Highlights Of The #RangDe Telethon: An Initiative To Provide Interest Free Loans To Students From Low Income Households

I believe that quality education, healthcare and nutrition is something that every child deserves. I was  fortunate to be born with a family that could afford all this. Millions in our country do not have access to quality education, healthcare and nutrition. I can't change the life of millions of children but could do something for children in my neighbourhood.

We started our foundation with 6 children in 1 room in shopping arcade near my home. Now it has grown to over 1,000 children studying in our school. Some have graduated, some are working in multinational companies. There is no greater joy than helping someone and see them grow. 

Low income should not mean low ambition and low opportunity. There is a huge multiplier effect for entrepreneurship. Because we are able to create jobs, it leads to growth. I have experience in micro lending. The moment you are able to provide loan, it helps people to grow. If you combine that with technology, it will help a lot of people.

What Rang De does is that they are combing the power of peer to peer lending and technology. This multiplier effect works. My father believed that education is important. Since my education was good, I could earn. It is my responsibility to give back to the nation. We believe these 4 things are very important - save, invest, grow and give. 

Pandemic showed us the digital divide in the society. Everyone promoted going digital but most people do not have a device. Even if they have a device like phone, there is only one in the house. Also, there is not enough money for data (internet) in many households. What we did is, we called parents, spoke to the father and then asked him to give the phone to their daughter. We built a bond with fathers. Some parents took their daughter back to village to marry them off. We wrote them letters. First we tried to build a connect with families and then girl students. We made a smartphone library, where 5-6 girls would come together and connect with teachers. This helped a lot. We urged people to share device. We continued education with the way of group learning.

I was in class 8th and it was last month of session. I was preparing for exams and enjoying preparations with friends and teachers when the COVID-19 lockdown happened. Our exams were cancelled. There were some students who were happy but we were sad as we had put in a lot of hardwork. Dream A Dream foundation came to our school when I was in class 7th. These additional class where they helped us see ourselves from a better perspective and helped us recognise our talent. 

My dream is to become a role model for others. I want to show that girls can do anything if the work hard for it. I want everyone to know that girls are capable to and should be given fair opportunities.