India has the largest number of undernourished people in the world. More than 200 million people remain hungry”, says Gian Pietro Bordignon, Country Director, United Nations World Food Programme. “There are so many people that go without food everyday. We have realised that food is one of the most significant things in a person’s life, without it people are unhappy, angry, in fact if everyone had enough to eat people will be more peaceful. The UN’s World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian aid agency, is a wing of the UN that concentrates in this area. I’m sure most people saw a depiction of our group in Sierra Leone in the movie ‘Blood Diamond’ but I was there a while back and what you see in the movie is only one tenth of the devastation there.”he says.
“India is one of the largest economies in the world with growth rates of over seven per cent. So when we approach people for support, they find it hard to believe that around seventy per cent of the same country is under developed. Most people wonder why the UN needs funds! People must now that we are not a business organisation. We don’t make any money!” says J K Raman, Head, Advocacy and Resource Mobilisation, WFP.
Yesterday, the WFP organised a fund raiser called the ‘Golf for Hunger’ at the Bangalore Golf Club. This is their first fund raising event with the private sector in India. The game started off at 8 am in the morning with a whole bunch of local amateur golfers including corporate heads and a few celebrities.
“I loved being here. I didn’t play too well. Actually I prefer to play for a while and then I would rather sprint in the course (laughs)” says athlete Ashwini Nachappa who along with her partner were the first to finish the game. “I think it’s a worthy cause and will definitely extend my support to such causes whenever I find time” she added. There was great camaraderie on the course as most of the players were regulars at the club.
Says Sports Presenter Charu Sharma who was moderating the whole event, “It was great fun and I think it was a good game. And I support the cause and think it is important that people are aware of the situation in the country.” And why was golf chosen? “Well, I would be perfectly happy playing gilli danda (laughs) but I think the main reason golf was chosen is because golf attracts people who are more let’s say in a position to donate to charity. And that is what we are looking for, corporates who are willing to support the cause.” he said.
After a hard morning of playing in the hot sun, the golfers trudged back to the clubhouse. As they settled down and relaxed over food and drinks, the winners for the event were announced. A couple of people including Anil Lad, an MLC, got lucky and won vouchers thanks to a lucky draw while the rest waited for the winners to be announced. The winning team was of Dr Arjun Srivatsa and his 12 year old daughter Nikita. The first runner up team was of Sumit Kumar and Ginny Oberoi and the second runner up was G K Khanna and Anjali Mandal. It was pleasantly surprising to see 12 year old Nikita walk away the winner and 83 year old G K Khanna, the Chairman of Ista hotels, come in as the second runner up! All in all, it was day of some great golf in support of a worthy cause.