Be the Cause

Category: Service Vacations

Evening in Africa comments

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To all those attended, participated or inspired the Evening in Africa on Saturday, from the ‘depths of our being’, Thank You. Michele puts the mission of our work so beautifully: “Getting more and more people inspired into service to make the world a better place. I really believe that people are essentially good. Sometimes they just need an opportunity to put their feelings into action. ”

I think the below comments speak for themselves.

Also, be sure to check out www.one.org to fight global poverty and AIDS.

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From Michele:
Hey Everyone!
Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to say this personally to each one of you, but in the meantime, I really want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your thoughtful contributions to our evening in Africa. I love doing the evenings of awareness, but I think it might be a while until I’m as emotionally invested in one as I was for this one. My focus in life was changed forever by my trip to South Africa and I wanted the people who came to this event to leave with a positive feeling about a place I really love, and I think, thanks to you all, that happened. I’ve gotten several emails since Saturday giving us glowing reviews. The tables were set beautifully, everyone interacted with the guests and the panel was thoughtful, articulate, and real. Most importantly, Joanne and Alka made a lot of new contacts that will be able to support them in their work. Again, I’m so proud of this event, and I didn’t want any more time to pass without telling you all how much you all mean to me, and how I totally recognize that this event would never have been so successful with YOU! Enough with the mushy stuff. Now that you all know how to do this, be ready for Evening in India…

To Joanne with Tias Arms:
I’m very glad that this event went well. I had a lot personally invested in it. I really wanted people to come away with a good feeling about Africa. I’m really happy that you have made some new contacts. One of my friends from school, Maureen told me she is going to be doing her internship with you and a girl from South AFrica that I talked to on the phone before the event told me she met you and was going to start volunteerig with Tias Arms. That’s what its all about. Getting more and more people inspired into service to make the world a better place. I really believe that people are essentially good. Sometimes they just need an opportunity to put their feelings into action. I feel very priviliedged through my association with BTC to be able to create those opportunities and it’s been an absolute pleasure for Ben and I to support Tias Arms in whatever way we can. If I dont see you before, I’ll definately see you on June 11th at your fundraiser. Let’s hope we have many more opportunities to work together to inspire people into service. Much Respect, Michele

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From Joanne Baker with Tias Arms
Dear Sukh, Michele and Be the Cause,
What an absolutely marvelous evening you put on Sat night. It was so heartfelt and personal. Not to mention beautifully planned and executed. I was so happy to see so many people there in response to your efforts. It was also wonderful to see your faces again and it brought back so many memories for me of our time together in S.Africa. I so admire each of you.
Michele and Sukh, your presentations were very touching and thought provoking. And the panel was so appropriate in answering from a “human” stand-point, your experiences.
Especially, I feel grateful on Tias Arms behalf for your continued partnering with us and for giving me the opportunity to tell folks about our focus in S.Africa. I think we made some good new contacts and I look forward to our continued growth together.
Take good care and thanks for all the work you do. Warmly, Joanne

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From Elizabeth at African Well Fund:
Michele –
I want to thank you so much for inviting the African Well Fund to participate in last Saturday’s event. It was a wonderful night and we met so many great people. I think you could definitely call that event a success! Only 50 RSVPs, yet you had a full house! I hope we are lucky enough to have that for our World Environment Day event in June.
I hope that we can work together again someday. I’ve subscribed to the Be The Cause newsletter and I’m very interested in your organization as a whole. I really love your mission and have been spreading the word about you to everyone I know.
Take care!
Elizabeth Beech

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From Alka Subramanian with Power of Love:
Hi Sukh, Mahsa, and Michele: Thanks for inviting me and my daughter to be a part of “An Evening in Africa”. The event was very well coordinated and I had a great time. I met with and chatted with many wonderful people.
Would love to get together sometime again soon.
With the power of love,
Alka

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From Jason
Dear Michele,
I just want to sincerely thank you from the depths of my being for the wonderful event you helped to inspire and put on. I must be completely honest when I say I was BLOWN away and riveted by the eloquence of your speech and was extremely appreciative to have you tell the story of our S. African adventure…you did a fantastic job. Its not easy speaking in public, especially when you’re sick and you pulled it off with a perfect score of 10. We recognize and bow in gratitude. Kudos.
In Heart & Mind,
JT

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From Gianna
Hi Michele and everyone,
wow…again, Michele—ya did it again and I’m so proud of u and all of us…I really loved how u spoke about the trip and all, Michele…made lots of sense and just was spoken very eloquently.
Sonali, first of all…the slideshow you put together…beyond incredible…I really wanted to cry, but maybe not in front of guests at my table :) There was lots going on, so I saw pieces here and there…if some inspiring song was playing in background along with…like even some songs we heard in SA, that would’ve been the end of me :)
Anyhoo, update!! Fantastic!!! And you were very much presenced with that slideshow. I thought of you through it.
It was a full house!!! I didn’t know if there’d be enuff tables! Panel was neat, so was Makhososana’s dance, and just felt very festive and worthwhile…I could write more to you personally about event.

Just want to include everyone in how you were missed and how your slideshow was off the hook.
Hi again Michele and everyone…along with Jason, I was blown away…Michele, u also have a sense of authenticity that comes across that is very refreshing…Sukh, I liked your speaking too…and your story, plus humor oh and game show host…and just all u and Michele and team did to put event on!!

