By Kavita Chibber
www.kavitachhibber.com

Atlanta - October 09, 2006: When Robin Raina decided to make a difference in the world of underprivileged children, perhaps even he may not have expected the kind of tidal waves of compassion and generosity that swept over his very young charitable organization, the Robin Raina Foundation.

Today the youthful CEO of Ebix, has many a project going that has brought hope and self reliance as well as good health and good cheer to underprivileged, blind and sick children across the world.

Talking about the various projects that the Raina Foundation is involved in, after a super successful charity concert featuring Sonu Nigam, Raina said there is so much that continues to touch his heart. “Just recently, I heard of a gentleman who had committed suicide. At his funeral, his daughter said to those who were present that if they wanted to honor her father’s memory, then they needed to make a donation to the Raina Foundation. Her father and she both believe in the Foundation’s efforts. I was deeply moved that even in her hour of such grief, she thought about us. Soon after I received a letter and a donation of one thousand dollars that had been collected at the funeral by her. This is what makes it worth while.”

The foundation is involved currently in six major projects. The first one, is the Raina-Prayas project, where the foundation has joined hands with Prayas one of the largest charities in India and adopted 400 children from the slum areas of Bawana in Delhi. “There are about 400,000 slum dwellers in Bawana, with virtually no means of education, livelihood or medical facilities. In spite of being razed to the ground, we have an 11 room school with all the facilities plus we provide food, clothing, picnics, toys, medical aid etc to these kids. Every Saturday there is play or some performance by the kids and awards are given, These plays, and other acts by them go on to become a part of their annual day. Every class is allowed one hour of TV as part of having fun, and watch everything from cartoons to the Discovery Channel etc,” says Raina and adds, “Rooms to Read”, is providing books for the kids and we are very happy with the way things are going there.”

The second initiative the Foundation has undertaken is empowering women. A self help group of 600 slum dwelling women, are being helped with education, self-empowerment and all kinds of support to fight against any abuse. If a family or husband abuses a woman the other women show up in groups to confront them. They also have a kitty or rupees 100 each month and when someone needs money she is provided the money from the kitty and pays it back later. The women preside over all transactions themselves. “A couple of weeks ago, says Robin, “we also trained them in martial arts through policewomen from Delhi Police who came over and showed them how to protect themselves from sexual and any other kind of harassment which is very prevalent in slums.”

Another project is the Raina /Prayas/ UNDP empowerment program, where a vocational school has been opened to teach stitching and embroidery for a few hundred mothers.

The Blind Aid Project supported by the Foundation now has 50 super achieving blind youngsters between the ages of 17 and 23. "I was so happy when I heard from this young man who had stood 2nd in History in the University,” says Robin, who also gets frequent calls from kids on his birthday sharing their achievements and wishing the man who has made it possible for them to become someone in life. “Every year, we take all the blind kids from each high school when they finish school and pay for their education, and everything else so that they become productive citizens of India and the world.”

The foundation, says Raina has also donated their first medical van to the Grameen Seva Kendra run by Servants Of the People Society. ‘ This charity was founded by Lala Lajpat Rai and inaugurated by Mahatama Gandhi and we provide medical services to far flung villages around Delhi. We hope to donate more such vans soon.”

In Mumbai, the foundation has the Udaan project where now they have adopted 175 underprivileged girl children who go to two private schools.

Thirty two orphaned kids live in the newly built Udaan ghar, a building that was started last year and was completed this year.

“It’s a beautiful facility with all the amenities but this is just the beginning. It was tough going but we hope to build many more such buildings in the near future to help orphaned children,’ says Robin.

Under Disha, the foundation is focused on educating village girls beyond high school and training them to join the textile industry. “ What many people don’t know is that there is a boom in the textile industry in India as India has become one of the largest exporters of textile. Jobs are going a begging. We first teach these girls how to make their own clothes, then graduate them to make what the export houses want.” In Hapur district two villages have been adopted by the foundation. The village has provided the building free of cost and the foundation has set up centers there along with the equipment to train women to learn the trade and become financially productive.

Perhaps the newest project and the one closest to Robin’s heart is the one he is co-sponsoring with cricketer Kapil Dev’s charity Khushi. “We are looking at this Senior citizens home that has been given to Kapil’s charity on a 100 years’ lease by the Harayana government in Gurgaon. Once the paper work is done and I am satisfied with everything as I like transparency about exactly how the money will be spent, we hope to have a state of the art home, free of cost for all senior citizens from every back ground who have been left to fend for themselves by their children.”

Robin is also happy that one child walked out healthy from the cancer ward supported by the foundation in Imran Khan’s hospital in Pakistan, though he was saddened by the death of Danyal Ali, in Atlanta who did undergo a bone marrow transplanted for whch the foundation also contributed to the funds needed to pay for the treatment.

Asked how he manages to juggle a hectic career and continue hands on work with the foundation, Robin replies, “I have an 18 hour working day 7 days a week. The love and support I have received from so many different quarters makes it seem very easy. The number of volunteers has been increasing multifold and now we are in the process of opening a New York chapter.”

RRF also issued an appeal to all its donors to donate generously so that it could continue adding more blind children to its Blind Aid project dedicated to providing education and hope to under-privileged blind children. All donations payable to Robin Raina Foundation should be sent to:

Robin Raina Foundation – Blind Aid Project,
2075 Lake Shore Landing,
Alpharetta, GA 30005

About the Robin Raina Foundation
A 501(c) charity, Raina foundation has been setup to raise funds for work to be carried out to empower children who need help around the world. The foundation's focus is to make a difference in the lives of children - who are handicapped, blind, mentally challenged, sick or in need of urgent medical help and underprivileged kids who need education.

RRF Contacts:
Sanjay Supehia, (678) 517-8688
ssupehia@rainafoundation.com

Ashish Arora, (678) 910-2604
aarora@rainafoundation.com