Rishi Modi’s Personal Blog

Girl banks on eye donors to get over grief of losing dad

Convinces 500 people to donate their eyes in just 15 days after her
father’s death.

Kandivli resident Isha Kishore Shah was devastated when her father passed away in November. Not wanting to let go, she and her mother decided to keep him alive in some way by donating his eyes. For the 24-yearold, this came as an eyeopener and she started a drive, urging others to donate their eyes. In the past 15 days, Isha has managed to convince 500 people to pledge their eyes.

Isha, who lives in Kishore Kunj on M G Road at Kandivli West, started the project on December 8, days after her father Kishore Shah died of a heart attack. Though her father’s name was not registered for eye donation, she and her mother Renuka Shah managed to get in touch with an eye bank and donated his eyes.
“By donating my father’s eyes, I can say he is still alive. Isn’t it beautiful ?” said Isha. She and her mother decided right then that they too would donate their eyes.

Soon after, Isha got in touch with eye banks and studied the process of donation. “I thought two eyes would give life to two persons, but I was wrong. Because of three layers of the cornea in each eye, one person’s eyes can actually give vision to six people. Collecting 500 pledges means 6,000 blind people will see one day. It gives me immense pleasure to do this work,” she said.

Before her father’s death, Isha was pursuing a leadership programme through a private educational institute, but has now taken on eye donation awareness as her new project. “My project name is No More Darkness — Two Eyes, Six Visions. So far, I was pursuing my personal contacts, but now I will go from door to door,” said Isha, an interior designer by profession, who is now the sole earning member of her family. Still, she has decided to devote half of her time to raise awareness about eye donation, and is busy getting people registered with the Rotary Eye Bank.

Her proud mother, who is helping Isha take the project forward, said, “I am spreading awareness among women. We now plan to get in touch with different mahila mandals across the city.”

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I’ve posted an email send by Sapna Punjabi on her project. She is the SELP Participant. Read her phenomenon project and you’ll be touched by what she has shared.
My name is Sapna Punjabi.I’m a participant of the SELP which started in May 2008 SELP in Mumbai which is led by Rishi Modi.

I took up a project on Senior Citizens…I started a club which is exclusively for Senior Citizens called ABHI TOH MAIN JAWAAN HOON….

WHY I TOOK UP THIS PROJECT??

In the advance course, I declared myself to be possibilityof LOVE AND MAKING A DIFFRENCE…Standing in the space of that, I surveryed,and concluded that the community which i wanted to impact was SENIOR CITIZENS(the most neglected segment)..

HOW I STARTED…..

Initially when i declared the project to my coach, I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life coz I had no clue where I would start from and how I would go about it. I declared it coz everybody was doing so. The biggest barrier for me was going and talking to people and sharing with them my project and getting them enrolled in my possibilty. Every morning I would wake up and say to myself that today I would start working on my project and by the afternoon, all the excitement and enthusiasmn was ruled by my conversation “Will people actually get enrolled in my idea”? and then I would sit back and just forget about it. Days passed and I would attend my classroom sessions, go and listen to people sharing and would wonder how those guys actually caused results in their project and what is it thats not allowing me to do so?

THE FIRE IGNITED….

