Blog (July 4th, 2014):

Hello Everyone!

Although many take the Fourth of July to celebrate independence for Americans, we, as youth ambassadors, commenced an everlasting relationship between two programs. The Bala Janaagraha program enables students from the city of Bangalore to obtain a role of leadership in their communities. These students, varying from the 8th to 9th standards, offered their own opinions, as well as accepted the new standards us Americans included in our brief conversations before lunch. During lunch, as a congregate group, we enjoyed a delectable meal, and the pleasant presence of each other, breaking the ice to a even further extent. After a long, interesting tour of the futuristic Infosys Campus, we finally settled down in the Ashoka Room for the main event. Gautam, one of the executives of Bala Janaagraha, commenced the conversation through introducing the topic of the contrasting governmental systems. The tit for tat about the prior topic within our little groups induced a spark of both conversation and amazement in two systems, which claim to be a democracies but structurally differ. After a one to two hour lecture, the adults allowed us a break for chai. Even though such a leisurely, simple task seems negligent, the study of their behavior displayed the similarities between all of us, grabbing for the pipping hot samosas and chai. As we returned to the Ashoka Hall, the conversation shifted to the topic of the water issues in India. Stacy introduced the proceeding topic. Next, we divided into our little groups again, hoping to create a practical solution to this major issue. All of us offered specific opinions, which include the following: division of water based off of population, use of external sources, and the connection of all rivers in India. As this conference, per say, came to an end, not only were new bonds and friendships created, which will last forever, but also transformed each of us as individuals.
- Ajay, Pranav, & Karan

Making New Friends at Shishu Mandir School

Click, click went the Nikon cameras as we exited the bus and were greeted by the eager students of Shishu Mandir school. Their glittering smiles welcomed us into their truly unique learning environment. Next, in a hospitable manner, they led us on a tour of their school. As we walked into the main building, we were amazed at the staff's caring nature and the students' redeeming qualities after dropping out of school. One of the great things about the Shishu Mandir school is that they give students another chance to enhance their all-around character and skills in order to prepare them for the competitive workforce. After witnessing the high tech machines, we also explored the nurturing and disciplinary structure of their extensive library. Then we proceeded to the weekly school assembly where students presented a variety of their achievements from singing to unicycling to drum dancing. During the assembly we discussed the qualities that make Shishu Mandir a one of a kind school. The founder of the school, Mamma, stressed femininism so strongly the boys may have felt slightly out of place. She suggested an "equal" classroom was one with a 7:3 ratio of girls to boys because she thought it was an ideal place to learn, despite the number of girls being much higher than boys. After the small look into the Shishu Mandir culture, we got into small groups with the children of Adobe Youth Voices, who were more than willing to share their experiences regarding the water situations in their homes. Through modern technology and innovative ideas, the students had created films that communicated significant issues in their own lives or societies. One prominent issue the students seemed to care about were gender roles in the domestic sphere. As the day progressed, we visited some of the students homes in the rural villages of Bangalore. We grew a new appreciation for water that books and movies couldn't teach us. Once we entered the house, we observed the transformation from the piles of garbage and stray dogs to their immaculately clean and sacred home. After talking to the residents, we acquired knowledge about the water situation in their community. Once every fifteen days, children of a family will go to collect water from a tanker. These tankers are never a reliable source since they come at random intervals of time. We realized the struggles the residents go through on a daily basis, while we have the ability to access clean water within seconds. From this experience, we are learning to be more conscious of our water consumption because every drop of water is precious in India, and all over the world. Overall, we moved beyond the confined space of a prisoner and ignorance of a vacationer and evolved the focused and clear mindset of a true leader. 








Riya, Anjali, Avani, Anika

July 3rd - Visit to Enable/Oberoi

Hello Everyone
This morning we traveled to Enable India, a partner of AIF that works to allow disabled people to find jobs. We listened to the founder, Dipesh Sutariya,  speak about his personal motives of founding this organization: his brother in law had degenerative eyesight and Dipesh and his wife wanted to teach this man to live an independent and fulfilled life. After successfully helping his brother in law find a job, Dipesh, and Shanti (his wife) decided they needed to help others. Dipesh spoke about innovation and thinking outside the box. He did a wonderful exercise with a plastic chair with us to help us see how we can come up with solutions to any problem if we think and look for solutions. We toured the Enable facility and observed five visually impaired men learning how to use the computer with the assistance of speakers. They were all very inspiring and driven towards their goal of living independent lives. After the tour we got to interact with some of the other candidates of the program and talked about their achievements and aspirations. Each had very unique stories. One man that we talked to got into an accident in seventh grade leaving him blind in one eye. He told us that he was sick of being treated as an inferior instead of an equal in his family due to his disability. He told his parents that he needed to be independent and blaze a path of his own in order to feel that he had lived his life to the fullest. He came to Enable to do just that, and after nine months of re-learning and polishing his skills we were ecstatic to learn that he has been offered a job interview tomorrow at one of the largest tech companies in southern India, Infosys. We all wish him nothing but the best!

