In every walk of our life, have we ever stopped a moment to think about the fact that how important is it to educate a child? How important is it to provide livelihood for the needy? How important is it to take care of those children and others who don’t have access to healthcare?? The answer in our minds is, yes of course! It’s greatly important to do all those necessary things because now a days, people are society conscious in every way! Many have realized the need to help those who are needy. All it takes is just a thought! Just a thought about such serious issues will, by itself initiate a change!
If Education is like a cloud then Encouragement is like a Silver Lining behind every cloud that makes it look bright and clear! Encouraging those who can achieve great things even when they are struck by poverty, physical and mental illness and many other reasons is a task to be thought of next. We have a few organizations that try to educate children who are poor and are not able to afford it. One such organization is The Ma Foi Foundation.
They support Education, Livelihood and Health. They have fixed a nominal amount of rupees for each of their projects and by collecting such funds; the Ma Foi Foundation has touched more than 50,000 under privileged families in the society. Now let’s talk about each of it in detail.
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| Courtesy : Google |
Livelihood – “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day... Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. This is what they strive to do. Through a project called Sornam, the foundation works for improving the livelihood of women and give financial independence by initiating Self Help Groups. Project Sornam is valued at Rs. 2000 which helps a woman to expose herself to sill based training programs that helps her in earning her own livelihood.
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| Courtesy : Google |
Health – “He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything.” These lines were said by Thomas Carlyle. As rightly said, health is something very precious. In our country, too many die due to the lack of access to basic healthcare. Many die due to the inability to afford expensive treatments. ‘Ekam’ is a project that serves healthcare needs for the marginalized and the needy and is valued at Rs.5, 000 which supports a health camp that screens children for various health related issues and at Rs, 10,000 for intensive care support for a child.
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| Courtesy : Google |
Education- The project is named as ‘Disha’, which actually provides an opportunity for children from underprivileged and deprived backgrounds to rise beyond all odds by gaining knowledge and power. Its concentrates not just on Education but of the holistic development of them. Through this project, they not only help children to get educated but also a chance to try out their talent in Sports. Project Disha is valued at Rs.2500 which supports holistic development of a child in a year, Rs.7, 000 which supports a student’s college studies for a year and Rs.10, 000 which supports a sports scholar for a year.
Apart from just providing them with education, they encourage them and also recognize their achievements in a big way! One of the ways though which their hidden talents are brought out to the spotlight is through the ‘Disha Young Achiever Awards’ – A ceremony to celebrate the unknown faces with limitless talents!
Disha Young Achiever Awards 2010
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| Winners of 'Disha Young Achiever Awards 2010' |
It was a day of joy and celebration for the under privileged children at the Disha Young Achievers Awards event, organized by the ‘Ma Foi Foundation. The Ma Foi Foundation, as an initiative of encouraging the under privileged children who achieve in terms of academics and others categories such as sports, arts etc, gave away the Disha Young Achiever Awards to 20 students; 10 for academic excellence and 10 for fine arts.
The chief guest, Mr. Raju Venkatraman, Director and CEO of MEDall Medical Services distributed the awards to the winners in the fine arts category whereas acclaimed film category Mr. Karthi was the special guest who distributed the awards for academic excellence. The award fuction was followed by dance and music performances given by the Disha scholars.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Latha Rajan, Managing Trustee, The Ma Foi Foundation said, “There are plenty of talented people in the state with great ideas and we are extremely happy to honour these unknown gems, irrespective of their social and economic backgrounds. The Ma Foi Foundation is extremely proud to have taken this initiative and I hope that these achievers will serve as an inspiration to all other children and youth countrywide”. The foundation received around 300 applications of which 50 were short listed for final round. The winners were selected on the basis of their performances, economic background and their drive to achieve. These 20 children were given a trophy, cash prize of Rs.10, 000 and a citation each.
Selvan Lokesh was one among the 10 who got the award for the category of fine arts. He moved many hearts into tears, when everyone saw the short film shown on him. Though he is from a poor family, he had exemplary talent in painting. He studied in St. Louis Higher Secondary School for the Deaf and Dumb. When a physically challenged can become an achiever, overcoming the difficulties in life, why can’t the others too?
Selvan Lokesh was one among the 10 who got the award for the category of fine arts. He moved many hearts into tears, when everyone saw the short film shown on him. Though he is from a poor family, he had exemplary talent in painting. He studied in St. Louis Higher Secondary School for the Deaf and Dumb. When a physically challenged can become an achiever, overcoming the difficulties in life, why can’t the others too?
- Anusha Gunasekaran
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