Thursday, January 22, 2009

An Appeal




Recession. Slowdown. These were some jargons that I had read about only in Economic Times. Never knew that it could impact a small school at the country side. On top of it, we have inflation. Yep, the WPI (Wholesale Price Index) might suggest that it isn't much. But, does that matter? Ordinary rice continues to cost around Rs 28. So is the case with other essential food articles.
Inflation + Recession is a deadly combination.

Truly tough times considering the fact that our School doesn't collect any fee from the parents. Nor does it get funds from the government. Our primary source of income is individual contribution.

There is another dimension to this challenge. More and more kids want to join our home. But we are constrained by the resources at hand. And these tough times have called for us to be innovative and do something "Out of the Box". As the saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". :)

Hence we have Paper-Empower! This is a volunteer initiative. The objective is simple - To raise funds. We volunteers spend a few hours over the weekends, go door to door, ask people to donate their newspapers to us, resell it & use the money generated to fund OUR kid's education at Kaliyuva Mane.

A lot of people have been skeptical about the whole idea. I "was" one of them until I realized its potential first hand. On Day-1 of the paper yatra, we were able to collect about 700 kg of paper, generating 4k in about 5 hours time. All that it required was dedicating a few hours over the weekend. We are extremely exited about the whole exercise. The best part of it is that every member of this project is enjoying it thoroughly. The whole idea of an IBM techie in the driver's seat(literally) and a few NIE & SJCE student's joining the crowd as their peers just while their time at Planet-X and other places, amuses me.

Their have been terra-bytes of discussion on what is wrong with the "system", on poverty, illiteracy, lack of values, corruption, etc. But they have remained mere discussions with big jargons and theories. As the IBM ad puts it, we need to "stop talking, start doing" !


All that is required from you is to donate your newspapers, and make sure all your contacts in Mysore donate it to us. Flats, hostels, your relatives, organisations, hotels, and anything else that you can think of. Spread this word. Let them know that they are just a click away from contributing to this revolution.

Sounds good? Then, please leave your contact details here, and we will come to your doorsteps to collect this "treasure"! Kindly note that currently, we undertake this project only in Mysore.

BTW, if you wish to do something more than donating papers, here are a few options:

1. Buy artistic greeting cards made by rural youth at Divyadeepa. The easiest way to support rural employment. Here are a few sample greeting cards -














2. Buy our T-Shirts.


We have put up stalls at different corporates like HCL, Wipro, Juniper, SPI, Excel-Soft etc, where we sell T-Shirts with inspirational quotes.

We also sell Greeting Cards and collect donations at these stalls. The proceeds of the sales of these products goes entirely to Divyadeepa. Help us setup a stall at your workplace.




These T-Shirts are also available at Divyadeepa. Another reason why you should visit us!


3. Sponsor a kid's education. Details available at our website.

4. Most of all, be a part of this youth movement. Realize the power of "WE" ! Find out more about volunteering here.

A small act of kindness is more powerful than the grandest of good intentions.
Come, let us join hands and be a part of this change!


2 comments:

  1. ALL,

    Please note that we undertake Paper-Empower project only in MYSORE as of now.

    Cheers,
    DivyaDeepa Team

    ReplyDelete
  2. why do we need a van? hudga gatti irovaga??

    ReplyDelete