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What is your "Individual Social Responsibility (ISR)?

June 27, 2012 Filed Under: Philanthropy

with Rufina Fernandez and Rajen Varada

After finishing a four-day intensive training in Delhi for the Networked NGO, I stayed on a few days in India to visit colleague, Rufina Fernandez, who I met when she was the CEO of the Nasscom Foundation when she brought me to India to speak at the leadership conference and teach workshops back in 2010.   When Rufina heard through Facebook that was coming to India, she insisted that I come to Bangalore and see some of the social change with technology projects she is working on or connected with.    (Rufina is now working with an amazing social enterprise and technology start up that is focusing on high quality education (expect a blog post about it later this week)

Rufina and I traveled six hours by car outside of Bangalore to the hills of Coorg, a peaceful and beautiful part of rural India where they are known for their coffee, sugar cane, and mangos.   But, this wasn’t a just a tourist trip, I was on a mission to see technology social change projects in action and better understand how technology can impact social on the ground in rural areas with limited connectivity and resources.   I was not disappointed when I met Rajen Varada who has worked as a ICT for development professional for organizations like the UN.   Through his nonprofit, “Technology for the People,” he has dedicated his life to girls (and boys) empowerment through technology.
He and Rufina worked together on a project supported by the Nasscom Foundation that helped trained girls in animations skills so they could find jobs.   Rajen, who still works as an ICT consultant – dividing his time between work projects and his coffee farm in the hills of Coorg, still continues to use technology for social change.   He lives very simply, preferring to invest the money he makes from consulting to support technology and social change projects in the rural area that he now calls home.
He has helped developed a technology and library center in the rural school in his village and is implementing a program that is teaching kids ICT skills.  Unfortunately, with the monsoon season in full swing, we were delayed so we could not tour that project.   We did visit another one of his projects at a “Remand House” in the small town Madikeri about 20 kilometers from his farm.   The government run “Remand Houses” are shelters for homeless youth who are runaways, orphans, facing domestic violence at home, or too young to go to jail for a crime.

The “Remand Homes,” although funded by the government, are pretty bare and under-resourced.    In the community, there is only a boys home, but the director of this home, a very committed and passionate professional had just been assigned to set up the girls home.
Remand House staff and director (right)

Rajen has refurbished some basic computers and provided curriculum for basic computer training on word processing (no Internet access yet).  Computer recycling is something that is happening in India on a broader scaled, encouraged by this Nasscom program.  Rajen is also looking at other needs for the home. When he discovered that the library had no books and with school just starting, Rajen arranged for a donation to supplement what the director had purchased with her own salary.

I got to observe the director in action.  She is a calm but firm leader.    A man came to the Remand House looking for his son and wife, who had apparently run away.   The director told him to report it to the police.   The man had been accused of beating his wife and children -domestic violence is a huge issue in many places of the world, and in rural India.   The man denied it and left.   This conversation was all done in the presence of a community official who did not have a problem with the accusation of domestic violence.  After they left, the director mentioned that the wife and child  had to seek shelter away from their home and that they were both safe.
Coincidentally, the evening before, Rufina and I watched a social change program called “SatyamevJayte” hosted by famous Indian actor, Aamir Khan, which was on the topic of domestic violence.   For countless women in India, entering married life often means the beginning of a stressful, violent existence.   Beating one’s wife seems to be ingrained  as the appropriate behavior for a strong male, but the consequences are misery for the wife and children, and often a broken, unhappy home. The concept of domestic violence is based on the notion of patriarchy, which needs to be converted into equality.  What I witnessed at the  Remand House was, sadly, is something that is quite common, but there are many NGOs and advocates in India trying to change this.

While we were at the Remand Home, Rajen asked the director what they needed.    The forty children who live there did not have raincoats and this was a problem as the monsoon season had started in force.  This meant driving rains and cold (for India 65 degrees) would get the kids soaked on their walk to school.  This could lead to sickness.     After leaving the Remand House, we went into town and I asked Ragen if I could purchase raincoats for the kids.

So, in the pouring rain, Rufina and I visited different merchants in town and priced kids raincoats.  One merchant was willing to give us the coats at cost because we were donating them to the Remand House.    I also visited a “convenience store” to purchase some lolly pops.    Along with the much needed rain coats, I wanted to give them something fun.

The kids were thrilled with the donation.  The young person on the left shouted out “Thank You Madame” upon receiving the gift.

