Be the Change: Padma Venkataraman

September President's Letter

“People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it, in one way or another. They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once, but over time the small changes add up and change lives.” -Beth Clark

I spent my childhood in a small farming community where I cared for animals, rode horses, and enjoyed the beauties of nature. Some would consider that my life was sheltered and that I had limited understanding of global issues or cultures. Fortunately for my siblings and me, my parents had a global outlook – even in that small farming community. They valued the dignity of people regardless of race, economic disparity, or religious beliefs different than their own. They served others because they had empathy and understanding for the struggles people endure and they did what they could to alleviate their suffering.

Because of their example my eight siblings and I also reached out to those in our community that needed a boost or extra help and we did what we could, however small, to alleviate the suffering of those around us. Never did I imagine that decades later I would become president of Rising Star Outreach, whose primary mission is to lessen the suffering of those affected by leprosy in the distant land of India!

Four years ago Rising Star's founder Becky Douglas asked if I would step in as president while she was serving in the Dominican Republic. With great trepidation I accepted the challenge and with the support of an amazing board of directors in the USA and India and all those committed to Rising Star we moved forward. As I look back I realize that I am the lucky one, because I have had the opportunity to serve with incredible people in a remarkable cause!

I’ve experienced emotions similar to Becky's when she first traveled to India and saw unbelievable suffering from the leprosy affected: beggars dotting the busy streets, the differently abled struggling for daily survival, and the hollow eyes of those suffering from the poverty of love. These images haunt the heart and the desire to help becomes an insatiable sort of thirst. This desire compels the inner soul to move into action and somehow reach out to those individuals that are in desperate need of God’s love.

The work of Rising Star IS reaching individuals, families, and communities on many levels. I am grateful that I have had the privilege and honor to be involved in this beautiful work. This month I will step down as president of the organization, but I will never step out of being involved in Rising Star because there is still so much to accomplish for those affected by the physical disease of leprosy and the social stigma attached to it.

Tyler Vigue, current Executive Director at Rising Star, will be become the new president of Rising Star Outreach. For the past year and a half as I have worked closely with Tyler, I have observed not only his leadership skills and his fine intellect, but also the way his heart is drawn to help others. He will work closely with Dr. Susan, Managing Director in India, Ms. Padma Venkataraman, Chairman of the Board of Directors in India, and with Becky Douglas, Founder of Rising Star Outreach. Together this team of dedicated leaders, with the help of all of us, will continue the work of blessing those affected by leprosy.

One of the mantras of my tenure has been, “It’s not about someone doing everything. It’s about everyone doing something.” When I think about the many hands contributing to this work I am humbled to have played a small part in it. We strive to help those affected by leprosy -- seemingly forgotten by society, and yet when we experience first hand their grateful hearts and the love reflected in their eyes, we give thanks to have connected with them and to have felt the power of their spirits. I too believe that individuals are extremely important, that “every life matters,” and “small changes add up and ‘truly’ change lives.” I am thankful to be part of that change.

It is my deepest desire that we all may continue supporting the incredible and life changing efforts of Rising Star Outreach.

With gratitude and love,

Sally

Tuesday, September 01, 2015
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July President's Letter

Advocacy

We are pleased to welcome back Becky Douglas, Founder of Rising Star Outreach. She and her husband John have been serving the people of the Dominican Republic for the past three years. Becky is anxious to reconnect with former and new friends and supporters of Rising Star Outreach. Welcome home!

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi

While visiting India in the year 2000, Becky was shocked and disturbed by the plight of those affected by leprosy. She and a few friends decided to “start by doing what [was] necessary” to assist the individuals and families suffering from the physical impact and social stigma of leprosy.

These women saw a need and in small ways they did what they believed was “possible.” They began by raising money and involving friends and educating them about the wide-spread existence of leprosy around the world. Then, they administered basic humanitarian assistance to the leprosy colonies in southern India by providing medicines, bandages, food, and clothing. As the desire to help increased, their reach exceeded their grasp and “suddenly [they were] doing [what some thought to be] impossible.”

A few stanzas from a poem by Joseph Norris describes their vision:

“Drop a pebble in the water

And its ripples reach out far.

Do a deed of simple kindness;

Though its end you may not see,

It may reach, like widening ripples,

Down a long eternity.”

Becky Douglas, Sharon Thompson, Padma Venkataraman and many others saw that one kind action lead to another. By doing something necessary, they saw the reality of what was possible. The ripples of their actions continue today as those involved in Rising Star Outreach achieve the impossible.

There is still much to do, but who could have imagined that from those humble beginnings Rising Star would see such growth. Thousands of individuals and families have received medical care and been given a helping hand to business ownership. Hundreds of their children and grandchildren are now ‘rising stars’ because of the superior education they are receiving.

Thank you for helping Rising Star Outreach make a remarkable difference in making the impossible ----possible!