I remember one classroom that I attended and heard someone share about their project being successful and how people just got enrolled in the idea of doing something which would impact the community. That sharing actually took away all the conversation that I had regarding people not getting enrolled in my project away from me and set me free.The very next morning, I woke up early and got ready to go and talk to the people in the garden just next to my house.When I woke up, I was all very enthu about taking the first step for my project, but as soon as I stepped out of the house,my nervouseness and conversation took charge of me. But this time I was not impacted and affected by that conversation. I knew it was a converstaion that I created for myself and let that be where it belonged to. I went down and as soon as I entered the garden, I saw the garden packed with senior citizens. Some of them doing their yoga aasans,some doing some other excercise,some walking and some just sitting and chatting. I was’nt decided whom I should approach first but then I approached a group of 10 people who were doing their excersises. I went up to where they were and just stood there quietly and did not say anything coz I did not wanna disturb them. All the while that I was standing there, I kept wondering if it was the right thing I was doing. Just while I was dealing with that, one uncle happened to see me standing there and observing them and walked upto me and asked me if i wanted something. There I found an opportunity walking to me to get enrolled and I decided that I ,the cannon should now fire.I started a conversation with that uncle by introducing myself and what I do in life. Then I went off to talking to him about Landmark Education and then was the most important one – my project. I spoke to him about my project and shared with him my thoughts and views and to my surprise, he was enrolled 100%. He complimented me by saying that it was really very nice to have someone young as me to start something for senior citizens and someone who actually had such noble thoughts and respect for senior citizens. That moment for me was a moment full of joy for me and I enjoyed every bit of my converstaion with him. After I completed with him, he directed me to another group of senior citizens who was just a few steps away and said that I should go and share this wit them as well. That was when I actually saw my project become alive. I went to the next group and they all stopped doing their yoga as soon as I approached them. I wished thenm a very gud morning with a lot of enthusiasm and got a gud response. I then asked them if I could talk to them for a few minutes and they said sure why not. I then did the same thing which I had done with the uncle (enrolling them) and believe me, I was really shocked and surprised to see the thrill and joy in them. As soon as I finished, they had loads of questions to be answered. I was asked questions like “madam pls give us the form and we would like to be a part of it”,”when is the event”,”we wee waiting for something like this to happen” etc etc. I shared with them the name of my club “ABHI TOH MAIN JAWAAN HOON” and they started screaming on top of their voice saying ABHI TO MAIN JAWAAN HOON and immediately got a box of sweets,opened it and then said “madam ab moh meetha karo” . We are all now a part of ABHI TOH MAIN JAWAAN HOON. That was the most memorable and unforgettable moment of my life. Just that 45 minutes visit to the garden had got me 35 members for my club. After I finished with them, I got present to something – its not difficult enrolling people if ure committed to them. That gave me self confidence and a lot of boost to move ahead and then I stared talking to people who were walking around in the garden. To my surprise, by the time I left the garden that morning, I already had 50 members. I was now on top of the world feeling absolutely great about myself. That day I decided that I wuld continue going down to the garden for atleast a week. I got the registration forms printed and went the next day in the morning. To my surprise, all the people whom I’d spoken to a day before, greeted me with a lot of love and respect and started screaming :good morning madam”. I felt verey important and for a moment felt no less than a know personality. I spoke to them and got them to fill the forms etc etc and enrolled many more people etc. This process went about for approx 10-12 days and slowly started seeing myself achieving the numbers I mentioned I would have for my first event. I started preparing for my event which was supposed to be the inaugural event of my club. I got in touch with many NGO’s and did get a response from many of them but none willing to help me as such. then came an NGO called SILVER INNINGS who voluntarily offered to support me in this work and move it ahead. We had a sucessful meeting and decided what we would do for the inaugural event. We did everything from arrnging for the venue for the event to refreshments,sitting arrangement to feedback forms. Everything was just in place for the 13th July (the day of the event)
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL…

