Dear donors and fiends, I am very pleased to announce that the collected amount Rs.1,45,000 to help the brave girl from Gujarat is going to be presented to her on April 22, 2010 at 4:30PM in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I thank immensely every donor of this worthy cause (list is given below). I thank Mr Kirit, Dr Raghu, Mr PVV Rao, and Prof Shiva Shankar for their invaluable help in organizing it. My special thanks to Mr Kirit. Without his help it would have been impossible for me to get proper and timely information. Dr Raghu helped me in many ways. Another good news is that she got a teacher’s aid job a few days ago. Though the salary is paltry, it will help her heal the wounds. There will be no public function, media, or photos due to the sensitivity of the case. Check(s) will be handed over to her in the State Bank of India office in Ahmedabad in the presence of a few guests. Here below I am giving you the details of the event and our appreciation letter to her. Please write to me if you have any questions. I once again thank all generous donors who feel the pain this unfortunate girl (for no fault of hers) went through and opened up their hearts and purses. Without you we could do nothing. THANK YOU. With regards Ben ====================================================== Event details: Date : Arpil 22, 2010 Time: 4.30pm Venue : State Bank of India, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad Total gift amount: Rs. 1,45,000
Organizers: Dr Raghavan Rangarajan (Scientist, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad) Mr Kirit Parmar (Social Activist) Guests: Ms. Parikshita Gurjar (DSP of police), Fr. Paul (St. Xavier's Social Service Society) Mr. Rameshchandra Parmar (a Dalit activist) Mr. Ashokbhai Chaudhary (Tribal activist) Mr. Anil Gupta (AGM of SBI, Bapunagar branch) Amount disbursed as follows: English learning coarse fee : Rs. 4,800 (Paid to the English coaching inst) Fixed deposit : Rs. 1,00,000 (5 year FD at SBI, Ahmedabad) Auto loan clearance : Rs. 16,000 (Remaining balance from auto loan taken by her father) Amount remains in the bank : Rs. 19,200 Amount yet to be sent : Rs. 5,000 Total : Rs. 1,45,000 --------------------------------------------------------- Donations received (US donations are after reducing the commission, if donated through online) Donor USD Rupees Ms Raj Kaul, US 96.80 0.00 Ms Shilpa Raina, US 96.80 0.00 Ms Santosh Raina, US 96.80 0.00 Mr Sanjay Chauhan, US 29.80 0.00 Dr Satinath Chowdhary, US 96.80 0.00 Mr Mohammad Imran, US 96.80 0.00 Dr Uma N Iyer, US 51.00 0.00 Mr Gagan D Mall, US 100.00 0.00 Anonymous rape survivor 300.00 0.00 Mr Srikanth Voorakaranam, US 750.00 0.00 Ms Sugam Tiku, US 100.00 0.00 Ms Usha Shiralkar, US 250.00 0.00 Prof Alladi Uma, Hyd 0.00 5,000.00 Prof M Sridhar, Hyd 0.00 5,000.00 Prof Alladi Sitaram, Hyd 0.00 5,000.00 Dr Ranghavan Rangarajan, Gujarat 0.00 5,000.00 Prof Shiva Shankar, Chennai 0.00 10,000.00 Dr Usha Rani, India 0.00 5,000.00 Ambedkar Inter.Mission Inc,US 250.00 0.00 Dr Venkata Pingali, US 60.00 0.00 FFEI contribution 0.00 3,134.00 Donations total 2,374.80 38,134.00 USD converted into Rupees 0.00 1,06,866.00 (Exchange Rate (Appx.) Rs.45.00/USD) Total donations Rs. 1,45,000.00 ------------------------------------------------------- Letter: My dear Ms Anjuben, Jai Bheem and greetings from USA! With great pleasure and confidence in you and in your abilities, I am writing this letter. This small gift from Friends for Education International is a token of our appreciation for your intelligence and courage to fight back with bravery. You are a role model to many of us in United States and you should be a role model to many in India who suffer at the hands of the powerful and keep silent fearing of the repercussions. If I have a say in bravery awards that Government of India gives every year, you will be the first one to receive. I am confident that you are doing well in your education and English language course. I want you to use this money wisely to further yourself in education. Try not to use it for other purposes or cosmetic material. Financial problems are always there. Most of us grew with them. But, if you spend this money in education wisely, it will help you reduce many problems in future. I wish you realize your dreams of becoming a big officer and help others like you. Remember that such a position doesn’t come so easily. You have study hard, acquire skills and proficiency in English, withstand competition, and show that you are better than others around you. I congratulate you on receiving job offer as school teacher. I am confident that you are capable of achieving even bigger things, if you desire so. Shall I give you an advice? Make Dr Ambedkar your model, guide, and philosopher. Many of us are proud to say that we derive inspiration from that intellectual giant. Remember that he faced more humiliations and discrimination in his life than anyone of us. Remember that he studied sixteen hours a day to acquire intellectual weapons to fight with his contemporaries and adversaries. He never allowed anyone to let him down. He fought courageously to gain dignity in the lives of millions of people who were treated worse than animals. Remember that he sacrificed his whole life and family, but never deviated from his mission. Remember that what we are today is due to his sacrifices. So, read his biography and his books and understand his philosophy. His life tells you what a single determined man or woman can do in his or her life time. Though everyone can’t become a Dr Ambedkar, knowing him will certainly make us purposeful, dutiful, courageous, and determined humans. If we can do a millionth of what he did, I feel, the purpose of human life will be fulfilled. So, I stress again, study Dr Ambedkar. Then, none needs to tell you about your civic duties. I encourage you to share with us your achievements from time to time. I am just an email away from you. You are also welcome to write to us if you need any guidance in education. Our organization has many intellectuals – professors, engineers, IT people etc. We will guide you to the best of our ability. We wish to see you in big position. We wish you have a good life. We wish you help many people in future. So, we will be happy to receive any communication from you. At the end, let me thank all donors who came forward to help you. Without their generous contributions, we couldn’t have presented this small gift. Ofcourse, it is not a charity. You earned it due to your bravery and courage. What we expect from you is just an occasional email informing us how you are doing. Let me also thank Mr Kirit, Dr Raghu, and Mr Rao who worked so hard to give us logistical support to help you. Finally, it is our honor to help you. We wish you great success in life. Please be in touch. With warm regards, Benjamin Paul Kaila ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society. -Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org or www.ambedkarscholarship.org
