Vayam: Addressing the Information Deficit in Charity
It is impossible to be simultaneously connected to the internet and the world 24x7 and yet to be unaware of the many problems ailing our world. All across the world, there are the poor, the disabled, the uneducated and in general, the inopportune - who hope in vain for the objects and opportunities you and I often take for granted.
There's a tendency to ignore these things in the newspaper, to consider these issues as prevailing in some backward part of the world, while we remain safe in our little corners of our little universes. However, as anybody who takes a look outside the nearest window can tell you, it isn't so. Poverty, disability, illiteracy, abuse, all lurk in our own backyards, and if people were only a little more aware, and a little more giving, it could make a great difference to the lives of those people.
That isn't to say there aren't already people addressing these issues: there are many charities, NGOs, and independents who dedicate their lives to the service of these people and aim to emancipate them from the chains of these pains; but, much like the issues themselves, they also tend to slip out of the public view.
It was upon this realization that my friends and I, a group of six, decided to do something about it. And we decided to start in our own backyard, in Mysore.
Over a period of months, we painstakingly staked out each organization we knew of, gathered contacts, visited the charities as well as their sites and bases of operation (often well outside city limits and without adequate roads or other facilities), recorded interviews, all the way collecting material and information about each charity, NGO, their purpose, staff, methods and focus (of operation).
With this data in hand, we set up an Internet Portal at www.vayam.org.in, and made available on the website all the data we had gathered, after compilation and editing. The portal presents data on over thirty (30) organizations operating in and around Mysore, and displays their location, contact information, and details for volunteering or donations. We also began an initiative to have these charities and NGOs link their bank accounts to PayPal to make donations easier among the net-savvy crowd.
Our objective was to make these noble people and their organizations, working ceaselessly for the welfare of others, well-known to the casual internet surfer, the teenage Facebook user, and all those who may otherwise never hear or think about the issues at hand.
It was with these latter populations in mind that we also set up a Social Network as part of Vayam, to foster and facilitate interaction between the organizations and the people at large. In addition, we made sure that the network supported the local language, Kannada, to make it accessible to an even larger set of people.
We hope that our efforts helped raise awareness about these worthy causes and the people working towards them in the minds of the common man in Mysore.
Vayam was also submitted to Oracle's ThinkQuest project competition, for which we received a certificate of appreciation, and we are grateful for the publicity received.
Read the full story and details of the process and technology used at Vayam: Our Journey.
