Fellowships Available: Join a Chef in Germany or an Animal-Assisted Therapist in US
We are happy to announce that the Dekeyser&Friends Foundation is offering two exciting new Projects with fully funded Fellowships aimed at young people world wide.
The Culinary Project will allow 5 Fellows to join famous chef Tim Mälzer for three months in his restaurant Bullerei in Hamburg, Germany. The Teaching Project provides an exciting opportunity for Fellows to learn hands-on from Dr Samuel Ross in his school Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York about teaching children with special needs with the help of animal assisted therapy.
Deadline: March 10, 2011
To know more Details of the same: click here
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Indian Nonprofits face scrutiny for misuse of foreign aid
In 2004, Jerry Almeida, then the fundraising director of ActionAid India, was shocked to discover an office in the garage of their Bangalore headquarters where some of the staff were penning letters in a child's scrawl. The letters were sent out to individual donors all over the world, allegedly written by the Indian children people were paying to sponsor. The forgeries were far from the personalized interaction that the charity led the sponsors to believe. Sandeep Chachra, the CEO of Action Aid India, denied to TIME that the staff members wrote the letters themselves. "The children write the letters with the help of community workers and sometimes as part of school exercises," said Chachra. "Our staff has no role to play in it."
The alleged transgression is not a lonely instance of unscrupulousness in India's sprawling nonprofit sector. With 3.3 million registered NGOs, India's nonprofit sector raises between $8 billion and $16 billion in funding every year. According to Home Ministry statistics, foreign funding to Indian NGOs saw a 56% increase in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 fiscal years. In 2008, the latest available data, the total official foreign aid to India was $2.15 billion. But according to NGO watchdogs, almost half of that money is misused, mostly to support high administrative costs of running organizations. "NGOs who raise Indian donations are accountable to the Indian public, but foreign donors are abroad and there is no accountability. They receive a letter and they are happy that they are helping some Indian child," says Mathew Cherian, chairperson of the NGO watchdog Credibility Alliance. "There are many NGOs who won't even show you their accounts."
NGO accountability — or the lack of it — is, of course, not India's problem alone. A 2008 assessment of 30 of the world's most powerful global organizations cites transparency as one of the least developed dimensions of accountability. In India, the problem is compounded by the highly unorganized nature of the NGO sector: organizations are often required to register under multiple laws without any uniform accounting policy or reporting framework. It's a problem driven both at the organizational and the donor levels. Says Almeida: "Money is important for development but most people get swayed by emotional provocation and pay money to NGOs indiscriminately." (See pictures of the making of modern India.)
One of the key complaints against Indian nonprofits is their overspending on overheads. A 2006-07 government report on utilization of foreign funds by Indian NGOs shows that out of the $2.15 billion in foreign aid received, around $680 million was used for organizational expenses, compared with $563 million used for relief and rehabilitation of victims of natural calamities, $435 million for rural development, $269 million for construction and maintenance of schools and colleges, and $263 million for welfare of children. "Every organization has legitimate administrative costs," says Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children, India, which spends around 14% of its funds on administration. "It is impossible to distinguish administrative costs from program costs because it's all set up for delivering programs." Instead of focusing on how money gets allocated, Chandy says, "we should look at the impact created at ground level."
But there are other uncomfortable questions that also call the credibility of a lot of Indian NGOs into question. Chief among them is businesses using NGOs for money laundering. India's federal investigation agency is currently looking into money-laundering and fund-misappropriation charges against one of the country's most prominent human-rights activists, Ravi Nair. Nair and his NGO, the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, were indicted by the European antifraud agency in October of last year, though Nair has denied all wrongdoing.
While groups like Credibility Alliance, iCongo and GiveIndia are working toward increasing NGO accountability through annual reviews and accreditation, they still have a long way to go. Despite being around for many years, these watchdogs are used only by a few hundred NGOs. Credibility Alliance, for example, has only 600 members. Even international organizations like the Humanitarian Accountability Project, an international agency that seeks a voluntary system of accountability for 40,000 international NGOs, has only 36 members globally. The Société Générale de Surveillance, the world's leading for-profit inspection, verification, testing and certification company, has certified only 68 of the world's approximately 10 million NGOs. USAID-funded ForeignAID Ratings has certified three.
