We Flap - Learn. Interact. Help.

Jaago Re

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:40:00 +0000

Jaago Re, a social awareness campaign sponsored by Tata Tea, was initiated in 2008 to encourage voter registration. Since then the campaign has expanded to other issues including their current focus - corruption. Visit their website to register, look for volunteering opportunities, and take a pledge against bribing.

Also check out this funny yet sad satire on corruption in India -

MakeSense - linking people for social business

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:14:00 +0000

Makesense.org is two guys traveling around Asia, talking to social entrepreneurs, and having fun along the way (HT ThinkChangeIndia).

Their objective is simple - to share the stories and challenges of social businesses in order to promote and link these businesses to the larger community, similar to what we want to achieve at We Flap.

The web app is still in development, but you can pre-register here. In the meantime, check out their fun blog and videos.

Skills development for women farmers in India

noreply@blogger.com (Sravish Sridhar) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:54:00 +0000

Did you know that 70 percent of agricultural activities in India are carried out by women?

With mass migration of farming families to cities, drought, inconsistent monsoons, shrinking agricultural land banks, next generation food supply chains and processes, new farming techniques, etc., it should be obvious that engaging women farmers and equipping them with skills to cope with a changing agricultural landscape is an imperative.

In practice, that isn’t quite the case, according to an international research project conducted in by the London-based City and Guilds Centre for Skills Development. The report from the project finds that it is the men folk who receive better and most of the training. Women, on the other hand, continue to remain at the bottom of the training pyramid, confined to toiling in the fields. The report highlights the need for appropriate training for women to ensure that their productivity is not lowered.

The state of training women farmers in India is quite disconcerting. Research shows that giving women farmers the same inputs and education as men could increase yields by; despite this women continue to receive only a small proportion of the appropriate training compared to men.

Here is a very good documentary on the state of small scale farmers in India (29 mins)

Pirate fishing

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:44:00 +0000

Some trawlers dispose about 90% of their catch as bycatch which means that millions of fish, marine mammals, turtles and birds are caught every year and simply discarded back into the sea because they are not profitable.

I heard this disturbing fact at a presentation by Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) on pirate fishing. Pirate fishing, predominant in developing country waters, has serious environmental and social consequences.

Here is an informative 2 min video by EJF -

Illegal 'pirate' fishing from Environmental Justice Foundation on Vimeo.

Fans of what kids could do

noreply@blogger.com (Sravish Sridhar) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:03:00 +0000

Over the last 6 months, We Flap has been working with kids to develop a new program we are calling "Enrichment clusters". Soon, we will start to document our work in more detail and expand this program across various schools.

We learnt quickly that kids can be surprisingly thoughtful when they break complex issues down into the simplest of terms. Frequently, they generate creative ideas by just thinking of things in ways in which most of us cannot - simple because our adult brains have been conditioned not to think in those terms.

In the spirit of our work in fostering "childish thought", we thought it would be apt to share with you an example of why we are such fans of kids -

Giving this holiday season

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Struggling with how to pick a charity this holiday season? Here is some help -

Mint presents data on charitable giving in the US and provides advice on how to give.

Tim Ogden from Philanthropy in Action discusses why Mint's advice is dead wrong , and presents his own take on the best and worst ways to pick a charity.

Online giving - keeping it honest

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:38:00 +0000

A recent New York Times article highlights an important challenge that online giving and lending sites face. How do you make your model appealing but maintain transparency and efficiency?

Kiva.org, the most popular online lending site, allows users to lend small amounts of money to microentrepreneurs in developing countries - at least that is how Kiva presented it. In reality, the funds that users donate go into a pool of money for microfinance institutions. Typically, these institutions lend money to the individual entrepreneurs before the loans are made on Kiva. A person-to-person model is appealing, but not efficient. If individual borrowers had to wait to get their money from a group of lenders, it's likely that many of them would end up waiting for weeks. So, it's understandable (and acceptable) that Kiva operates the way it does.

Kiva modified how they explain their model on their website due to the latest scrutiny. Whether this affects their popularity remains to be seen.

The gift of giving?

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:44:00 +0000

How many of you agree that wonderful things happen to you later on in life after experiencing incredible giving experiences at a tender age?