After our visit at Enable, we got back on our bus and traveled to a local mall where we dominated the food court and stuffed ourselves with western luxuries such as subway! After this 30 minute lunch break we rushed off to the number one ranked hotel IN THE WORLD, The Oberoi. We were greeted by men and women in prestigious uniform with extremely warm hearts and welcoming smiles. We proceeded through the immaculately decorated lobby and entered a conference room. We were quickly served an exquisite refreshment, homemade lemonade with rose petals and we were all given cold towels to revive ourselves. We then refocused and went back to learning about the water at the hotel. We were talked to about how this hotel chain gets its water and then recycles 100 percent of it. We then walked down some less luxurious looking stairs as we entered the machine room which pumps 200,000 liters of water through its system each day. We learned about the sewage treatment plant in the hotel and how they maintain such purified water for their guests. Many of us pondered the juxtaposition of how luxurious their jobs are compared to their homes and water access at home. After this tour we were all extremely excited to watch some of the best chefs in the world prepare traditional  Indian snacks. They cooked samosas, cheesy chili , Kathi rolls , and mouthwatering vegetable pakotas. They were all well received to say the least! The outstanding service was so appreciated and the hotel was a great experience for all of us. Sophia and I are writing this from our new (and even more luxurious) bus as we race through the madness of Bangalore en route to eat even more at the Cable car restaurant in Indra Nagar!

Lastly we want to touch on Ashoka fellows, a term for social leaders, and how many we have met so far on this journey. We have been so inspired by the positivity and ingenuity of so many different types of innovators. We have met with panelists who have created their own businesses, helped others and pioneered all types of change in the world around them.


Tomorrow we are off to Mysore where another pair will blog!

Hope all is well back home,

Amy and Sophia

uploading some more pictures from Lal Bagh

The Youth Ambassadors off to a great start learning

The Ambassadors had quite a packed schedule of orientation for the trip.  They first had a session to discuss how to best to experience the trip.  Using different personas of a vacationer, prisoner and leader  Stacey Kertsman in a very interactive session go the kids thinking about how best to experience the trip.  Here are the Ambassadors at this session in the Jivox office -- it was on the terrace and a little hot but the kids powered through in spite of having just gotten off a flight!

Next up I walked them through an introduction to AIF and about the goals of the trip and the broad agenda of the trip to set the stage for the Ambassadors to get the best out of the trip.   We encouraged them to keep their eyes and minds open and to be prepared to brainstorm, ideate and come up with some frugally innovative solutions to water issues in rural India.    The goal for the kids was to end the trip inspired to be leaders and Ambassadors for social causes in India.

The kids got a break from the heat and went inside the office to have some fun with Henna and a Birthday cake.  They then spent some time organizing themselves into groups for the activities ahead.

On Sunday evening the kids were treated to a great presentation by Hooshang Subbawala -- Head of GE's Water division in India.  Hooshang is a very inspiring and entertaining speaker who was incredibly knowledgeable about water issues in India.  He spoke about the stats and issues of water on in India and the crisis that is developing for clean potable water.    Hooshang also showcased a few of their projects at Infosys where 100% of the water used in the several hundred acre campus is recycled and reused.  He also showcased water reuse at a Toyota plant.  Many thanks to AIF Board member Ash Lilani for organizing the presentation.  Ash was also at the event so we were glad to see the support from the AIF board.

First update from the ground

Hello Everyone,

Namaste from Bengaluru!

We have had two very full days on the ground. All our Ambassadors arrived Saturday morning and we kicked off the day with a guided tour of Lal Bagh Botanical Garden. Our guide Vijay welcomed us and in addition to a wonderful historical perspective, told us the three things that all Indians have in common; Bollywood, Mangoes and Cricket. Our Ambassadors managed to enjoy Mangoes today...we are hoping that they will experience cricket and bollywood as well. A highlight at Lal Bagh especially for our animal loving Ambassadors were the numerous monkeys' in a bamboo grove enjoying treats and showing off. We then headed to Jivox Corporation (Diaz's company in Bangalore) for our orientation to the program. The kids enjoyed mehndi(henna) and a birthday celebration for Sophia and Talia. We were amazed the kids lasted the entire day without jet-lagging and we ended the day with pizza and headed for a good night's rest.

We kicked off Day 2 with an early breakfast and walking exploration of Bangalore's flower and produce market. After safely crossing the street, the kids enjoyed the cacophony of sights, smells and sounds, and each of us were touched by the flowers gifted to us by the vendors. We returned to the hotel to immerse in a Leadership and Frugal Innovation workshop after which we enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant. Contrasting the flower market in the morning we set off to a modern mall in the afternoon. We ended the day with an inspiring speaker Hoshang Subawalla who leads GE's innovative water recycling efforts in India. He gave us a great overview of the water challenges and the solutions that the government and corporations such as GE are working on, stating "If we can solve the water/sanitation challenges in India we can solve them anywhere in the world". The Ambassadors had insightful questions and are ready to dive into the project.

Please excuse our delay in blogging as the days are long and the internet connections are a bit unstable. We are hoping that the ambassadors will be able to do the next blog.

Usha and Purvi

P.S. We will upload pictures as soon as we can.

The group that left together on the 26th are here and are settling into their apartments

Hello All
The group that left on June 26th just landed safely and are in settling nicely in their apartments. We will post the day's activities at the end of the day.
Best
Usha