Foreign aid to India has come under the microscope by foreign donors over the past few years, with critics arguing that India — with a defense budget of $31.5 billion, a substantial foreign-aid program of its own and a U.S.-endorsed claim to a permanent Security Council seat — should be able to fund its own development. Today India is still home to 42% of the global population living on less than $1.25 a day, but if the World Bank's forecast that poverty in India will fall by more than a third by 2015 is correct, the government needs to take a closer look at better use of its foreign aid.
In response to these complaints, the federal government has been tightening its grip. New Delhi has banned 41 NGOs from receiving foreign funding in the past few years, and in August, the government revised the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, a 1976 law that oversees NGOs that receive foreign funding. Under the act, organizations have to submit an annual report to the government giving details of the funds received and their utilization. In 2008, out of the 34,803 registered associations, only 18,796 filed their reports. Now, with this year's revisions, NGOs that do not file returns to the Home Ministry will lose the right to receive foreign funds for three years, which will, in many cases, effectively suspend their operations. India's latest five-year plan also advocates a single comprehensive law with a single set of accountability procedures to encourage accountability and transparency within the NGO sector. After all, as Chandy says, NGOs are in the "credibility market" and they cannot afford to be above accountability.
Correction: Due to an editing error, a response from Action Aid was not included in the original version of this story. Sandeep Chachra, the CEO of Action Aid India, said, "The children write the letters with the help of community workers and sometimes as part of school exercises." He denied that staff members wrote the letters themselves: "Our staff has no role to play in it."
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Donations for Tribal Villagers in Thane, Maharashtra
Since I'm a bit of a curious cat, I called Ankur to ask whether his 'Young Sevaks' is associated with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He said it's not. - Chandni
Subject: Plz read and forward: Situation at tribal villages around MOKHADA
I request you to kindly have a detailed look at the attachments.
It would be appreciated if you can contribute by some or all means as mentioned in the flyer and also forward the attachments to your friends, family, colleagues and as many as possible requesting them to come forward and co-operate by all possible ways as mentioned in the flyer.
In case you want to donate more amount, you will get 80G certificate for your Income-tax benefit and also the receipt will be issued if required by the giver.
Thanking you in anticipation for your time, effort and concern.
Waiting for your response at the earliest.
For Young Sevaks,
Ankur Nandu
Jt. Secretary
+91 9960634573
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Save environment save Earth
I am working at Sagar to save environment from Hazards of Polythene disposal.Everyday during my leisure I make Paper Envelops and packets from used newspapers,which I distribute to shopkeepers without any cost with a message to avoid polythene use for selling their products and save Earth from global warming.Recently I am in touch of fifteen mentally challenged individuals living in a very bad condition with a group of Christian trust.I want to help them by financially and emotionally by involving them with this work of making envelops,but unfortunately I have no fund to help them as well as the whole world at a very large level.But I know one day God will create a way for me to do this work at fullest.
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Six Volunteers Available for NGOs in Bombay
We would like to request you to please grant us a permission for being a part of
your respective N.G.O for a very shortperiod of time, so that we give our best and help you all as mature students in various means. . We are 6 students’ pursuing bachelors in mass media from R.D. National College and have got an assignment of working for an N.G.O. (for children or even old age homes).
We basically have to spend 30 hours with them, be it even twice a week for 2 hours per day. Within this course we have to teach them or help them with various activities such as.. Dancing, drama, sports, cooking, art and craft, etc. Also, we will make a short 10 minutes documentary on all the time we spend with you all.
We sincerely promise you that the trust you will show upon us by granting us the
permission to work with you will always be respected and we will always
maintain the dignity of being a part of such a grace. As we have a vey short time and have to complete our assignment by end of January, I request you to please send us a hopefully positive reply as soon as possible.