Do I agree? Yes, I do. Let us take for instance my writing this blog and feeling at ease with what I choose to write about. Thinking back there has been one incredible experience that i would like to share with you. It was spending quality time with my grandfather who was developing a disease called Parkinson's. My grandfather was a grand old man with a deep voice and a sharp temper. He had done most of his schooling in England and returned to India to be a District Judge and start a family of his own. Little did I know that he would be more British than Indian as he smoked a pipe, wore classy shirts and trousers and insisted on good manners and discipline, always!

Just the thought of grandpa made me nervous and scared but I always had a soft corner for him as he rewarded me with chocolates for good behavior. Now, to relate my incredible experience with grandpa. Well, little did I know that he loved my hand writing and my writing style until he insisted that I spend my weekends helping him write letters to his good old friends as he had developed a debilitating disease called Parkinson's and his fingers always trembled. My poor darling grandpa I thought and willingly offered to help him whenever he needed help.

Little did I realize at that time that I was learning every step of the way. I did what I was told as I had just offered to be his hands and not HIM! He loved me for just being ME. As I listened I learned, as I wrote I learned and as I interacted with him I learned. The experience was INCREDIBLE! It had a lasting effect on me as it improved my grammar, writing style, confidence and personality. And what I find most fascinating is that everytime I write, it brings back fond memories of quality time with my grandfather.

Surely, many of you have an incredible experience to share. Do publish your posts for all to see. Thank you!

What do we have to give?

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:48:00 +0000

I just think that we all have so much to give and so little time. What do we have to give? Well, there is a certain magic in the positive qualities that we all possess that we can share for free. Some of us are affectionate, loving, nurturing, kind, talented, brilliant, patient, sincere, trustworthy, faithful to name a few. What if we went around finding time to use our qualities to comfort and support someone else. How would this make them feel? How would this make us feel? I cannot explain my satisfaction with this experience. You will have to try it to understand......

The most satisfaction I have gotten in my life is giving of my free will. I do not possess a whole lot of money to give away but I find immense pleasure in giving of myself and my talents out of my free will. What comes naturally to me adds a special meaning to my life and helps someone else. We all need a sense of belonging and unconditional love and also have that special ability to make others feel that sense of belonging and unconditional love as well. And when we are already experiencing that sense of belonging and know how it makes us feel we understand the desperate emotional needs of someone else. Don't we?

What do I consider a sense of belonging? A sense of belonging is gotten when we respect the closeness of family and friends in connection to ourselves. How does it make us feel when we say "My son", My daughter", My mother", My good friend"? What happens when we don't have a daughter, a son, a mother or a good friend? I suggest that you can get out into the world and be that son, daughter, mother or good friend to someone else. Just give it a try and let me know how that makes you feel?

We Flap Butterflies ROCK!

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:51:00 +0000

So much has gone on these past few years, when the thought of "We Flap" and the ideas behind it began to blossom. Priyanka (Mandira's sister) had reached out to her dear friends in the neighborhood to help as volunteer coordinators for We Flap Outreach. They were a super energetic team of teenagers (Beverly, Joanne, Julien) who got together to do their homework projects around my dining table, raid my pantry for cool snacks and just chat up.

Mandira would reserve special days to do "We Flap" work and plan their snacks and rewards for a job well done. Priyanka was responsible for their presence and getting the task done. All that I did was to set the goals for the day and suggest how best to manage their time to accomplish the specific task. I could be reached at any time they needed help as well. It turned out to be so "FUN"! As "We Flap" volunteers, our team of best friends really enjoyed their space and were so much at ease working aggressively while being themselves...... just joking, helping and making fun of each other. And for the reward, they mostly wanted the banana split ice cream at "Amy's". With their super appetites this felt like a huge treat after a day of hard work. We even made trips to "Kerbey Lane Cafe" for brunch. Well, if you ever travel to Austin, you've got to check out these two places. They totally ROCK!

Now, for the funnest experience they ever had....our volunteers were assistant facilitators for the "We Flap" Enrichment Slot at an elementary school here in Austin where I was facilitating the E-Slot. Full of ideas on how they would manage their time at the E-slot and take leadership roles they started interacting with the 4th and 5th graders at ease. Kids were super excited to be split into groups and have our volunteers guide them and help them understand what "We Flap" was all about and introduce them into the incredible world of "Giving".

Our enrichment slot sessions were a huge success and the school has allowed us to continue by facilitating both the enrichment cluster and the enrichment slot during the school year. To top it all, there was also an amazing response from our students who attended the sessions last year wanting to take on leadership roles and be assistant facilitators this year. Also, we needed to come up with a creative name and as "We Flappers" we could not think of nothing better than being "Future Change Makers".

