to Time Magazine, in themid-1990s, Narain filed a lawsuit to force

Delhi's buses, taxis and rickshaws to convert to clean-er-burning compressed natural gas (CNG).

In July 1998, the Supreme Court ruled largely in herfavor and adopted many of her proposals. It ordered aban on leaded fuel, conversion of all diesel-poweredbuses to CNG and the scrapping of old diesel taxisand rickshaws.

But busmakers and oil companies--supported bygovernment ministers--objected loudly. So the courtformed a committee, led by Lal and Narain, to enforceits judgment.The unlikely duo immediately ran intoroadblocks. Bus companies took vehicles off the road,stranding angry commuters. Mile-long queues of rick-shaws formed at the handful of gas stations with CNGpumps.

Oil companies trotted out scientists who claimed thatCNG was just as polluting as diesel. But Narain andLal fought back. By December 2002, the last dieselbus had left Delhi, and 10,000 taxis, 12,000 buses and80,000 rickshaws were powered by CNG. Althoughair pollution in Delhi has stabilized, the fight for cleanair is far from won. Some 400 to 600 new private carsroll onto the city's streets every day. Narain and Laldon't claim to have slowed global warming. But theirefforts have attracted requests for advice from as faraway as Kenya and Indonesia. "Delhi leapfrogged,"Narain says with a grin. "People noticed." �

www.cseindia.org

SUNITA NARAIANEnvironment

56


Awards

The Mumbai-based AavishkaarIndia Micro Venture Capital Fund(AIMVCF) is among the top tenbest global business houses whichreceived the World BusinessAwards on May 10, 2006, at theUnited National Headquarters inNew York.

World Business Awards aresponsored jointly by the UnitedNational Development Programme(UNDP), the Prince of WalesInternational Business LeadersForum (IBLF) and the InternationalChamber of Commerce (ICC) andare given away annually to the bestbusiness models across the world.

The selection panel of the World Business Awardsidentified 10 finalists out of 77 entries received from33 countries for year 2006 awards, for strivingtowards fulfillment of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).

AIMVCF is the only recipient from India of the pres-tigious award and the second Indian company so far,after ITC got it in 2005.

Set up as a social venture capital fund in 2001 toprovide early-stage capital to micro and small enter-prises that lack access to conventional financial insti-tutions, Aavishkaar India reaches out to hundreds ofthousands of firms with resource-efficient productsand solutions that enhance livelihood options in a sus-tainable manner.

It approved 9 equity investments before beingpicked up for the award. And the range of investmentsis Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs. 50 Lakh (US $ 20,000 to $1,00,000) from its corpus fund, which

represents the collective assets ofmore than 80 investors.

The company has thus been ableto bring together a new blended-value asset class by merging main-stream venture capital principals ofrisk capital and intensive hand hold-ing with the kind of nurturing neededby sustainable businesses that aimto address rural developmentissues.

Aavishkaar's Co-founder andCEO, Vineet RaI, believes that theWorld Business Award is anacknowledgement that small initia-tives have a critical role to play in

meeting challenging global issues enshrined in theMillennium Development Goals.

AIMVCF is now in the process of expanding its fundsize and is aggressively engaged in identifying newinvestment opportunities in innovative rural initiativesand start-up microfinance service companies thatenhance commercial and social value. �

www.aavishkaar.org

If you think you are beaten, you are. If youthink you dare not, you don't! If you

want to win, but think you can't, It's almost acinch you won't. If you think you'll lose,you're lost; For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will; It's all inthe state of the mind. Life's battles don't

always go To the stronger and faster man,But sooner or later the man who

wins Is the man who thinks he can.

”

”

- Walter D. Wintle

VINEET RAIBest Business

57


Book Reviews

BY DAVID BORNSTEIN

What business entrepreneurs are tothe economy, social entrepreneursare to social change. They are, writesDavid Bornstein, the driven, creativeindividuals who question the statusquo, exploit new opportunities, refuseto give up and remake the world forthe better.How to Change the World tells thefascinating stories of these remark-able individuals --many in the UnitedStates, others in countries from Brazilto Hungary-- providing an In Search

of Excellence for the social sector. In America, one man, J.B.Schramm, has helped thousands of low-income high schoolstudents get into college. In South Africa, one woman,Veronica Khosa, developed a home-based care model forAIDS patients that changed government health policy. InBrazil, Fabio Rosa helped bring electricity to hundreds ofthousands of remote rural residents. Another American,James Grant, is credited with saving 25 million lives by lead-ing and "marketing" a global campaign for immunization. Yetanother, Bill Drayton, created a pioneering foundation,Ashoka, that has funded and supported these social entre-preneurs and over a thousand like them, leveraging thepower of their ideas across the globe.

These extraordinary stories highlight a massive transforma-tion that is going largely unreported by the media: Around theworld, the fastest-growing segment of society is the nonprof-it sector, as millions of ordinary people--social entrepreneurs--are increasingly stepping in to solve the problems wheregovernments and bureaucracies have failed. How to Changethe World shows, as its title suggests, that with determinationand innovation, even a single person can make a surprisingdifference. For anyone seeking to make a positive mark onthe world, this will be both an inspiring read and an invaluablehandbook. It will change the way you see the world.

Comments"Wonderfully hopeful and enlightening.... The stories of thesesocial entrepreneurs will inspire and encourage many peoplewho seek to build a better world."

- Nelson MandelaAbout the authorDavid Bornstein is a journalist who specialises in writingabout social innovation. He received a Bachelor ofCommerce degree from McGill University in Montreal and aMasters of Arts from New York University. In addition to writ-ing, he has worked as a computer programmer and systemsanalyst. Bornstein's articles have appeared in The AtlanticMonthly, The New York Times, New York Newsday, Il Mundo(Italy), Defis Sud (Belgium) and other publications.