Time passed and excitement and nervousness stared taking charge of me. I was very excited that I finally my project was happening and I was like the other few in my class who would have something to share about on this front. As the big day came, I had 140 registered members in my club. On 13th morning, I would just wait for time to pass as quick as it could. During the day, I went to the venue for inspection to see if my sound system was in place, chairs were neatly arranged,banner was put up etc etc. I was now totally set for my project taking off like a space craft. The event was to start at 5 pm and go on till 8 pm. I reached the venue and swa uite a few of them waiting for me. As soon as I entered there with my parents and husband, people started walking up to me and talking to me and sharing their joy of being there. I was overwhelmed at the response and the co-operation that I got from my members. After about 10 mins, we started off with the event. I started by welcoming them there and acknowledging them and then followed my welcome speech. After the welcome speech, I acknowledged the guest of honor for the evening who was no-one else but my dad.My dad was the first person who said this was not possible when I shared this idea with him and I got him there to see that I was capable of going beyond myself and doing things for others. Then we played a game of passing the ball – the intention of playing that game was that everyone enjoys and remembers their childhood. The rules of the game were that who ever got out would stand up and introduce himself/herself so that every individual got to know who’s sitting beside them. Everyone plyed the game with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and after about 10 mins what I noticed was that people were not willing to pass the ball – the simple reason being that they wanted a chance to introduce themself. I got that and at that minute I decided to stop that game and give them a chance to voluntarily introduce themself. As soon as I announce that they could do so, I saw people just waiting to reach out to the mic and kept raising their hadn so that they were given a chance. After almost everyone was done with, we had people from SILVER INNINGS come and have a visual talk to SUCCESSFUL AGEING. While thta went on, I observed that everyone single person present there was listening to it with great interest. Right then , we started off with our refreshments round and they were served right where they were sitting. Each of them wa sgiven a plate which had 1 samosa,1gulab jamun and a cup to tea. The session ended around 7 45 p.m.After that we distributed the feedback forms which we had prepared so that e have an idea of how it was for them and what should be done to take this to the next level. Everyon filled up the form with great interest and to share with you I got a phenomenal response. Every form mentioned that it was an amazing event. After that was done, people began to come up to me and thank me and gradually exited. During that time there were 2 members who came up to me and offered to share the expenses with me. That was something that I never imagined coz I hadnt taken a single rupee as membership from anyone. The two of them then gave me a certain amount and appreciated the event.

THE FIRST SUCCESFUL DAY AT SCHOOL ENDS….

At around 8 p.m almost all the crowd had exited. Now was the time that my friends,my husband and myself sat and discussed about the first day at school. To my great surprise what I was given to understand is that everyone present there was in great space. I was acknowledged and appreciated gracefully and respectfully by my friends and family members for all the efforts that I had put in to cause this. That day is the most memorable day of my life – a day that I ould never even dream of forgetting.
LESSON I LEARNT AT FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL……

When you are committed to something in life, things start falling in place. Never get stopped by conversations that u create by yourself – they stop you from recognising your own capabilities……

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On May 25th I started my ‘Self Expression and Leadership Program’. In this program I wanted to create a project related to dancing as I am very passionate about dancing. So I thought of arranging a workshop for the children of St. Catherine Home (Home for Underprivileged Children). When I was creating this project, I wanted to have Sandip Soparrkar do the workshop for these children. I approached Sandip and he was ready to be a part of the workshop. I thank him for his support and generosity.
On the Day of the project:

[image title="Lets Celebrate Life" size="medium" id="107" align="none" linkto="http://www.rishimodi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dsc016051.jpg" ]

I, along with 5 other people (Sandip, his crew and my friends) reached St. Catherine Home on Sunday morning at 10.30am on 20th July 2008. We started the workshop at 11:00 am for 1st set of children. These were all girls and the challenge for Sandip was that they were all under 10. I was concerned if they’ll be able to learn Latin Dance. As soon as the children came there, I was completely moved by their presence. There were 50 of them and each brought tons of energy and joy with them. Sandip started the workshop with them and there involvement was great. All of us were dancing and enjoying every aspect of it. It was fun! I cannot express in words my joy that I experienced when I was with these children. I too danced for a song in the class and then those children danced for a Hindi Song. Our workshop went on for 4 hours; we repeated the session for the next set of 50 and in total we conducted the workshop for 100 children. All I can say is that, it was fun. I request you to see the Gallery for pictures from the workshop.

[image title="Million dollar smile" size="medium" id="104" align="none" linkto="http://www.rishimodi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dsc01764.jpg" ]

I want to acknowledge the support of Sandip Soparrkar, Bhupendra, my wife – Rachana, Vandana, Isha and everyone who was there to make this event happen.

[image title="Group" size="medium" id="105" align="none" linkto="http://www.rishimodi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dsc01694.jpg" ]
Don’t forget to see the videos and photos of this event in the gallery.