What was my inspiration for "We Flap"?

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:48:00 +0000

As you all know, I started We Flap as a result of the inspiration from my daughter, Mandira and Sravish Sridhar. Since then many of you have wanted to know more about my daughter and Sravish and what they did to inspire me.

Mandira had always amazed me with her clever ideas since she was 4 years old and as she grew older there was a generosity and a sense of responsibility in her that I admired very much. To me, it was remarkable that she had these qualities at such a young age.

Mandira cared for the homeless, the orphaned and abused children, the poor, the tsunami victims and the children in Africa and India. Every time she cared, she gave money off her cash box, her books, her clothes, her shoes and encouraged everyone else to give of themselves. She had even convinced our bank manager to issue her a debit card to manage her bank account and keep track of expenses. I grew ecstatic listening to her interest in requesting information from homeless shelters, orphanages and other causes that she cared about. She only wanted to help the ones that were in dire need of help and had made out a list of questions to find out who needed the most help. She then asked me to contact the organizations and would follow up with me eager to understand the progress and feedback from these organizations. Once she had all the information on the needs of these organizations, she would check her cash box, her closet, the attic and the garage to see if she had the right things to give them. She would also interact with close family and friends and encourage them to pool in as well. She thoroughly enjoyed buying groceries, diapers and milk powder for the homeless and orphaned children with her debit card and kept accounts, always!

Mandira had initially proposed to go to visit children in Uganda as she was totally fascinated by Mrs. Trudy Marshall's philanthropic work in Uganda. Mrs. Marshall was her childhood hero and one incredible person. As I got to know Mrs. Marshall, she was my hero, too. For more information on Mrs. Marshall's work, please visit:

http://www.librariesoflove.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=9&Itemid=9

The impact of Mrs. Marshall's work on Mandira's thoughts knew no bounds. She spent days trying to convince her dad and me to take her to Uganda. We had to sit her down and explain that it will be difficult for us to follow through on her trip to Uganda as we needed time to put together a team and come up with a plan. She pondered for a while and then came back to me requesting that I take her on a philanthropic mission to India. Her dad was pleased and offered to sponsor our entire trip to Chennai, India in February' 2006. Mandira was 9 years old at that time.

Our mission to India was phenomenal; we visited with orphan children, tsunami victims, the poor and the homeless. Mandira convinced her grandmother to have large containers of food to be made at home and insisted on spending hours giving bowls of food away to the poor on the streets, in Chennai, India. It was a totally new and enlightening experience for me. I felt I had done and understood more during that time than I ever did growing up in India. I was soon motivated to be involved in a mission larger than myself and could not wait to share my experiences with the larger community around me. The communication that transpired in these conversations somehow got me to understand the bigger picture and realize the needs of Non Governmental Organizations.

It was at this time, that I found yet another very inspiring person, Sravish Sridhar, who not only shared our passion but had innovative thoughts in this area. Sravish had helped NGOs over the years and was also successfully growing a high-tech company the same time. Sravish and I spent tireless days and nights, thinking of ways to create a new non-profit social enterprise that could help non governmental organizations, increase their capacity and get access to resources they need to grow. It impressed me immensely that he had very interesting ideas on leveraging emerging technologies to address issues facing the NGOs. Slowly, all the pieces started falling into place and we decided to get the ball rolling on a new venture to help them -http://www.weflap.org/. That's how we got started!

The power of Inspiration!

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Isn't it true that in all our lives, we have all at one time or another been truly fascinated by the power of inspiration. To some of us, it has kept us going through the darkest of times with a strength and courage to face the situations that we once deemed impossible.

Isn't it remarkable that if we all began to relate stories of inspiration since we were kids, we can easily find so many. Just thinking about it, can make us wonder how every story had an effect on us one way or another. And how somehow each one of them had created an effervescence that was there to stay. I had experienced one such incident when I was a child, I remember my great grandfather telling me about the time of India's freedom struggle, when there was so much uncertainty in the air, it was his inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi that chilled his soul. Inspired I was at that age about non-violence, love of humanity, respect for all religions, that "Unity" is strength, and that in togetherness we can solve the worlds problems. It's effect on me was permanent, and today I get to live my life with greater vision and a true understanding of a mission to save our world.

How many of us have found the power of inspiration addicting? Do we thrive on IT? Do we lead inspiring lives because of IT?