Sally Read
President

Rising Star Outreach

Wednesday, July 01, 2015
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A Story from Shyam Advani

Padma Venkataraman

It's our 10 year anniversary of being an NGO in India, and we wanted to take this opportunity to ask Shyam Advani, one of our first general managers, to share a bit about his time with us. His words are as follows:

After my wife, Elaine, and I had retired as long-term missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we decided that we wanted to serve as volunteers somewhere else. We saw an article in The Church News about an organization in India that was working with leprosy-affected people and was looking for volunteers. Since I am originally from India, Elaine thought this would be a perfect place for us to serve. We were somewhat concerned about how contagious leprosy is since it is such a debilitating disease and if we would be exposed or would bring it to our family. Those thoughts, however, lasted only for a moment. We were able to contact Becky Douglas, who was the president of Rising Star Outreach at the time, and arranged to go with Rising Star to India in late October of 2004.

Upon our arrival in Chennai, we were taken to the volunteer housing. There were a couple of single volunteers who were serving as well as another couple, Veldon and DeAnn, who were serving as managers. Veldon and DeAnn had served in India as our Church missionaries and had started with Rising Star after only a couple of months at home. They worked tirelessly for six months and were getting homesick for the family and wanted to be released. They left for home about the middle of December.

Before they left Veldon and I were working to find bigger place for the schooling and residence for the youth. There were about thirty children at the school, and the facility was getting pretty crowded. We looked at a number of places, but none of them matched our requirements. This search was taken on completely by me once Veldon and DeAnn left, as Becky asked Elaine and me if we would be willing to take on the responsibilities as managers.

We were managers for only about 10 days when the whole program changed drastically. India's east coast was hit by huge Tsunami, and we were in great position to assist the people who were affected by the flooding, who had lost lives, livelihood and a place to rest their heads. Becky immediately asked for donations from corporations and individuals with big hearts to help. She called us in in India to let us know that we had more than $50,000 to buy whatever was needed to assist the survivors with their immediate needs. In this we were assisted by Padma Venkataraman, a wonderful woman. Padma, Elaine, the few volunteers and I immediately started to visit the fisherman's villages that had been hit hard. Most of them had lost family members, boats, fishing nets, all their beddings and clothes.

Some of the villages were completely cut off by the sea water standing for a week or more. Our apartment and a school were spared because we were about a 1 Km away from the sea. However the kids and the staff were so scared and had all gone inland to Chengalpet or their homes. This in turn enabled us to help without worrying about the kids. We were able to determine the needs of about ten villages. This involved a lot of travel since the villages were spread out. We were able to get the food and clothing to them within a couple of days. The boat repairs and purchase of new nets took about six weeks. Our reward for our work was to see the fishermen bring their catch and put the fish at our feet as a sign that they were in business again.

The tragedy of lost lives will never leave them, but the pride and joy they had on their faces indicated that they were on the road to recovery.

The children and the staff returned to school a week later, just as normalcy returned to our lives. Since then my wife passed away in 2007 and I have returned to school at their new location every year except one and volunteered for 3 weeks to 4 months each time. I just love these children and wish that you would take the opportunity to serve there and feel their love and appreciation for you. A few of these children have graduated and gone on to bigger and better things. The campus keeps getting bigger and better and is waiting for volunteers to come and feel blessed.

With all my love for these kids I close,

Shyam Advani

Saturday, October 04, 2014
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Padma Venkataraman: A Catalyst for Change

Advocacy

Today we wish to highlight and honor a woman who truly has changed the world: Padma Venkataraman. Padma has played a vital role in helping Rising Star Outreach become what it is today. Her influence at Rising Star Outreach, and many other organizations across the world, will continue for generations.

While I was in India I had the privilege of speaking to Padma over the phone. During our conversation my heart was touched as I got a sense for the genuine love and concern she has for all people. It is my hope that you will come to know Padma as I now know her. I have been inspired by her words and have been motivated to do all I can to make a difference in this world. You can come to know Padma more be reading this transcript of my interview with her.

Padma, with your background as the daughter of the former President of India, you could live a life of luxury if you wanted to. Why did you choose the path you are on?

This is the question I am asked time and again … I don’t really have any answer other than I feel like it is God's call. I really don’t have a specific reason. While I was living in Austria I came to India on holiday and noticed the leprosy-affected people begging at the traffic light. This is not the main reason why I really started and took it so seriously. But after seeing these people beg, I thought if I give them five rupees, it is not going to affect me much, but when they are hungry again they will be back to square one. They will have to come back to beg again. I thought I should either give them a viable alternative to begging, or I should give them some cash. When I went back to Vienna I thought again and again, what could I do? How could I help them? Is there really any way they can be self-sufficient?

What was your first step toward helping those afflicted with leprosy?

My first experience to leprosy work goes way back to 1964. At the request of an organization working for the leprosy-affected people, I promoted wooden toys made by leprosy-affected people. It wasn’t until I was living in Vienna that it really hit me hard and I wanted to do something permanent. I did not want to just give away cash or food. I felt very strongly that anything given free-will has no value. I really wanted to give them something sustainable so they would not have to resort to begging at all.

