A quick background
Considering that most of us live lives of relative comfort, and are able to exercise choices and make decisions, it is not often that we stop to reflect on some of the simple things that enrich our daily life: food, water, literacy, work, essential commodities, etc.
But for a great many number of people around the world, these simple things are not so simple. In very many cases, it is a daily uphill struggle as many try desperately – and quite often, unsuccessfully – to include these basics into their lives. Poverty, hunger and lack of education trap them in a vicious grip leading to desperate lives with little hope of betterment.
The ones to suffer the most on account of these unfortunate circumstances are children. Trapped into this frightening cycle, they miss out on good nutrition and education, which bars them to a large extent from any opportunity they may have for a better life, and to contribute meaningfully as healthy, literate citizens.
Fortunately, there are many caring individuals and organisations working to elevate the lot of these unfortunate youngsters. These individuals and groups work as hard as they can to reach out in whatever way to ensure that these children have a fair chance of transforming themselves into the contributing citizens of tomorrow.
Action Aid
One such organisation which has been extremely effective at dealing with the enormous issues of poverty and illiteracy is Action Aid. An international organisation with a presence in over forty countries, Action Aid has been operating in India for almost forty years (since 1972). Today, through its partner NGOs and community-based organisations, Action Aid reaches out to more than 5 million people, supporting them in their right to have access to food, shelter, work, education, healthcare and security.
Our project, An Iota: That’s All It Takes, a global initiative
To support Action Aid in their laudable efforts, we are organising a performance of the dance production Mudivil Oru Aarambam at kalakshetra ,Chennai on January 1st 2012 For this, we are initiating a novel project, ‘An Iota: That’s All It Takes’ to collect funds whereby you could donate Rs. 10 (Rupees Ten only) per head which will be donated entirely to Action Aid in their efforts to eradicate poverty and provide education.
We intend publicising this event all over the world, whereby we are requesting people from specific regions to contribute ten units of their local currency towards this cause i.e. Euros 10 in Europe, GBP 10 in Great Britain, S$ 10 in Singapore, etc.
Note: The theme for the event, Iota, is derived from the Greek alphabet iota, which is the symbol for the number ten in the Greek system of numerals. It has been chosen to indicate how little we need to give of ourselves individually to make a collective contribution to our society.
We look forward to your help in publicising this within your own community and contact base so that we can try and raise as much funds and publicity for Action Aid in their excellent work.
If you require any further details, please feel free to contact us on email HYPERLINK "mailto:shyamjithkiran.1@gmail.com" shyamjithkiran.1@gmail.com.
Regards
Shyamjith Kiran