Promoting peace through education

noreply@blogger.com (AD) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:55:00 +0000

Last night I attended a talk by Greg Mortenson author of "Three Cups of Tea" - a book on Greg's experiences building girl's schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The talk, like the man, had a single-minded focus - education, particularly girl's education, is the key to development, the key to fighting terrorism and promoting peace and really, the only , viable,long-term solution to promoting change. He understands the complexity and difficulty in what he is trying to achieve and seems to have the required patience. He is absolutely relentless in his message and vision and while his presentation seemed rehearsed (he speaks round the year), I couldn't help wanting to support and believe him.

Much of Greg's work is funded by an organization he founded called "Pennies for Peace". When he was first trying to raise fund for his work a 4th grade kid told him that he could have his piggy bank - the school ended up raising about $62,000 through donations from kids (and parents) laying the foundation for Pennies for Peace. Since then the program has spread to hundreds of schools and is supposed to expand to thousands this year.

It sounds like a great organization and is another powerful example of how children can help.

Day for giving anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Sravish Sridhar) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:01:00 +0000

I'm not talking about a giving during a Birthday or Mother's Day, or Father's Day. Nor am I referring to giving during Christmas, Diwali, Id, Hanukkah or any other religious holiday. It isn't gifts for Valentine's Day, a baby shower, a bridal shower or an anniversary.

I went to my friendly neighbourhood search engine and found some interesting, but mostly well-meaning "days":

World Rat day - April 4th
World Toilet day - November 19th
World Laughter day - First Sunday in May
World Friendship day - First Sunday in August
And my favorite thus far - International Talk Like a Pirate Day - September 19th

But, typing in World Giving Day didn't give me any results. Hrm!!! Strange, isn't it?

We have holidays (religious, personal, banking, national, commercial, etc.) for every occasion, why not a world giving day? Wouldn't it be nice if every government all over the world decided that the world should collectively set a day for all of its citizens to take the day off from work, and participate in giving, or volunteering, or helping in some way?

It would be a day to give back to your community, your country, your world. Or better still, a week for giving perhaps? Not just writing a check or sending money, but - Giving.

A day for giving anyone?

And on a lighter note, here's a cartoon (rights belong to the original artist) that shows the effects of the current financial crisis on the world of philanthropy -

How wise children with just pennies can make a HUGE difference to our world

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Today, we learned about how children with a few resources could make the world a better place. I asked my students if they knew any inspiring stories of children to share with the class. They started to talk about my daughter's philanthropic mission to India and how this was instrumental in inspiring me to join Sravish Sridhar in "We Flap". My daughter graduated from their school last year and it pleased me that they looked to her as inspiration. Then, as they had no more stories to share, I shared one very inspiring story that moved me beyond words. It was the story of a 4 year old Nora Gross who had inspired her father Teddy Gross to start an organization called Commoncents (http://www.commoncents.org/) after she had shown kindness to a homeless man on the street. It had amazed me that this organization had the largest child philanthropy program in the United States called Penny Harvest where children between the ages of 4-14 who have a natural compassion for others have been collecting pennies and converting those pennies into grants for community organizations. I could not wait to show a video of their work to the kids.
http://www.commoncents.org/index.cfm?objectId=F3018731-3048-32DA-18746AC36ED53DA2

It was the longest video they had watched during our sessions but were interested nevertheless. The video was a great resource. It helped the students understand that, as children, they have the ability to look into their communities, see problems, ask questions, participate in decision making and help solve problems. Also, that loose change can make a huge difference in our world!

The power of passion!

noreply@blogger.com (Cool Genie a.k.a Chikki) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:39:00 +0000

As a child, I always wanted to be a teacher and pretended many a time to teach my dolls on a sofa. And as I grew up, I got to play teacher with my friends, teach poor children on the street how to speak and write English and volunteer to conduct drama programmes for children in schools. All this while my passion for creative art, drama and conversation instruction made me want to be a teacher all the more. Finally after I completed all of my education, I did have the opportunity to work as an art teacher, a drama teacher and a kindergarten teacher in India.

Now, after 22 years of being in the states, I find myself following my passion once again, having the incredible opportunity of using "We Flap" as a tool in teaching philanthropy to 4th and 5th grade students at an elementary school in Austin, Texas. These past several weeks of teaching have been an enriching experience for me and I am really looking forward to meeting all of my students tomorrow to discuss our topic - How wise children with just pennies can make a HUGE difference to our world?

