I always wanted to be a socially responsible entrepreneur and giving back to the community was a big part of it. That was the theme that got Dave and I together in this venture. The journey in this direction has opened a whole new perspective for us on conscious capitalism and environmental responsibility. We can’t help but notice and try emulating other businesses and initiatives in this direction. Here are links to some earlier blogs from Dave on some of the businesses we admire
Dave and I went to visit the all girls school in Purchuru, to learn first hand how the school operates and what initiatives will make the most sense for the school. It was quite an amazing experience. All the children seem so bright and happy to receive an education, and the teachers are so very proud of the school and their students. The girls come from poor families who normally cannot afford to pay for their children education.
The school has been running on donations and noble intentions for the last 24 years. The school is is practically free for the students, they only collect a paltry 25 cents for the whole year from each student. Few donors over the years have been sponsoring teachers fees, children's uniforms, children's books and other necessities for the school. One such distinguished gentleman is Mr.Venkateswarlu (Lu) in this photo with Dave and I.
Dave is on his way back to US. No one would believe that it was his first time to India. He braved the heat, spices, and all the complexities of travel in India with great ease and as any local would do. Kids just loved him where ever we went and some even thought he was Ricky Ponting the pro cricketer from Australia (although Dave isn't so sure about that after looking him up...). Here is a picture of Dave with the kids from Takkar baba colony in Kurla Mumbai.
We took autos and rickshaws where ever we could as that is the best mode of transport to the places that we wanted to go. Here are other pictures of him (and I) during his trip from checking out materials in the streets of Delhi to visiting the all girls school at Purchuru to understand the needs of the children there. We did lots of work while he was here and in the process had tons of fun too. If you talk to him you should definitely ask him about the spice challenge he volunteered for.
Dave and I have been contemplating about what kind of initiatives we should be selecting that would be most impactful, can be administered directly by us and can show concrete results to customers and others donating money to our initiatives. In this process I met people from www.aasai.org.
