Happy Independence Day!

Hey everyone, and thanks so much for visiting (or stumbling upon) the SIFE, SRCC blog.

First things first – Happy Independence day to all of you! It’s been 63 years since India became an independent nation, and we have all come a long way. During independence, India barely produced enough food to feed its people. We had famines every other year. Today, we have food surplus going waste. We’re one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

But there is still work to be done. Here is a classic example of how some people aren’t able to fully take advantage of India’s independence. If you live in a big city, you probably see rikshaw pullers everyday. They work all 7 days of the week; they do one of the most strenuous jobs I can think of, and they earn just enough to feed their families and barely have any savings.

SIFE, SRCC, in one of its projects, aims to improve the life of such rikshaw pullers, by giving them a loan to purchase their own rikshaw. For details on this project, please see http://sifesrcc.org/sife_srcc_projects_life_on_wheel.aspx

We aim to have 100 “empowered” rikshaws on the road by 18^th of September 2010. 18^th would be our day to celebrate, but there is work to be done before we get there.

I personally had the opportunity today to travel on one such rikshaw. I asked the puller how he liked his new rikshaw. His lips curved into a beautiful smile and he said "Bahut achha laga.". Be proud, SIFE-mates! We made a poor man smile today! And hundreds more will smile in the upcoming months!

Wait, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Harshini and I’ll be updating this blog from now on, on behalf of the SIFE SRCC team, giving you details on what we’re up to. I joined SIFE this year. I want all of you readers to remember that this site is run by human beings and not robots, so comments and conversation on this blog will be very much welcomed, whether you’re a SIFE member or not.

So go ahead – leave a comment on what you think of SIFE, or what you’re doing this Independence Day, or simply talk to us about anything you have in mind.