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Research Fellowships on Health
Avabai Women's Archives (AWA) at the Research Centre for Women's Studiesinvites research proposals of approximately 1000 words for three research fellowships of Rs 50,000 each, for a period of six months beginning in Feb2011.
The proposals should aim at *retrieving and /or generating research based archival material* like diaries, campaign posters, photographs, important communications, journals, film clippings, institutional material etc in the following areas:
- Women's indigenous and contemporary knowledge practices and the status of women as knowers in the area of health and medicine
- Construction of gender in colonial health policies
- Histories, biographies and contribution of women in the early twentieth century to women's reproductive health.
The proposal should specify the methodology and time frame of the project.
Shortlisted candidates will be required to submit detailed proposals and appear for an interview.
Applicants for the grant should be social scientists or activists who have worked with oral histories. Registered PhD scholars working broadly in the areas suggested above may be considered.
The proposals will be scrutinized by a selection committee.
The decision of the committee would be final. Terms and conditions would apply.
Proposals along with two copies of the CV of the applicant should reach the following address latest by the *15th of Jan 2010*:
Avabai Women's Archives
Research Centre for Women's Studies
S.N.D.T Women's University
Sir Vithaldas Vidyavihar,
Juhu Campus,
Juhu Road Santacruz (West)
Mumbai 400 049
Tel 022-26610751 022-26610751 022-26610751
E-mail rcwssndt@bom3.vsnl.net.in
Details: www.rcwssndt.org
Research Centre for Women's Studies
S.N.D.T Women's University
Sir Vithaldas Vidyavihar,
Juhu Campus,
Juhu Road Santacruz (West)
Mumbai 400 049
Tel 022-26610751 022-26610751 022-26610751
E-mail rcwssndt@bom3.vsnl.net.in
Details: www.rcwssndt.org
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Animal Rescues
We are a small group of animal volunteers involved in rescuing and rehabilitating needy animals around Hyderabad.
We are starting a shelter for disabled animals.
We believe those disabled animals deserve a second chance [maybe not as easy as before , but still have a hope] which is why we are starting a shelter exclusively for them. Animals which are to be euthanize will be rehabilitated so that they can have as much normal lives as possible.
For this cause we are buying a land to built up a permanent HOPE. We have paid 150,000 INR from our pockets so far and we still need to pay 350,000 INR to get the land. We have been trying all possible ways to get the money [like loans , lending etc] which will take a very long time and almost seem impossible.
We think that joining lots of hands could make this shelter take form.We are gathering every possible penny and trying to reach the target amount.
All we want to request you is to please join a hand and help us move further.
Help us in helping those needy animals.
Hope to hear from you soon.Please let us know asap.
You can check our rescue album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=427778&l=37be037c87&id=557160412
Our Website : www.ps4a.org
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The professor who begs for his students
In our special year-end section, Rediff.com looks at people who wrote the India story this year.
Professor Sandeep Desai divides his time between running two schools -- one for slum children in Mumbai and the other in rural Maharashtra. To achieve his goal of setting up one school every year in a backward area, he collects donations from commuters in Mumbai's local trains.
Sanchari Bhattacharya meets a unique teacher.
In the last three months, Professor Sandeep Desai has been on the front page of a national daily, has been featured in a popular magazine and has received a personal endorsement from actor Salman Khan.
The neatly dressed professor made several heads turn earlier this year when he got on a crowded train compartment, clutching a donation box under his arm, and started begging for funds to complete the construction of a primary school in Zadgaon in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.
He appreciates the overwhelming appreciation and goodwill that he has encountered after the media, and Salman Khan via his twitter page, made him an instantly recognisable figure. But Professor Desai had a sincere request when Rediff.com met him for an interview: "Please understand that the mission is more important. Please focus on our mission in your story, not me".
