Sunday, February 27, 2011

Let's keep the hope alive


I am participating in the Gate River Run in Jacksonville on March 12, 2011 to raise funds for the education of underprivileged children in India. I will be running the 9.3-mile (15-km) run for the first time in life. 

We, the Team Asha, genuinely believe that there is a need for socio-economic change in India and education is the right way to bring about this change. We do our best within our limitations to facilitate and support education of underprivileged kids in India. For some of these underprivileged kids, a single meal a day and a decent education is much more than having a good time. Its bliss!! Please read more about Asha's projects at http://www.ashanet.org/uflorida/index.html

We, the team members, were initiated with us pledging to raise at least 300$ from our run. As the phrase goes, charity begins at home. Every year my grandmother donates a certain sum in the memory of my grandfather. Back home, I, along with other Cummins batchmates and "Seva Sahayogis" helped school kids of Sri Saraswati Vidya Mandir with Maths and English. I was also a part of School Kit drive of Seva Sahayog.



At UF, I have volunteered on a gameday and wish to donate an hour's worth of my first salary to Asha, http://www.workanhour.com.

Asha is highly ranked (highest 4 stars) by Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator from US.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7630

I have witnessed the impact of every single penny in the lives of these children. To give you a better estimate,
15 – Covers food, boarding, and healthcare needs of a child for one month
$100 – Helps educate hundred rural pregnant women on infant health
$150 – Covers books, uniforms, meals, vocational training, counseling and medical costs of a child for 1 year
$200 – Higher Education for one student for one year
$500 
– Can completely take care of a ten year old child until she graduates from high school 

Donations are accepted in the form of cash, check or credit card (online). Make the check payable to 'Asha For Education' and send to the following address: 
Gators for Asha, 
300-9, J.Wayne Reitz Union, PO Box 118505, 
Gainesville, FL 32611-8505

Please select me as the runner when donating online or indicate my name in the memo field of the cheque.
If you can, please forward this email to your friends and colleagues.
For an amount > $20, sending a check will offset the 3% towards credit card service charges.
Help us to keep the hope of education alive in the kids we support.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

They call it ER!!

I was an avid fan of Gator Nights (aka G-N here onwards) in my first semester at the University..still am..but now hardly get time for G-N-fanning..These days my friends stopped expecting me at the Gator Nights, and had already left our apartment complex by the time i realized i had free time to spend constructively..
so i reached late n was further in the queues for all the happening events @G-N..
G-N organizers were hosting a "combat sport" (the word used by the hero of this blog aka KK ) which needed a team of 8..most of friends were done with the event..but some stayed back so that I could form a team and play..
Epic worrier that I am, I kept asking KK if it really hurts..these guys love pulling my leg and dished out fabrications of how seriously hurtful the sport was..
We wore protective gear and entered the maze..it was dark and we had to figure out our way + look out for opponents..the girls in my team were sincerely carrying on with route search..but the guys lifted the plastic sheets forming the maze walls and tunneled through faster..after an entertaining and fun time..we came out to find KK bleeding through his eyebrow..he dashed against another guy in our team n the metallic frame of this guy's specs hurt him..
The game volunteer accompanied us to the main lobby, other volunteers got tissue papers n ice (we dint even know where a First aid box is) while we were trying to call up our Ph.D friends with cars and KK's roomy  to get his insurance papers..A G-N volunteer offered to drive us to the hospital and off we go..

The saga started with the volunteer dropping us at Veteran's hospital by mistake, and headed back to the Univ...we followed the arrows to ER, where we were asked at Reception if he was a veteran, and when we told he was not..THEY REFUSED TO TREAT HIM and asked us to go to another hospital next door!!!!!!!!!!! All this while KK is pretty upbeat n cracking sidekicks at this knotty situation, and holding a "patch" over his eye.
After a windy search for ER (google maps, we still love you) of this 2nd hospital by our friends (it seems they recently shifted ER to a new building), KK walks in the ER Reception..KK is asked his Social Security Number which he quotes correctly, obviously, he is smart and was composed..next they ask PSI insurance file number..which he quotes more or less correctly too..but they cant locate the file, they shoo us away and spend some time confirming his identity in privacy
While we wait at the ER Lobby..he is called in..a long wait..we are completely clueless about why is it taking him so long..his roomy went in to check..KK is waiting in the ER, the doctor isnt here..2 hrs later, he gets stitches done..and is home "feeling good like he's never been before" (quoting KK again)

I could not help comparing the process with our home country..here you first see a nurse who determines how serious the situation is..when we asked how long a wait, what if he had a flight next day, we were bluntly told that the wait doesnt depend upon what he has lined up the next day..
Unlike some rowdy guys back home we dint vent out our anger at the VA hospital or the doctors for the delay..
We reasoned that its okay if they didnt treat him at VA hospital, or needed extra info. to find his insurance file, that is one of the most imp. document abroad..
We also reasoned that friday nights were the busiest nights in ER..we had witnessed this in our waiting room stint..

guys reading this post..waits at hospital is not just prevalent to our country..if this can happen in US it can happen anywhere in the world..
in fact by hurting d doc/ hospital..you are making things worse for other patients who need their help..give it a thought..may be your turn to see the doc took longer because the doctor's colleague on duty was beaten by people like you?
a sincere appeal..please THINK rationally before you act