Be the Change-Maker….

You see a ten year old Ganesh working as a bonded labour, rather than enjoying his play station!!!! You witness a sixteen year old Laxmi giving birth to a child, rather than riding bicycles!!! You face an eight year old Madhuri shackled by the responsibilities of parenting her 3 younger siblings Monika (2), Anita (3) & Renuka (5) but with no one to care her!!!!! These not-so-uncommon heart-clinching scenes do stun us, stir our conscience & freeze our blood. And yes! There definitely comes a voice from within that cries out “Something should be done!”…To stop this!!! To improve this!! To change this!! But unfortunately most of the times, this voice willing fully lets itself subdued under the pretext of fame & fortune. Or at the most, we express some sympathy, shed some tears or vent out our frustration by cribbing upon the feeble government & corrupt politicians & then again get back to our routine stuff, thus gradually & harmfully becoming insensitive or perhaps immune to these social problems.

And this is where the demarcation comes….
Losers say,” Something should be done!”
Winners say,” I must do something!”

Inspired by the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the Change you want to see”, a group of courageous, passionate & committed individuals have stood up for something what they believe in… Because they have realised that, “Just intentions do not matter! And you need to ACT to make a difference!”

They now represent LEAD, a powerful & impacting mini-movement, a completely volunteer-run NGO, that primarily focuses on education of the under privileged children. LEAD represents two things. It abbreviates our mission - Love, Education & Attitude to the Destitute. Secondly, it elucidates the Leadership quality: Taking the responsibility to improve the system, even when you’re not asked to do so!
And being incidentally started by just one guy out of his sheer anxieties to give some time to a bunch of less fortunate but over enthusiastic slum-children, it now even represents the Power of One!

We believe that every child should enjoy his right to childhood & education. “Nine tenths of education is encouragement.” – Anatole France. So we endeavour to provide an appropriate environment as well as back-up for education to the less-privileged children. Our motivated team keeps striving to provide them with knowledge, skills, values and facilities to enable them to compete in the mainstream & rise with dignity in the society.

28 children across 4 slum areas in Airoli were admitted to a local NMMC school just within 1 month after its inception in July 2008 & today it is bravely forging ahead confronting various challenges with further aspiring to streamline about 17 more ‘lost & found’ dear ones in June 2009 after adopting one more slum community within its area of operation.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. It indeed, is the only thing that ever has”…….Margaret Lead

Our current action includes:
1) To identify the families from the slum communities of non-migrating nature, enrol their children in the nearby Municipal schools & then to supplement this education as well as ensure their discipline & performance through regular classes.
2) To encourage & support the school & college dropouts to pursue their further education along with the job (training & placement assistance)
3) Celebration of all the national festivals & regular interactions with the parents.

And for the holistic development of the community, we soon plan to roll out our other plans like non-formal education to the elderly ones, regular health check-ups, vocational skills training for the elderly girls & women as well as awareness about various saving schemes & Government schemes for them.

It’s high time now to just sit & react. We, the youth of this nation, need to mobilize our zeal & energy for doing something constructive, something concrete, for our nation, for our fellow-beings. Why should we just depend upon politicians to change the system? Aren’t we strong enough to do it…..?
And if at all, we are skeptical about this, then perhaps, we are not part of the solution!

LEAD provides you the opportunity, the platform, to participate in this change-making process. LEAD heartily invites you to be part of its growing family bubbling with extra-ordinary enthusiastic members & children and volunteer for its various projects, activities & events. Drop in at our Airoli centre to feel the difference we make.

Currently we are around 20 volunteers hailing from various backgrounds --- engineers, teachers, doctors, students, house-wives, managers, etc

Some people feel, But then there are millions of such poor, malnourished, illiterate & bonded children in our nation. What difference does your work make to them? So, we humbly suggest them to visit the following link for the answer: http://leadatairoli.weebly.com/inspiration-dose.html

Some people argue — I want to do something… But first let me get out of my mess…My exams, my family, my career, my job security, my income, my financial problems, etc…. For them, we just ask one simple question:
Is the Problem bigger than you or You are bigger than the problem??? Change-Makers don’t give excuses!!

You just need to give your 2-4 hours a week & then witness how you can give a puny girl a shot at changing her family’s destiny forever or a 7 year old boy the chance to polish his future instead of your shoes!

By making a difference in the life of a child... you will make an even bigger difference in your own life!

Website (Beginning, Challenges, Achievements, Media-Release, etc): www.leadatairoli.weebly.com
Email id: lead.airoli@gmail.com
Blogspot: www.leadatairoli.blogspot.com
Pictures: www.picasaweb.google.co.in/lead.airolii

So, Come on! Make a Call! Because….
If not We, then Who?
If not Now, then When?