While Shel Israel calls this the “cult of generosity” – I would like to call “Individual Social Responsibility” – like there is “Corporate Social Responsibility,”  it is also important for us a individuals to be generous.   But it doesn’t mean that you can’t be strategic.  I learned this from Giving 2.0 author Laura  Arrillaga-Andresseen (who wrote the foreword to my next book, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit).  So before making my donation,  I knew and trusted the colleagues who are running the program and I did due diligence on the price of the raincoats.

I came across this meme on Facebook – a commentary about “Slacktivists” and social change.    Some of us take “Individual Social Responsibility” by donating and/or shining a light on  social issues – like Aamir Khan or my colleague, Mark Horvath who is doing a tour to raise awareness about homelessness in the UK with the help of passionate advocates in the UK like Nick Booth. Others may donate.  Some do both.      There is a debate as to whether “liking” a story or photo on Facebook can lead to social change on the ground, but I believe that networks are ecosystems with people who take their ISR more deeply than others – and that we have to think of ISR in terms of a ladder of engagement.
The powerful thing about social network and connectedness is that we have the opportunity to take small actions that collectively can add up to changes.     How are you expressing and sharing your “Individual Social Responsibility?”

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cheryl says

    June 27, 2012 at 9:42 am

    I love this concept of Individual Social Responsibility. Great post, Beth, and fun photos too!

    Reply
  2. Ashley says

    June 27, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Great post and I agree with Cheryl that I really love the concept of Individual Social Responsibility. A lot of us have forgotten that we are one big world and not just a bunch of individuals and therefore we do have a responsibility to one another as humans. I certainly think that raising awareness, and that may mean be “liking” or “sharing” posts online, is one way to begin and should be paired with actionable steps people can take to help beyond just raising awareness. In my opinion, I want awareness to lead to something tangible that can create real change. I think many nonprofits forget that piece of it (ours included) because we are often focused on just the feedback we get online – more likes, more comments. We have to remember to provide real solutions/actions and to ask for our online friends to follow up.

    Reply
  3. Peggy, Wiser.org says

    June 27, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    Very important blog post Beth. I am always amazed when I find out that individual’s giving is not strategic. Thanks for sharing your experience and mentioning Giving 2.0, excellent reference.

    Reply
  4. Beth Kanter says

    June 28, 2012 at 11:49 am

    Thanks Peggy – I did a follow up blog post on the wiser giving tool – love it
    https://bethkanter.org/wiser-giving/

    Reply
  5. George says

    June 29, 2012 at 2:47 am

    Individual Social Responsibility….is a powerful tag line, an inspiring motto and in today’s age of all pervasive economic recession and environmental degradation etc..the solution does not probably lie only with governments and organizations, the solution lies with the Individual too…

    Reply
  6. Zawadi says

    August 23, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    Thanks for sharing this Beth – lovely story. I’m all for individual social responsibility – we all have a role to play.
    My best friend is actually traveling in India for a few months so I’ll share this story with her. She’s a multi-media journalist, passionate about making the world a better place, and also loves children. So maybe she can link up with Rajen? Please send me an email so that I can connect them.
    The only thing about the story that I felt wary about was when you said: “For countless women in India, entering married life often means the beginning of a stressful, violent existence.” While this might be true, I think one must be careful about making statements like these, especially when you are commenting as an outsider. Plus, I think this is true for countless women all over the world. Domestic violence is a problem everywhere, hence the #1BillionRising V-Day campaign.
    Hope this feedback is useful.
    Hugs,
    Zawadi

    Reply
  7. Beth says

    August 23, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    Zawadi — very good point. I was summarizing from the web site in India that had the talk show about the issue – http://www.satyamevjayate.in/issue07/ — and I spoke to number of advocates in India while there about this issue and asked – is that common. THe answer, unfortunately, yes .. but I take your point – and will be careful about phrasing.

    Reply
  8. Zawadi says

    August 23, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    Thanks for the feedback Beth – knowing where this statement came from definitely helps contextualize it. 🙂
    Bless!

    Reply
  9. Kalidash Brahma says

    January 11, 2015 at 6:18 am

    Little, but impressive.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Individual Social Responsibility | "Acting Socially Responsible" says:
    April 14, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    […] Links: ISRWorld, SlideShow, Article, eHow, LinkedIn, RelatedBlog Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like […]

    Reply
  2. Reflecting on climate change and #nptech | Common Knowledge, Aotearoa NZ says:
    March 15, 2014 at 11:11 am

    […] Writing earlier about this topic after some personal philanthropy in India, Beth talks about “taking small actions that collectively can add up to changes.” […]

    Reply

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