Music for Change

noreply@blogger.com (Sravish Sridhar) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 05:21:00 +0000

One of my favorite memories as a kid was the day my parents presented me with my first guitar. Since then, I've learnt how to play a guitar, the tabla, a piano, and I even sang in a school and college band. However, I wasn't really very good as an instrumentalist and I'm an OK singer at best. After learning about Playing for Change, I am now inspired to start playing the guitar again. It is a very innovative and powerful idea - Musicians from all over the world, of all skill levels, getting together to produce music for the greater good, and encouraging others to take up music as well.

I found a great example for a song they made at -

How can kids change the world in 5 minutes?

noreply@blogger.com (Sravish Sridhar) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:57:00 +0000

The last few weeks, I have been spending time at an elementary school in Austin, Texas, to help teach a class of 4th and 5th graders about philanthropy. It has been a truly enlightening experience, and I will write more about it soon.

One aggravating note, however, was when a volunteer parent came up to me and said that she felt all this was a waste of time, and that kids, at this young age, couldn't really make a difference. When I see her the next time, I'm going to ask her to look at this video of kids in Australia that are making a difference in their school.

Why aren't more of us helping?

noreply@blogger.com (We Flap) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Over the years, we've had the privilege of being constantly amazed by the fantastic development work that is undertaken by the many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that we have interacted with across the world. At the same time, we've always been surprised by the fact that very few people seem to know about these NGOs.

We wondered - how much do our friends actually know about social development?

We spoke to people in several countries, and asked them what areas of social development they were most passionate about. We received many passionate answers – "Child literacy... women’s empowerment.. HIV education .... poverty reduction, ..." - the list went on and one. Everyone pontificated about how much the world needed to change. "Excellent!", we thought to ourselves. "All our friends are a lot more informed that we thought. This is inspiring!". We then asked the same people if they knew of NGOs that worked in those fields, and if they could name a few for me. Crickets! "Err... Urm.... Err...."

Most of us have an interest in being good and the impulse to want to help social issues. However, there seem to be factors that prevent us from becoming involved with these social causes. Some of them are –

We don’t know enough – In spite of online search engine tools and a plethora of other information at our disposal from various sources, we find it difficult to get a quick snapshot of the NGOs that work on the social causes that we feel passionately about. Moreover, how do we trust that the information is valid? How do we know that the information is not out-dated, but is actually current?
We’re too busy – Most of us don’t have time to manage our day-to-day lives. We have got used to information being available instantly, and therefore, if we can’t find answers to meet our needs in a minute or two, we abandon our efforts. How can we then become involved in social causes if it is difficult to learn about them? How we can help NGOs, if it requires us to dedicate a lot of time to search for them – time that we don’t have?
We never hear about most NGOs –Most NGOs do not do a good job of building their brand and getting their name out. This is usually because they do not have the resources to promote their work to a large audience. So, if the NGOs don’t promote themselves, how can we ever learn about and then eventually, help them?
We need peer-validation –Very often, we get involved in helping an NGO if someone we trust is also helping that organization. Where can we find a place that allows us to collaborate with a network of friends, who we trust, to help NGOs as one team of people with similar interests and passions to help solve social issues?
We need more options to help –We find that people are getting used to having many options in every decision-making aspect of their lives. However, most of us usually only have 2 ways in which we can help NGOs – 1) Send them money, or 2) Volunteer with our time. Why should philanthropy be any different? Why can’t we choose how we want to help an NGO? Why aren’t we being given various options that describe the needs an NGO?

At We Flap, we are sure there are more reasons. But if We Flap can successfully address the factors that stop us from being more socially involved, will the millions that are standing outside the philanthropy fence jump in and take action?

We Flap? Why the name?

noreply@blogger.com (We Flap) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:03:00 +0000

The butterfly effect is a phrase that is often used to explain more technical notions of a prominent field of study in physics called chaos theory. One famous talk on the subject of chaos theory was titled "Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?" The main premise of chaos theory suggests that in any dynamic system, small variations in its conditions may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.

Along the same lines of the butterfly effect, when we were planning our strategy for our new organization, we had a fundamental belief that many people want to collectively help address various social issues in some small way. And this collective help had the potential of creating world-changing development. However, the present conditions and requirements to be philanthropic, prevented most of us from tackling social causes, and therefore, we had to change these conditions.

So we coined the name –
We Flap.

We believe that if we can all get together and help NGOs tackle various social causes in some small way, then we can collectively affect great philanthropic change.