Gianna :)

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From Farshad:
… and a special thanks goes to Michele for bringing everything together for this event. Thank you for all the time and effort that you put into
this event. As you all witnessed, this event was Standing Room Only. I guess we need to get a bigger facility for the next one…

Congratulations to all for holding such a successful event…

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From Sande Hart with SARAH
Hi Sukh,
Saturday night was informative, empowering, inspirational and a lot of fun.
Thank You.

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Dear Great Members,
Thank you so much for such a great night! I appreciate your letting me work with you all and I look forward to doing so in the future. I still hear wonderful remarks from some of my friends about the beautiful organization of the event, eloquent speakers, the panel, great food, and the drumming. Michelle, Sukh Mary Ann, Vincent, Mahsa, Farshad and everyone, you all did a great job. The Volunteers worked with such a wonderful spirit – serving and cleaning up.
Thanks Farshad and Michelle for the CD. Love, Makhosazana

Imagine

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Before any idea or concept becomes reality it was an idea that someone, or some group, imagined, and from this catalytic, creative energy great change and action spring forth. So, use your imagination, to see a world where hunger has disappeared, where a safe, clean, peaceful place is available for everyone to rest, where health care is available to all and education is free and readily available to every child; from this place, and from within your heart, let arise that action that will be the cause, the change, that you want to see in the world.

A new concept of entrepreneurship is percolating in the business world, it is called social entrepreneurship; it is a combination of social justice and business venture intertwined. The formal definition of an individual who undertakes this kind of entrepreneurship is:

Social Entrepreneur
n., 1. society’s change agent: pioneer of innovations that benefit humanity. Social entrepreneurs are visionaries with radical ideas and the ability to make their ideas a reality.

A few days ago, I had the chance to preview part of a heartening PBS series, called Uncommon Heroes, whose main subjects are social entrepreneurs. The series highlights individuals who measure their bottom line in human lives not monetary currency. The film tells the stories of four brilliant, inspiring individuals; individuals who value helping others and through their own commitment have made positive strides in the world while creating compassionate ventures in the process.

In India, Kailash Satyarthi rescues brutally enslaved children and adults who are being held by the India mafia and who are used as slave laborers. These rescues are dangerous raids, in which those rescuing also risk their lives. For Satyarthi, once these individuals have been freed from their enslavement, his job has only begun. First, the adults and children are fed, and then the adults are given transportation back to their village to start their lives in new found freedom. The parents are given the option of leaving their children with Satyarthi’s teaching staff for the next six months or having them return to their villages with the adults. The children who stay are the recipients of lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic along with leadership building skills, usually this is the first time they have been exposed to any formal education.

Many children in India, who are forced laborers, are used as rug and carpet makers. So, as a further measure to eliminate child labor, in 1994, Satyarthi founded Rugmark International. Currently in Nepal, Pakistan and India, the organization monitors factories, certifying carpets made without child labor. In consumer countries, it seeks to create market preference for certified rugs.

In Bhumneswar, India another compassionate revolution is occurring. In India, education is not available to all. A woman named Inderjit Khurana, an educator and principal of a private high school, is aiming to change this situation. Her novel idea which sprang forth fifteen years ago is to bring the school to the children, rather than the children to the school; she calls these innovative learning environments, Train Platforms Schools as they are situated at the train stations. With an annual budget of $12,000 dollars the group of teachers she employs runs twelve platform schools. More than four hundred children, aged six to fourteen receive instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, and basic life skills. They also receive less traditional education regarding HIV/AIDS/STDs, subjects which unfortunately are relevant to these children’s lives, despite their very young age.

The last two inspiring individuals, featured in the film, are Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, affectionately known as Dr. V, and his business partner David Green. Dr.V is an eye surgeon, who despite crippling arthritis, which fused some of his fingers together, has miraculously become one of the best cataract surgeons in the world. Dr. V’s revolutionary idea is to make cataract surgery fast, quick, cheap and available to all. His inspiration, and easily recognizable metaphor, — is the golden arches, otherwise known as McDonald’s. In conjunction with Dr V., Dr. Green created a company called Aurolab which manufactures replacement lenses. Dr. Green has invented an innovative lens manufacturing technique. This technique has lowered the cost of a pair of lenses from $150.00 to $5.00, still allowing a profit of 30 percent which is given to the hospitals to sustain free services.

Today, the group of Aravind Eye Hospitals provides over two hundred thousand people a year access to free cataract removal, preventing blindness. Seventy percent of all of the hospital’s patients receive their surgeries for free, while the remaining 30 percent pay for their services. The ones who can afford the surgery allow the ones who can not to receive the life saving benefits of sight. A blind person in the third world is referred to as ”a mouth without hands” and the average lifespan after cataracts set in, causing blindness, is three years. Dr. V’s hospitals have taken a leadership role and have demonstrated, with some very unique concepts, that health care can be available to all. “Two qualities for leadership are to be visionary and to know execution. If I can go from consciousness to higher consciousness then I will be a leader,” states Dr.V.

As George Bernard Shaw once said, “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” Each one of us, as individuals, has the capability of using our imagination to change ourselves and to change our world, to be compassionate and to serve others. So, just imagine…..

Note: Uncommon Heroes will be premieres Tuesdays, June 28 and July 5, 8-10 p.m. on PBS

–Stacey

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