Lend a hand, would you ?

I recently got a request from SK, a fellow blogger who is trying to collect information about all the charity and good will organisations working in Tamilnadu and/or India. His aim, as I understand, is to have all the information in one place and make it easier for people to lend a hand as volunteers or publicise these organisations or ask for help or point it to people who need help.

He has listed me as one of the bloggers who could contribute to this cause. Thanks, SK and good luck to your endeavour.

AADHAAR

Aadhaar is a non-profitable socio-charitable Association for the Development of Health and Academic Awareness in Rural India, started by Indians studying/working in the University of Twente (UT), Netherlands. It was started in 1998 and now has 125 active members, most of them UTers or ex-UTers. The association is registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and has even managed to attract a few non-Indian members. It receives donations from many UT faculties and institutes and has used them for many projects, some of which are given below

• Building of classrooms for the Parijat Academy, a school for tribal children in northeast India - Before this, the students were protected from nature's forces by bamboo walls and tin roofs.
• A self-sustainable knowledge centre (the third of its kind) was inaugurated in western India with the goal of providing library and computer facilities to underprivileged children. It is located inside the premises of a school, whose teachers and senior students operate the centre on a voluntarily basis, and services are also open to the general public. There is a photocopy machine, that can be used to generate revenue and gradually make the centre self-sustaining. Here is some additional info, for the sake of credibility, My husband, Ashok, is an active member and when we got married, we requested people NOT to bring presents but contribute to Aadhar and the money went towards building this knowledge centre
• Medical facilities: 1000 euro went towards financing surgical procedures for 12 children who suffered from various disorders like facial cleft, and another 500 euro towards providing furniture and mattresses for the residents of a home for the mentally challenged
• Finanical support to Eklavya Archery Academy (It is a well-known fact that India does not produce enough quality sportspersons commensurate with its massive population and attributed to its lack of proper infrastructures)

Are you interested in signing up as an active member? Are you interested in making your organization a contributor ? Write an email to Pramod.

Contact Details:

Pramod Agrawal

Bruggenmorsweg 113,

7521 ZT, Enschede, The Netherlands.

Phone: +31-649311325

Fax : +31-534893849

Email: pramod1902@yahoo.com

http://www.aadhaar.com/

SWABHIMAAN

It is a registered charitable trust in Bangalore for the welfare of young underprivileged girls founded by Mr.Venkatraman Iyer in 2000. It receives regular financial support from Aadhar.

It mainly caters to the needs of deserted

woman and their children.

The children are provided with a good education, a good and happy environment to live in and are even given classes in music and art. Swabhimaan today takes care of fifteen such girls.

The next time you see a small abandoned girl on the road, even if there isn't anything you can do about it, atleast make a call to Swabhimaan and tell them about it.

Contact Details:

Mr. Venkatraman Iyer

The managing trustee

Mobile: +91-9945436757

Email: venkat_1958@hotmail.com

http://www.swabhimaan.org/

Mailing Address:

Swabhimaan

B 405 Raheja Residency, 3rd Block

Koramangala, Bangalore, India

CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

Although this is not an Indian organization, the work it does involves children in India too. It is active in rural villages and urban slums in and around Kolkata.

Children International has been around since 1936, and now assists over 300,000 children in 11 countries. They connect very poor children to caring sponsors. The sponsored child receives free health care and medicine when he/she gets sick, has access to a dentist and receives benefits like the clothing, shoes and supplies necessary to go to school. Because of sponsorship, children have a place to turn to and real hope for the future.

I personally know a lot of people involved in this program and so can confidently say that the money is indeed put to good use. My cousin, who is also sponsoring a child, says "I am proud to be a sponsor myself and I’m asking you to learn more about sponsorship and hopefully become a sponsor to a child in need. When I told a friend of mine about my experience, she asked me the details and I thought why not create this page and share it with all my friends!"...so you can find more details at here.

All you need is 2 mins to fill in the application form and $22 per month to change the life of a child! Would you be willing to sponsor a child ? Think about it.

Since SK has suggested this should be a chain, I am requesting 2 other bloggers to do the same. I will update details here when I receive their acceptance.