For Newsletter March 2009

April 2009

FIST OF RICE

FIST OF RICE An Idea called Fist of Rice

Did you know?

At this very moment, when you are reading this you are probably saying to yourself: “Now, what is this? Funny saying FIST OF RICE! What in the world is that?”

Hunger remains the No.1 cause of death in the world. Aids, Cancer etc. follow .

FIST OF RICE is a non profit organisation with the mission to eradicate hunger from the Indian society. Now, you must be thinking: “Well, there you go! Another NGO out to save the world! How many of this kind have we not seen? Besides, is hunger even a problem in India? Maybe in the under developed third world nations but not India!”

1/3rd of the world’s hungry live in India.

You simply couldn‟t have been farther from the truth. Yes, FIST OF RICE is a NGO. But, more than that it is an idea! An idea, so simple that each one of us can be a part of it yet so grand, it can change the life of 200 million in India who go to bed hungry every night! Did you know that every year 7 million kids in India do not reach even their 8th birthday just because they did not get enough food to eat? The facts in the right column may surprise you, but they are true.

Over 2,500,000 Indians die of hunger every year. 30% of newborn are of low birth weight, 56% of married women are anaemic and 79% of children age 635 months are anaemic.

THIS HAS TO CHANGE! “So, what is the big idea? And in what way can I help?” you may ask. Again, we say it is in the name itself and is based on the simple principle of community sharing. If each one of you on two days of every month gets a fist of rice on your school‟s or organization‟s “Rice for life” day, you would have done your part in making our society a better and happier place. These grains are then mobilised by our volunteers to the needy old age and child homes across Goa. A simple sharing of whatever we the lucky ones have with the not-so-lucky of the community will go a long way in changing our world.

Inside this issue: In My Opinion - Tejendra Lawande

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FOR Schools

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An Experience worth it

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‘WOW’lunteer for FOR

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“How can a fist of rice change the world?” A regular Indian family of four consumes 200 Kgs of rice in a year. A person on an average needs 50 Kgs of rice a year. A fist of rice weighs 35gms. Put the same numbers in number of fists of rice a person consumes in a day. It works out to 2 fists of rice a day.So, the little fists of rice each one of you gives every month feeds a person for one day. Simple isn‟t it? Highlights of our work in Goa in the past month include (Figures are collections in kgs): 1. Kiran Niketan, Birla

2. MES Higher Secondary School, Zuarinagar 3. MES College of Arts and Commerce, Zuarinagar 4. Government High School, Mangoor Hill 5. Navy Children School, Chicalim 6. Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1, Vasco-da-gama 7. Kendriya Vidyalaya No.2, Vasco-da-gama Total:

44.15 92.85 191.00 50.00 215.00 279.00 127.00 999kg

The collected grains were distributed to three institutions Our Home - Bogmalo Love India Charitable Trust, Sancoale Boys Orphanage, Agassaim

All facts and figures have been compiled from bhook.com which has been derived based on: UN World Health Organization: Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization: SOFI 2006 Report National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (India) National Family Health Survey 2005 – 06 (NFHS-3) (India) UN World Food Programme Centre for Environment and Food Security (India)

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“I have experienced that even sharing just a small morsel of food with the distressed and unfortunate can give the satisfaction which possession of best of luxuries cannot give.” -Rtn. Tejendra Lawande

FIST OF RICE

In My Opinion Rtn. Tejendra Lawande ,President, Rotary Club of Vasco-da-Gama. The situation of under nourishment and malnutrition is so grim in a promising and developing country like India that it is worth stopping for while to ponder whether the development and strides that we are making are really the goal of our existence. With so much distress around us, we should be thinking whether monetary gains is all that is to life. I have experienced that even sharing just a small morsel of food with the distressed and unfortunate can give the satisfaction which possession of best of luxuries cannot give. Rotary Clubs around the globe today are fighting the war on hunger especially when it concerns children of the world. Rotary strives in its pursuit with the basic philosophy that health and hunger take the precedence over other sufferings. I was personally amazed to learn that such a young band of good souls could come with such a noble

