Give to India – and Enrich Yourself!

News about India Giving Day on March 2

Photos: Children’s Hope India/Lavina Melwani

The children are four or five years old and they are bursting with joy and energy, bubbling to share all they have learnt in an innovative new program in early childhood learning. Forget the fact that they live in a crowded slum in Delhi, forget the fact that many of them are children of laborers and rickshaw drivers who have never been to school themselves. These children exude self-confidence and so do their teachers, who are also residents in the same slum.

I know because I met them and saw them in action during my recent visit to India. As a co-founder and board member of Children’s Hope India, it is a trip I have been making for the past 30 years and the new buoyant attitude cannot be missed. The streets are still crowded and chaotic but the children are optimistic and hungry for learning.

Education is indeed the great leveler and these children were getting the head start through 30/30 Educational Initiative of which early education is a key component. It is painstakingly created by Children’s Hope India to match the best programs and adapted to suit the Indian environment. No more the unimaginative, rote learning of the past.

“It was launched based on the gaps that were identified by the Government of India NEP 2020 (National Education Policy),” says Dr. Dina Pahlajani, president of CHI. “Early Childhood Education for 3 to 6-year-olds is a major area of focus. Preventing dropouts especially in higher grades under this initiative will be addressed by providing remedial and concept learning as well as ensuring access to digital learning.”

For months the CHI Projects Committee based in India and New York had met through zoom calls with some of the best experts in education in India, brainstorming and laying the scaffolding for this thoughtful program. The local teachers in this pilot project have received special in-person training and the results are palpable. The teachers and children have pride and ownership in this project and love it.

CHI has undertaken this ambitious new project in five pilot community centers and will be expanding it to several other centers serving underserved populations in the years to come. It also involves remedial learning and scholarships for older children. All through the fall and winter Children’s Hope India board members, advisory board members and volunteers have been traveling to India, on their own dime, to ensure the smooth working of this project and then reporting back to the donors and supporters in New York. These visits have included our centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bhuj, Jodhpur, Pune and Bhopal so we know how each center is doing.

For 30 years CHI has been dedicated to the child’s journey from cradle to career and has so many success stories which entail girls’ education, women’s livelihood and community empowerment. Who would have thought a child from the slums would be enrolled in medical school? This is the new reality of the new India, when help is given to those that need it most.

There is more good news: The Indian Diaspora, with its high-net individuals and corporations, has become more and more generous over the years, and the young second generation has a special link to India, and a strong desire to give back to their homeland. Many more nonprofits have been formed offering help to challenged communities in different aspects of life – from health to old age to rural support – in different parts of the country.

For many years each of these dedicated organizations were working in isolation, in the darkness, not knowing of the others out there.  Then Indiaspora, a noted community organization founded by MR Rangaswami, came into the picture with a smart solution: it turned these various organizations from competitors to collaborators, connected them  and strengthened the entire giving scene.

India Giving Day is all about  Joining  Hands

There is strength in numbers and the start was the formation of the India Philanthropy Alliance which has enrolled the most deserving nonprofits in a tribe – a curated and verified network to showcase their work. Its five national co-chairs are Sapphira Goradia, Deepak Raj, MR Rangaswami, Suri Sehgal, and Sunil Wadhwani. “There is tremendous potential in having a special day of giving to benefit India,” says Sejal Desai, who is co-chairing this event.

As Alex Counts, the Director of India Philanthropy Alliance points out, the member organizations of IPA have helped collectively raise more than $135 million annually in philanthropic donations, including more than $60 million in United States to support their evidenced-based development and humanitarian programs. Their most generous donors are Indian-American entrepreneurs and professionals as well as companies doing business in both the United States and India.

The most active organizations in the IPA network are Agastya USA, Akanksha Education Fund, Akshaya Patra Foundation USA, American India Foundation (AIF), Antara International, Arogya World, Children’s Hope India, CRY America, Foundation for Excellence (FFE), Indiaspora, Pratham USA, Project Echo, Sehgal Foundation, Teach for India US, VisionSpring and Wish Foundation.

And now that leads to the first India Giving Day on March 2 and Children’s Hope India is proud to be part of it with all the other wonderful organizations giving back to India.

On March 2, you will have an opportunity to give – and get rich. Your wealth will come from the satisfaction of having helped the future of India and made a positive difference in lives – be it of the old or the very young just starting out in a challenging world. You can give with confidence to any of these dedicated organizations and be assured your donation will make a positive difference. So please get started – and join the party! For more information and to make a donation please click here – www.indiagivingday.org/organizations/children-s-hope-India/