Students on a'Spirit'us mission to change lives
Not many get a chance to visit the headquarters of the United Nations at New York. But, when city lass Bindhu N Doddahatti of JSS Law College did visit the UN, it changed her perception of human rights completely.
One year after her visit to Big Apple , Bindhu now heads the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Spiritus International Trust (SIT), which aims at ‘making life better’ for the economically and socially backward.
Working along with her are a group of like-minded people including secretary S T Geethu, vice-president, Bharath Keshavamurthy, co-ordinators Varuni and Chitra.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Bindhu said SIT team has been working to improve the lifestyle of slum dwellers in various parts of the city. T
heir first project was to provide clothes and books to ‘Deena Bandhu Green Home for Girls’ in Chamarajanagar followed by a slum near Siddharthanagar. Later, SIT also created an awareness campaign on organ donation in association with Mohan Foundations. Even though the group didn’t have sufficient manpower to support their programme, their perseverance has paid off as more than 300 students from various colleges like Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), SBRR Mahajana’s First Grade College and University of Mysore are now volunteering for SIT.
Bindhu says works of Prof Shyamanand Bashir of West Bengal inspired the team to improve awareness among students from economically-backward classes about purusing their professional career. SIT even conducted coaching classes to encourage students one such project was to teach English to visually-impaired students at ‘Asha Kirana’.
Referring to the involvement of volunteers, Bindhu said, “ It is not only money that is needed to run a NGO. We need people who can contribute time and attention for people in need.
Till now money has never become a major issue but our next project we need funds to bring a change. We hope public will join hands to make a change”
Speaking about their forthcoming project, she said SIT wants to curb alcohol consumption, which is rampant in Ekalavya Nagar in the city.
With several instances of men beating their wives coming to light in the locality, SIT wants to educate women about their fundamental rights and facilities provided by the government. Meanwhile, Bindhu says without the support of their parents it would have been impossible to take up the work. JSS Law College principal K S Suresh and Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement founder R Balasubramaniam have also extended their support, she said.