The People behind FOR

and unique concept, that is the „Fist Of Rice‟. It took me a while to digest albeit with gratitude that

We are a group of young engineers, doctors and professionals who wish to create real-lasting value to solve the growing problems of hunger and food shortage. The Goa Chapter is run by student volunteers from BITS Pilani – Goa Campus, Zuarinagar. Software engineers and IT professionals in Chennai handle and coordinate the various management and back end tasks of Fist Of Rice. FOR expands its reach in the northwestern regions of India by launching another chapter in Pilani, Rajasthan through student volunteers in BITS Pilani—Pilani Campus

solace to me to realize that Indians are still and will be firmly connected to our culture and values.

such young individuals, and that too students, are sensitive to the needs of the unfortunate and it was Elders always say that there is no better pious activity than offering food to the needy. My humble submission to you all at „Fist Of Rice‟ will be to please nurture and let flourish this act of giving and make this organization of yours a role model for our future generations. Organisations like Rotary will always be at your side encouraging and supporting you all to fulfill your purpose of life. Our club secretary Rtn. Santosh Lotlikar shared with me his views that he was touched by the sensitivity that your members showed for the needy. I pray that „Fist Of Rice‟ will grow manifolds for the sake of the millions of hungry souls.

What is FOR’s long term vision? At FOR, we envision an India without chronic hunger. We aim to create a system which effectively utilizes food resources in the country. We foresee that by creating a culture of sharing in the society and motivating the youth to work for the welfare of the nation, the Indian hunger crisis can be easily overcome. What is FOR-Goa Chapter’s immediate goal? FOR Goa Chapter was started in September 2008. Currently we have 9 donor schools and colleges and 3 recipient organisations. The team has mobilized 999kg of rice since its inception. Our immediate goal is to build a network of 50 schools, 20 colleges and 10 recipient organisations by August 2009.

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FIST OF RICE

School of Rice— How we can help ourselves Why?

How?

When?

During our initial survey in Goan orphanages and old age homes, we found that a majority of charitable institutions are finding it difficult to make ends meet. It came out that most of them rely on small circles of generous donors to contribute in difficult times. The survey strengthened our belief that the situation could improve quite easily and sustainably if the idea of school and college students in Goa contributing a "fist of rice grains" was put into action.

We have a simple operating strategy.

Lets talk now! Please contact us on +919823715372 or +919881884234 or email us at [email protected]. A volunteer from Fist Of Rice will get in touch with you regarding the possible ways of contribution. Our next collection drives are in August and October 2009. Lets join hands and change Goa!

1. Plan the collection during a meeting with the institution head. 2.Organise the collection ( arranging and transporting the containers to and fro) 3. Hand over the collected grains to the recipient organization. Our volunteers take care of the entire process. All we ask is your consent to bring smiles to more faces.

By Rasagy Sharma

An Exper ience wor th the exper ience As this is the first edition of the newsletter, it would be appropriate to begin with how the first school that we approached helped us kick start our venture. Incidentally, it wasn’t one but, two at a time that started off the FOR campaign. The MES College of Arts and Commerce and the MES Higher Secondary School, Zuraingar. We started off with discussions with the Principal of MES College, Mr. Hajirnis about FOR and its objectives. He welcomed the idea with open arms and directed us to the NSS faculty coordinator of the college, Mr. Satyavan Naik. It was an immense stroke of luck on our part that we approached the right people and the right institution on our first day out. Had it not been for their initial support and encouragement, FOR wouldn't have scaled the heights that it has. Mr Satyavan also had encouraging words for us and wanted the college to be a part of the campaign immediately. But, he had some obvious reservations about the program. Our discussions included questions like "How do we arrange collection containers?", "What mode of transport of rice grains should we use?", "What do we do about the different varieties of rice that the students would bring?", "Should it be compulsory for all students?" etc. We assured him that the arrangement of containers and transport would be solely our responsibility; and that the orphanages are happy to receive rice grains, even though they are mixed to some extent (keeping in mind that majority of the rice grains from a locality belong to same variety). Finally it was decided that the collection would be a part of the NSS Day Celebrations of MES College. We volunteered to go to each class on the previous day of the collection and speak to the students about Fist Of Rice. So, 24th September 2008 arrived in all its glory! We had already delivered the rice containers to the college. By our calculations, we had estimated that we would get around 50kg of rice. We were thinking that if we receive around 75kg that will be a great collection. Mr. Satyavan had told us he would take care of the storage of the collected grains and that we could transport it in the evening. We called him in the afternoon to check how the collection was going. Now, this is something we never expected. He burst out with the news that all the containers are full. They had to use 5 extra containers from the college to store the grains. Oh! That was really great news to us. Containers overflowing - we never expected that even in our wildest dreams. The recipient organization - "Our Home", Bogmalo - headed by Dr. Carla Souza was ready to come immediately to receive the grains. The grains were handed over to them. Guess the quantity?? A whooping 141kg - almost twice our expectation. So...end of story. That was the first collection. . FOR is growing stronger and stronger by day. Let's make it happen - Lets KILL hunger!