Videos : Click here http://youtube.com/watch?v=-6I1G8lfUpg

Gallery :

Regards

Rishi Modi

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Project was created by my participant name Anil Gupta. The project started way back in Feb. 2007 and once you read the entire project I’m clear you’ll inspired by what he created in last 1 year and still going strong. His coach Shaunak Choksi created a key role in impacting this project. Hats off to you Anil and Shaunak. I’m really inspired by what you are creating in this world.

Background:

SELP project goal is to support the education of 20,000 girls till they complete 10 years of education.

Naandi Foundation:

www.naandi.org

www.naandi.no

Naandi foundation is a non-for-profit organization that runs several programs. The board of directors comprise of eminent industrialists and personalities in India including

• Dr. Anji Reddy
• Mr. Anand Mahindra
• Mr. Ramalingam Raju
• Actor Cheeranjiv

One of their programs in called “Nanhi Kali”. Nanhi Kali means flowering bud. Nanhi Kali enables the education of under privileged girls from class 1 to class 10. This program is run in collaboration with the local government by adopting government schools.

The program:

• Supports education delivery by increasing the teacher-student ratio and enabling the teachers by training and support.
• Provides uniforms, books, stationery to the girls.
• Provides regular medical check-ups and complete treatment to the girls through tie-ups with doctors and hospitals. It also provides hygiene education and support to the girls and their family.
• Provides the mid-day meal in the school.
• Supports and motivates the social environment (parents of the girl) to ensure that the girls continue to attend school regularly. This is done by appointing 1 mentor per 50 girls. The mentor works closely with the girl’s parents and school environment to track the girl child progress.

The cost:

• It costs Rs.2500 per annum to support one girl child in the Nanhi Kali program.
• The government provides Rs. 2 per child per day for the mid-day meal.

Current status:

• Presently Capgemini supports approx 4000 girls in the Nanhi kali program.
  • Capgemini India- 1500 girls.
  • Capgemini Norway- 2500 girls.
  • Capgemini Sweden- launched the program in Jan 2008. The numbers supported are not known yet.
• In 2007 Capgemini Sweden did not give Christmas gifts to the employees. Instead they donated the 10,000 euros to Naandi Foundation.
• Capgemini operations in UK, Netherlands and Finland are actively considering the Nanhi Kali program.
• The Capgemini Global CSR leader Ms. Carolyn Nimmy is very supportive and working to make this a global program.

The ambition:

• The ambition is, by end of 2009, to have the Capgemini Global CEO make a public statement that “For every Capgemini employee in the world we support the education of at least one girl child in India.” That would mean 80,000 girls.
• Include a CSR Incentive in all Capgemini proposals.
  • We will propose that for every team member deployed on a client project, Capgemini will sponsor the education of one girl child in India. The first such proposal was made in Dec 2007 to a client in Norway.

The chronology of progress:

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Project was created  by Dhaval, SELP Participant Oct. 2007. 

What Projec is  about ?

Project is about training students who are slow learners/dyslexic students some special techniques related to Math and other subjects. The intention is to ensure that they improve their scores by at least 10 percent in their annual exams.

Approach :

Visiting schools in Mumbai (India) and other cities and explaining our project to the Principals of different schools.  Then ask them to give their auditorium for a day. Special slides, multimedia presentations and other technology to make it more interesting.

Outcome :

Since the last month over 1000 students have been trained in 8 different schools. They have shown positive improvement in their scores. A majority of them have enhanced their scores by 8 to 12 %.  And exams apart, it is helping them boost their confidence in general life. Over 7 newspapers have covered this seminars and many others media mentions are in the process. Future plan to transfer this technology to another 50 teachers who can take training forward on an ongoing basis.

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SELP Project, Burn Survivor Day Out.