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Philanthropy workshop at the American Center
The American Center and Samhita cordially invite you to a discussion program on
“Making Philanthropy Easy, Essential and Effective” with
Dr. Amita Vyas,
Assistant Professor & Director, George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services and Founder & President, Global India Fund Inc.
in conversation with
Li Ping Lo, Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Consulate Mumbai
Noshir Dadrawala, Chief Executive, Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy,
Vidya Shah, Executive Director and Head, EdelGive Foundation,
Akhil Shahani, Director, Kaizen Private Equity
Rajiv Agarwal, Advertising Consultant
American Center Auditorium
4, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm – 7:30pm
(Registration/Refreshments will commence at 5:30 pm)
RSVP: Ashwati Bharadwaj on bharadwajab@state.gov or tel.: 22624590 extn.2253
View Agenda
About panel members
Amita Vyas - Assistant Professor and Director, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and Founder and President, Global India Fund Inc
Dr. Amita Vyas is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Maternal and Child Health masters in public health program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Dr.Vyas founded the Global India Fund, a non-profit organization committed to inspiring global philanthropy by providing secure and transparent giving options to individual and corporate donors.
Li Ping Lo - Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Consulate Mumbai
Li Ping Lo is a first-tour Foreign Service Officer assigned to the U.S. Consulate Mumbai. After graduating from William and Mary in 1994, she taught English at Beijing Normal University, ran her alma mater's study abroad program in Beijing and worked as a researcher for the Los Angeles Times Beijing Bureau. In 1997, she moved to Hong Kong and worked for the Asia Society Hong Kong Center organizing programs on U.S.-Asia relations. She joined Hang Lung Properties Limited in 2000 and was a Manager of Special Projects, Chairman's Office. From 2008-2009, she worked as the Interim Executive Director of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center.
Noshir Dadrawala - Chief Executive, Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy
Noshir H. Dadrawala is Chief Executive of the Mumbai based ‘Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy’. He has written several resource books and is also the regional contributing editor of the ‘International Journal on Non-profit Law’. He has conducted seminars and workshops for NGOs all over the country and he is Visiting Faculty for a number of renowned institutions. In March 2008 he was appointed by The Planning Commission as a member of an Expert Group on feasibility of a New Central Law to serve as an alternative All-India Statute for Voluntary Organizations in India.
Vidya Shah - Executive Director and Head, EdelGive Foundation
Vidya is responsible for giving strategic direction to EdelGive Foundation and guiding its overall development. Previously she was CFO of the Edelweiss Group, which also involved working on Edelweiss’ philanthropy programme. She has also worked with ICICI, Peregrine and N. M. Rothschild during her 19 year career in investment banking. Vidya has a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Akhil Shahani – Philanthopist and entrepreneur
Akhil is the Director of Kaizen Private Equity. He is involved with and supports in various organizations with interests in education, new media, commodities and non-profits, including, the Shahani Trust which has been supporting charitable work in education, healthcare and low cost housing for 60 years.
Rajiv Agarwal – Advertising Consultant
Rajiv Agarwal is an alumnus of St Stephen's College, and IIM Ahmedabad. He has spent 25 years in advertising, and has worked with, and founded, some well-known 'creative' agencies. He was the first-ever Indian Juror at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes, in 1994.
About moderator:
Priya Naik – Founder and CEO, Samhita
Priya has a Masters. in Economics from Yale University, USA, a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and a Masters in Commerce from Mumbai University. Priya's interest in social entrepreneurship began when she worked as a Researcher at the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA.
About Samhita - Samhita is an online portal supported by N.S.Raghavan, the co-founder of Infosys. Samhita provides social organizations with web presence and access to donors, volunteers, employees, customers, service providers, sector experts and knowledge resources. It also provides donors, mentors and volunteers with a variety of opportunities to support credible organizations and regular as well as customized feedback about the impact that their support has created. In the past 4 months, Samhita has helped 500 NGOs gain access to INR 6 million in grants and donations.
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14th Mega Free Annual Jaipur Limb Camp
Rotary Bangalore Peenya is in the forefront in assisting the disabled and needy to acquire artificial limbs to enable them in leading a near normal life. Without appropriate prosthetic and rehabilitation devices, they often lack the means for social and economic self reliance and respectable living.
Running an annual Mega Jaipur Foot camp in the past 13 years Rotary Bangalore Peenya has successfully fitted 4735 limbs for the amputees, provided 11226 calipers 4600 crutches, 720 wheel chairs.