BY KAREN JONES

The Difference a Day Makespresents 365 simple actions thatyou can complete in the courseof one day -- most in just a fewminutes or hours, with no check-writing required -- to make a dif-ference in your community, thenation and the world. Organizedinto 16 topical categories -- fromenvironmental preservation andyouth support, to animal welfare,violence prevention, consciousconsumerism and more -- The

Difference a Day Makes is a practical resource for achiev-ing meaningful change and affirming our common human-ity. While conventional volunteers have known for yearshow helping others transforms their own lives, now peoplewhose hectic schedules keep them from committing toservice programs can savor the same satisfaction. "A lotof people are searching for greater meaning in their lives,but they're not sure what to do, and they have full calen-dars," says Difference author Karen M. Jones. " TheDifference a Day Makes serves up practical options foreffecting small change every day. That can be equallypowerful."

This timely compilation features 365 simple actions peo-ple can take to change the world, one day - or even fiveminutes - at a time. Each suggested action, in 16 "helping"categories, can be started and finished in a day or less,and none requires a cash donation. Readers may chooseto accomplish a different altruistic step each day of theyear, activate the same tool every day, or take actions thataddress a personally favored issue, such as animal wel-fare, or the pursuit of peace. Possibilities for compassion-ate service include acting as driver for a battered women'sshelter, planting trees or a garden at a schoolyard, recy-cling running shoes into a playground surface, taking aday off from consumerism, aiding low-income students infinding grants and scholarships, helping unemployedworkers put together resumes, and much more.

About the authorKaren M. Jones is a creative strategist, social entrepre-neur and founder of Benevolent Planet, a source of prac-tical strategies for purposeful living through simple acts ofsocial consciousness and everyday altruism. A profes-sional writer and communications consultant for morethan 20 years, she has been published in national andregional magazines, and has produced marketing materi-als for national membership organizations and internation-al corporations. Karen makes her home in RehobothBeach, Delaware.

How to Change the World Social Entrepreneurs and the

Power of New Ideas

The Difference a Day Makes365 Ways to Change Your World

in Just 24 Hours

58


Why Do We Need Social Entrepreneurs ?

THE life of primitive mankind was "solitary, poor, nasty,brutish, and short," as Thomas Hobbes, a 17th

Century English philosopher, described it. Perhaps, theorigin of human civilization stems from the desire tochange this. Agriculture, planting and collecting cerealgrains or tending animals, made meaningful settlementspossible for humans 10,000 years ago. In the followingthousands of years social organizations evolved. Thiscan be chiefdom, where a chieftain rules the people, or astate society, where a ruling class is supported by abureaucracy. At every stage of progress until present-day, more and more people benefit from access to natu-ral resources, opportunities power and wealth to live theirfull potential. Yet, a large section of the population is leftbehind.

Ours is a world of extremes. The poorest 40 percent or2.5 billion of the world's population lives on less than US$2 a day 1. There hasbeen a reduction inpoverty due to variousdevelopment pro-grammes in the lastdecade. But due to anincrease in population,today's world still has 1.1billion people living inextreme poverty. TheWorld Bank definesextreme poverty as livingon $1 or less per day 2.Most of those in extremepoverty are in Sub-Saharan Africa and SouthAsia. Here, where poorhealth and the lack ofeducation deprive peopleof productive employment, deplete environmentalresources and create corruption, conflict, and misgover-nance, waste public resources and discourage privateinvestment.

Sixteen percent of the total wealth available in theworld is produced capital.3 Everyone in the world shouldhave equal access to the remaining 84 percent of thewealth on this planet. However, natural resources are notavailable to all equally. This results in the gap betweenthe rich and poor. Approximately 50 percent of the world'spopulation has 10 percent of the world's wealth and therichest 20 percent has 71.2 percent of the world's wealth.(Dr. B. Milanovic, Personal Communications, WorldBank)The life expectancy to a child in the developingworld is short. The under-5 mortality is a very good indi-cator of human development. Everyday in the developingworld, 29,000 children under the age of five years

(approximately 10 million children annually) die - mostlyfrom preventable diseases.4

The advantages of civilization are clearly not reachingat least a billion people. Harvard economist KennethRogoff warns that the unfair distribution of wealth withinmost countries will lead to serious social tensions all overthe world. (KenRogoff. 2006)

To have a fair distribution of resources we must provideaccess to basic needs, income generating activities,health care and basic education for all. During one of myvisits to India, Mr. Krishna Mohan, a grass root worker ofan NGO, took me to small villages near Jetni, Orissa ona hot summer day. I observed him in action. He met peo-ple who are among the 1 billion we count in the extremepoverty category. He was making them realize theirpotential, by providing the means and tools to do small

vegetable garden-ing, tend goats, selleggs, get basicmedical check-ups,attend literacyclasses and trainwomen to deliverbabies to reducechild and maternalmortality. In him, Isee the means tobridge the gap. Butone Krishna Mohancan do only somuch in his lifetime. The problemis a billion peoplelarge. Today wehave the knowl-edge, technical

skills, tools and means to bridge the gap. But theresources, money and time are the problems. We needfaster, better solutions that can be multiplied 1,000 foldsto reach millions of people. Only then can the problemsof the billions be solved.

A social entrepreneur can create new solutions tosocial problems and implement them on a large scale.Therefore we need them. We need them by the thousands!. �

[email protected]

Reference:

1. http://www.undp.org/publications/annualreport2006/equitable_growth.shtml

2. http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/Section1_1_1.htm

3. Where is the Wealth of Nations?' World Bank 2005). 4. http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/impact/index.htm

DR. SRINIVASA RAO

Essay

Documents

October 2006 Catalyst Magazine