Today, we would like to tell you the stories of some incredible people who choose to support Reality Gives by raising funds and awareness for our projects. These are the stories of the Reality Gives Ambassadors 2013:
Therese, Andreas Uhrner and the kids visit the cause they fundraised for. The Swedish family contacted us in early January with the idea to fundraise for a social cause in Mumbai, which they could visit when they visit India in February. As the mother works with disabled adults in Sweden, they were especially interested in the CORP (Community Outreach Program) Centre for disabled children in Dharavi.
The family raised Rs. 60,000 ($ 1100) through their kids’ birthday parties and from colleagues at work. February 7th, they finally visited Dharavi on a slum tour with Reality Tours and Travel and visited the CORP centre afterwards. Especially their children enjoyed playing with the other kids at the centre. The seven-year-old son Lukas, even taught some hearing disabled kids Swedish sign language.
At the beginning of April, we finally distributed the hearing aids that the young family provided through their generous donation. Faia (14), Mayur (12), Asif (9) and Triveni (18) were very happy to finally get the medical supply they were hoping for for a long time.
Monika is an expat living with her fiancé in Mumbai. She ran the Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon in February 2013 and thought it would be a great chance to also fundraise for a good cause. She has a degree in nutrition and nursing and therefore decided that the money she would raise should benefit the FMCH Nutrition Initiative in Dharavi.
Monika raised GBP 310 by setting up a profile on www.myraising.com. She approached her friends by sending emails and spreading the word on Facebook. Her experience during fundraising was very interesting: “It seems to me, always the people who have the least money are the ones who choose to contribute.”
By the way, Monika managed to finish in 1:44 minutes, placing her in 5th place among females. Congratulations!
To be an Ambassador, you don’t need to commit to raising a high amount of funds. Even by spreading the word of the social issues in Dharavi and the work we do, you can support our cause.
Hui-Fen Anna Liao from Taiwan hosted a living room concert at her home to support a local band. She also wanted to use this opportunity to tell her friends about her experience in Dharavi and the social activities of Reality Gives. She raised a total amount of GBP 26, which she donated directly to Reality Gives. Julia and Nathalia collect cameras for the Dharavi Art Room.
Julia is an expat living in Mumbai who volunteers for our partner NGO, MCH (Foundation for Mother and Child Health). She is also a passionate blogger and photographer and shares her experience of living in a foreign country on www.bombayjules.blogspot.in. She and her husband recently visited the “Mumbai Dharavi Art Room Exhibition” and volunteered to take some students on a photo walk in the close neighbourhood of Pali Naka. Of course, she wrote about it in her blog, but also requested all her friends to donate old cameras they don’t use anymore for the kids to use at the art program.
Former FMCH volunteer and Reality Tours and Travel Dharavi Tour customer Nathalie reacted immediately and asked her friends too. Together, they collected nine cameras, which Julia’s husband will bring along from the UK soon. And this is in just two weeks! Great work!
Julie and Aaron recently contacted Reality Gives with the idea to support Reality Gives from abroad, wherever possible. Through their attached resumes, we realised that both are very talented in the fields of marketing and design, so we decided to unload our marketing director a little bit and gave them tasks in the field of PR. The outcome was great, and we were very impressed by the commitment both added to their work.
We are truly thankful for all the Ambassador efforts and the funds and donations in kind raised. We hope that these stories will also inspire YOU to consider the possibility of supporting Reality Gives, too.