We are the first one to introduce in India, a simple and very effective ‘mechanical’ prosthetic hand. In the last 2 years we have successfully fitted 100 prosthetics hands. Indeed, it’s a heart warming sight to find people come on their fours /carried by others, now walking tall on their two feet or being mobile on the wheels.
The week to ten days Mega Jaipur Foot Camp usually benefits over 2000 disabled people from all parts of South India. From screening to counseling, from customized production to fitting under medical advice, every aspect is taken care by a team of about 5-6 Doctors and 20 Technicians of Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Vikalang Sangh from Jaipur.
Running an annual Mega Jaipur Foot camp in the past 12 years Rotary Bangalore Peenya has successfully fitted 4735 limbs for the amputees, provided 11226 calipers 4600 crutches, 720 wheel chairs.
We are the first one to introduce in India, a simple and very effective ‘mechanical’ prosthetic hand. In the last 2 years we have successfully fitted 100 prosthetics hands. Indeed, it’s a heart warming sight to find people come on their fours /carried by others, now walking tall on their two feet or being mobile on the wheels.
Rotarians and the family of Rotary, volunteer their time and talent, to manage the entire project passionately, extending every kind of support in cash and kind.
The 14th Annual Mega Jaipur Foot Camp is scheduled for January 3-9, 2010, at Bangalore Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Sangh, Infantry Road, Opposite The Hindu office, Bangalore.
We take care of the ‘patients’ and their attendants by providing accommodation, three meals and other refreshments and cost of the artificial limbs, crutches, wheel chairs etc.
Please spread the message and if you are in Bangalore, please do drop in between Jan 3rd- Jan 9th.
Rtn Mohan Kumar K V
President
Rotary Bangalore Peenya
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Mumbai Marathon 2011 - Supporting Swasth Foundation
Back in June 2008, we started Swasth India - a social business with a vision to provide for healthcare for the poor of India. The last 2 1/2 yrs have been challenging, humbling and rewarding. When we started, we had, caught in our overconfidence,assumed that we could provide healthcare to a lot of poor lives very
soon. We have moved forward, from idea to implementation, trying everything we first listed in powerpoints & excel sheets, and fixing details in the implementation - and now cover about 13,000 lives in our comprehensive health cover schemes.
However, we have been humbled by the challenges of offering product to the poor - keeping costs low that they can afford, and even when they can afford, convincing them on parting with their hard earned money. We have realized the the effort and learning that has to go into creating awareness about health insurance or preventive care. That led us to form Swasth Foundation in Feb 2009 - with the goal of providing for healthcare for the poor, by building some viable health systems model - but also involving community & people at large to make it viable.
Our motto is "All for Health".
Swasth Foundation currently runs a pilot health insurance scheme in Latur (called "Arogya Suraksha") where we do the last mile community reach directly, supports
community health workers in Washim district (as part of a comprehensive health product offering to people), provided health care services to construction workers in Haryana, and now works with Delhi government to improve access to primary healthcare services in 2 slums. Learnings from these projects have started showing up in Swasth India Services' comprehensive health scheme pilots.
These activities by Swasth Foundation need your support to continue - and I'll request you to support these. Swasth Foundation team (a team of 6 runners) will
participate in Standard Charted Mumbai Marathon on Jan 16th 2011 to raise funds for Swasth Foundation. I'll be running the half marathon (21km) to raise support for the organization. You can find out more about our marathon fundraising effort at:
I'll request you to support our effort - you can do so by contributing at
The site supports fundraising only for a week only. You can also mail in checks directly in the name of "Swasth Foundation" to the following address:
Swasth Foundation
615 Palms 2, Royal Palms Estate
Aarey colony, Goregaon E
Mumbai - 400 065
Please do contact us for bank account details, if you'll like to make an direct bank account contribution. Your contribution will be income tax exempt under 80G.
If you have any questions about the organization or how can support us - please do not hesitate to ask me. I can be reached on arvind@swasth.org, or +91 96190 59634.
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