“ There are lots of destitute and poor people whom FOR has helped me to feed. Our institution requires Rs. 18000/- every month for rice. FOR helped us and I am very grateful” Dr Carla Souza Founder Our Home, Bogmalo

QUICK FOR FACTS >>Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1, Vasco -da-gama (279.00 kgs) has been the single largest donor as of now. Navy Children’s School Vasco comes second with 215 kgs on a single day.

>>The first FOR collection was on 11-Sep-08

>>Currently, FOR directly provides for the daily food requirements of more than 100 people in Goa.

FIST OF RICE

Think You can be One?

‘WOW’ lunteer

Check Your FOR IQ!

To achieve the immediate goal and other short term goals, FOR requires a strong volunteer base. Volunteers are the lifeline of Fist Of Rice. They are the „power of the community‟ expressing caring and sharing through the work they do. We are looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks ranging from design work to organizing grain collections. If you would like to volunteer please contact us at Email :[email protected] Mobile: +919823715372

Prove your mettle by becoming a FOR College Ambassador. We expect ambassadors to publicize FOR and organize grain collections at their college. What do you get? To be a valuable part of the growing FOR community will be an enriching experience for you. You can learn the nuts and bolts of project management and marketing. You will also get certificates and goodies like personalized Tshirts, accessories etc.

FOR Campus Ambassador “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” -George Bernard Shaw

If you are an enthusiastic college student who wants to start Fist Of Rice operations in your college, this is your chance.

Special volunteers Our special volunteers constitute the group of people who pitch in their talents and skills to help FOR grow in the right direction. Artists, designers, writers, singers, managers, entrepreneurs, socialites…just about anyone who has the desire to contribute meaningfully constitute this group. If you are talented in any field and would like to be part of FOR, this is your chance!

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention”

-Oscar Wilde

Spread the word The Simplest and yet the most important thing you could do to help make the world a better place to live in is by spreading the word about us. You could join our blog and express your views at http://blog.fistofrice.org/ or everytime you come across a group of people who you think could help us, you can show them this newsletter or just get us in touch with them. Lastly but not the least you could make us a part of your friend list on popular social networking sites and see the world transformed!

Across 2. One of the 3 basic requirements to live. 4. You can use it it to box your enemy or save the world,the choice is yours! Down 1. Committed to a cause for the joy of it 3. Khrarif, rabi and India's staple diet refers to...

Project volunteers Our immediate goal is to build a strong network of schools, colleges, old age homes and orphanages. We would like to complete the project by August 2009. To complete the project we need around 65 volunteers and Rs. 10000 in funds. We are looking for volunteers who can engage themselves in part-time work. A typical volunteer‟s work will be centered around contacting various organisations (donors and recipients); talking to them about FOR; meeting them; and spreading awareness. You will be required to spend 2-3 hours(on a average) every week for this work. Positively contributing to the community around you can be one of the joyful experiences. If you would like to join hands with us on this project, please contact us at [email protected]. (Don‟t forget to mention that you are a project volunteer!)

Contact Us: Please contact us on +919823715372 or +919881884234 or email us at [email protected]

© Fist of Rice