Shirin Juwaley, a participant of the SELP programme by Landmark Education,  had a community project for burn survivours. A day out in the form of the project was conducted for 30 burn patients of Sion Hopsital on 22nd December at a Virar resort. It was a special day, away from stares and questioning eyes around scars and contracted limbs. It was a time to shed inhibitions and get back to a life they had altered because of their burn injury. Watching the swimming pool water run down their bodies felt as if it was slowly helping them discard their self-consciousness replacing it with shrieks of joy and laughter. For the many burn survivours, mainly women, who had attempted suicide by dousing kerosene on themselves, it was day to leave behind the guilt and smile without remorse. Meena, 56 shared that ‘ today for the first time, I did not think of my home, my children, I lived for myself”. Nilesha, 22 shared that ‘ After being burnt it was the first time I have had such an opportunity and I am so grateful to have this special day”. Chanda, 41 shared “I have never been out on  a picnic, this is my first time and I will always remember this day”

Media Mention Copy :  This Media Mention came on 23rd Dec. 2007, Hindustan Times.

If you interested in reading the media mention, see below.

CURLED UP at home, away from the light, curtains drawn. They are ashamed of their own reflection, spurned by family and in agony from huge lesions that cover their body. That is how scores of forgotten burns victims while away their days. Most of them could easily have died in the acid attacks, acts of bravery or domestic accidents that left them scarred for life, but they do not feel very lucky to be alive. For 30 of city’s burns victims that changed on Saturday; for one day they had their life back. Sion hospital – along with burns campaigners Shirin Juwaley and Lalit Jham – organised the first day trip of its kind for burns victims in India. Thirty rehabilitated patients from the hospital set off at dawn to a Virar resort where they could relax, swim and express themselves in ways they had not since they got scarred. It was mid-day and the music by the pool had just started up. A stampede to the water disco was followed by shrieks of delight that could have been heard in Colaba. The simple act of jumping in the pool and feeling water run over their bodies – something most of them had not done for years – brought happiness. The release of frustration and emotion was tangible. “I pray that every human should be given a day like this,” said 30-year-old Poornima Bhonjale, who set herself on fire in 2002 after her alcoholic husband threw out their baby out of the house. “Today has shown me that if you have a life, it is worth living.” The major problem for burns victims is acceptance. “There is such ignorance and insensitivity towards burns victims in India,” said Juwaley, a burns victim herself. “People are scared of us, they are repulsed, they think it is a contagious disease. This harms the victims’ self-image to the extent that they don’t feel comfortable stepping outside.” The support group at Sion hospital offers both emotional and material support to victims. “We rehabilitate victims by giving them jobs at the hospital, financial help and by counselling them and their families,” said Tara Verma, the hospital’s community development officer. “This trip will help build confidence and begin to remove fears about acceptance by society .”

Feels great to be out

MALAN SONAVANA, 35 DHARAVI RESIDENT Four years ago, Sonavana’s pressure stove exploded in her face – the most common form of burn. After the accident, her daughter – who was seven at the time – was so horrified by the sight of her mother’s scarred face and body that she would not look at her and refused to eat food she had touched. “I felt very bad. Not only did I have the trauma of the burn, but also the trauma of my daughter’s reaction” she said. “I never leave the house because of my scars, so it feels great to be out.”

I am no longer afraid

NILISHA PAILKAR, 22 NAVI MUMBAI RESIDENT Last year, Pailkar ran away from home to marry the man she had fallen in love with. But four months later, she was so depressed that she doused herself in kerosene and set herself on fire.
“At first, I would never leave home. People stare and think I look grotesque, but thanks to Sion hospital my confidence has grown. I am no longer afraid and now I am determined to make my parents proud of me again.”

I have to live for my children

SANTOSH KAMBLE, 38 NAVI MUMBAI RESIDENT Kamble’s wife thought he was having an extramarital affair. She constantly threatened him with suicide but he ignored her. One day in 2000 – while he was outside – she set herself ablaze with petrol. In an effort to save her, he was severely burnt. She did not survive. “I know I am stared at and I feel self-conscious. It makes me depressed but I have to live on for my three children.”

I must keep going

SHAGUNA KASHIF, 29 DIVA RESIDENT When it became clear that Kashif was infertile, her mother-in-law threw kerosene over her and set her alight. Her husband stood by and watched. Five years on, she still does not go out because of her scars but finds hope in caring for her young nephew. “Looking after him gives me the will to live and keep going. I have a life now: I survived and I must keep going.”

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