My first idea was to go to a small colony in Delhi and convince them to be productive members of the society. This concept was totally new to them. They protested saying there is stigma attached to this disease and no one will buy products made by them. They insisted that I should help them by giving clothes, food, blankets etc.

I spent lot of time with them to make them gain self-confidence.

Eventually they came forward to try out the new idea. I talked to government officials and was able to get them free training on how to make detergent. I put in my own money for the initial supplies, and soon we were able to find buyers to buy the detergent in large quantities. This is how I started my very first program. Soon other colony people started contacting me wanting to do something similar. Shahdara Colony in Delhi, the largest colony in the world with 4,000 leprosy-affected people, is transformed into a village bubbling with economic activities.

How did you find out about Rising Star Outreach?

From 1995-2002 I was the director of Women’s Indian Association-DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency) Project for socioeconomic rehabilitation of leprosy-affected people. Ten homes run by government and 30 colonies were taken up. Agricultural and dairy projects and micro grant program for income generating activities were taken up. Training for self governance was given. A revolving fund was created whereby sustainability of the project was ensured.

Two volunteers from Rising Star Outreach were going from colony to colony helping them, giving them rice and beans. While interacting with the colony people my name and the micro grant program were mentioned. So they called me one day and said, "We have heard about you and want to do something really useful. We heard about your micro credit program, can we meet with you?" I said, "By all means. My policy is that I don’t want to give anything away for free because anything that is given away for free has no value. This is my principle."

Then they wrote to Becky and gave her a report of my project I just completed. I was also going to Washington D.C. to meet my daughter. So they told Becky, and I ended up meeting with her in Washington D.C. That is how we met. During our meeting we talked about our dreams, mission and vision and more than anything else we became good good sisters from two different continents.

Without you Rising Star would not be what it is today. What role did you play in helping Rising Star Outreach in the beginning?

I am so happy to be part of Rising Star Outreach from its inception. Becky was keen to start the rehabilitation work without any delay; she also had enough funds to start the work. Her enthusiasm was very infectious. But to bring in foreign money into India we have to fulfill certain rules and regulation. Women’s Indian Association was willing to partner with Rising Star Outreach India to facilitate to start the work. Then we obtained our FCRA (Foreign Currency Regulation Act) permission. Now in a short period of 10 years what RSO has accomplished is really a history.

Are you working with organizations other than Rising Star Outreach?

I am a catalyst. I work with government and non-government organizations both national and international and United Nations organizations. I am President of Women’s Indian Association, Vice President of Srinivasa Gandhi Nilayam, Trustee Global Cancer Concern-India, Patron Gandhi Peace Foundation.

Gandhi Peace Foundation is trying to approach the school children to teach Gandhian principles. We visited and interacted with the Rising Star Outreach students. We may not be able to stop war between two nations, but definitely each one of us can practice peace in our own small way. One example is this: there was electricity failure. The grandfather grumbles. The father shouts because his work is disturbed. The mother complains that she cannot finish her cooking. The young boy of the house, who has attended workshop organized by Gandhi Peace Foundation, quietly brings lighted candles to everyone. Peace is restored in the home.

Where did you learn the principles you are spreading throughout the world?

Probably from watching my father while I was growing up. My father often had many people come to him with their problems and he would help them and come up with solutions. Because of him, when I was really young I thought I wanted to be a medical doctor so I could help everybody.

My mother was also influential. She had a wide vision. Once when I was visiting from Vienna she had just purchased a new car. I was going to visit a colony, and I didn’t have a car, so I was going to rent one. Then my mother said, "Why don’t you use the new car?" I told her, "I thought you would like to take the new car to the temple today." She said, "Serving these people is serving God. You take it." I will never forget that. She had so much compassion.

The micro loan program that you have established among the leprosy-affected people is wonderful. How did you come up with the idea to implement a welfare committee and other important elements of the micro loan program to make it work among the leprosy-affected?

That is another question I get all the time. I am sure God must have put it in my head. I have no other answer. Twenty-five years ago no one really talked about giving loans to beggars. Today, I am very pleased because the funds that were initially given to the colonies are still in place. The money is going a long way. The leprosy-affected people themselves are managing the whole operation.

Would you say the women or men are better at the micro loan program and why?

The women are definitely better. They understand that if they don’t repay, then they don’t get more funding. The women Self Help Group (SHG) has really empowered them. Once they gained economic power the men started respecting them. Women are more responsible: they use their income for education of children and to improve the health of the family.

What can someone like me do to help the micro lending program?

Every one of us can lend a helping hand to lift others from poverty and degradation. What they need is an opportunity, not sympathy. They need training in economic activities, financial support to start a business and marketing facility for the finished products.

Most important is to spread awareness among the public that leprosy is not contagious: it is curable. The affected people should be integrated into the mainstream.