Volunteer Speak

Volunteer Speak - Sharath


	Sharath is a relatively new face in the Aashayein Foundation. He joined Aashayein in January 2011. In his small tenure so far at Aashayein he has shown immense commitment and dedication in Aashayein activities. He is involved in Shikshana Abhiyana, Sunday Breakfast serving, BMKS surveys and the summer camp By profession Sharath is an ASIC Design Engineer working with LSI India. He has completed his B.E. in Electronics and Communication from PESIT, Bangalore in 2006. His interests include financial and business economics and he is passionate about new trends in semiconductor technologies. Sharath played a very important role in the success of BMKS surveys and summer camp. Currently he is involved in organizing summer camp in Al-Ameen School, Shivaji Nagar.
Aashayein Foundation's Interview with Sharath AF: How did you come to know about Aashayein Foundation and what inspired you to join us? Sharath: I was working with another NGO named RK Foundation when at the end of last year I realized that I still had some free time. I decided to work for another NGO. That was when one of my friends told me about Aashayein. I just registered on the website and came on board in a week. AF: How was your first experience with Aashayein Foundation? Sharath: The very first activity I took up with Aashayein was SA. I decided to go to the school at SG Palya(behind Christ College). It was an absolutely amazing experience. It was the first time I was interacting with kids of that age in a language other than English. I found that some of them really have the potential to make it big in life provided they are given the right opportunities. I have decided to continue in that school for this academic year too. AF: You were proactively involved in BMKS Surveys this year, how was your experience being part of it. Sharath: BMKS is a very noble program. It helps deserving kids from poor backgrounds to continue their education with our help. I think we need to identify more areas the next year. AF: What are the plans for BMKS this year and how much has happened so far? Sharath: As part of BMKS, we have completed surveys at Dairy Colony, Shivajinagar, Jayanagar and NGV area near Koramangala. We just completed the first of the BMKS tests at Al Ameen School, Shivajinagar last week. We got a pretty good response too. We are in the process of finalizing the deserving candidates. AF: You are also participating in summer camp at Al-Ameen school. How is it going? Sharath: Every sort of experience with Aashayein has been unique. It is the same with the summer camp. We have completed two weekends. 2 more to go. Luckily for me, we have a good set of volunteers who are passionate about it which makes my task very simple. We have completed arts and crafts sessions along with a photography session. We are taking the kids for a science exhibition this weekend and we plan to take the kids to the Visvesvaraya Museum next week. AF: What are your expectations from the Aashayein Foundation? Is there anything which is not going right and can be improved in our approach? Sharath: I expect to get more opportunities to serve society by being part of Aashayein. I think we are going great guns and we should be setting higher goals for the next financial year. The only problem I have is the indifferent attitude shown by some of the volunteers. They commit to an event and then back out at the last moment or they don't show up at all. One must understand that massive change can only be brought about by putting massive effort. So I would like to sign off by once gain requesting the volunteers to go that extra mile. Thanks for your patience. Wish you all the best. Bye.