"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
If nobody listens to your call, walk 'Barefoot' with Bunker Roy
Nobel Laureate, poet and one of the greatest Bengali literary figure, Rabindranath Tagore's famous words: "if nobody listens to your call, walk alone" seems apt to start this short write-up on a special person who has dedicated his entire life for rural empowerment and given us inspiration how to create context and character for our social innovation initiatives. Bunker Roy lives by it everyday, transforming livelihood of local people through local wisdom and absolutely hands-on approach to social innovation. Recipient of numerous national and international awards and felicitations, He has been identified as Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation (2002) and the Skoll Foundation (2005).
Bunker Roy is one of my heroes in life. Here is my tiny efforts to present him to those among us who may not have had the opportunity to know more about him. To believe in one's own conviction and relentlessly pursue the cause without losing focus or imagination is an outstanding quality which Bunker has in abundance. He is not going to give up on what he believes passionately as innovative transformation at the bottom of the pyramid as a result of creating context and character in bringing endearing value for the ma**** through social innovation, design think, inclusion and real life knowledge dissemination. (Please take a look at the video.)
One might also like to hear a podcast at a Big Fixes session at PopTech where he gave an interview. Please read Bunker's statement of provocation in his own words.
With a depth and understanding of the real issues that affects the economically disadvantaged people that he has been empowering collaboratively (while co-creating endearing value with the help of 'barefoot disciples' ), he provides an interesting argument how multilateral aid agencies have failed to understand the inter-connectedness of all issues that affect the poor and the marginalized segments of our society who need a different approach if we need to succeed making Millennium Development Goals (MDG) a reality.
It is worth reading what D.K.Matai commented on Barefoot College and outlined Bunker's approach quite succinctly in one of his blogs.
In Bunker's own words in the Journal of American Enterprise Institute, he says,..
"...the approach is about living and working with the poor, listening to them with humility to gain their confidence and trust. It cannot be bought and manipulated with money, which in fact may destroy existing workable low cost structures. It is about respecting and implementing the ideas of the poor, encouraging them to use their skills and knowledge for their own development. It is about taking a back seat and providing the space for them to develop themselves. So long as governments in the global south are powerless to break the hold of corrupt vested interests on whom many of them depend, the poor will never be free from want, poverty and hunger. "
Bunker Roy is one of my heroes in life. Here is my tiny efforts to present him to those among us who may not have had the opportunity to know more about him. To believe in one's own conviction and relentlessly pursue the cause without losing focus or imagination is an outstanding quality which Bunker has in abundance. He is not going to give up on what he believes passionately as innovative transformation at the bottom of the pyramid as a result of creating context and character in bringing endearing value for the ma**** through social innovation, design think, inclusion and real life knowledge dissemination. (Please take a look at the video.)
One might also like to hear a podcast at a Big Fixes session at PopTech where he gave an interview. Please read Bunker's statement of provocation in his own words.
With a depth and understanding of the real issues that affects the economically disadvantaged people that he has been empowering collaboratively (while co-creating endearing value with the help of 'barefoot disciples' ), he provides an interesting argument how multilateral aid agencies have failed to understand the inter-connectedness of all issues that affect the poor and the marginalized segments of our society who need a different approach if we need to succeed making Millennium Development Goals (MDG) a reality.
It is worth reading what D.K.Matai commented on Barefoot College and outlined Bunker's approach quite succinctly in one of his blogs.
In Bunker's own words in the Journal of American Enterprise Institute, he says,..
"...the approach is about living and working with the poor, listening to them with humility to gain their confidence and trust. It cannot be bought and manipulated with money, which in fact may destroy existing workable low cost structures. It is about respecting and implementing the ideas of the poor, encouraging them to use their skills and knowledge for their own development. It is about taking a back seat and providing the space for them to develop themselves. So long as governments in the global south are powerless to break the hold of corrupt vested interests on whom many of them depend, the poor will never be free from want, poverty and hunger. "
Views: 51
-
Comment by Ayala Sherbow on March 15, 2010 at 5:18pm
-
another well researched post! :)
-
Comment by Roger Stack on March 16, 2010 at 8:49pm
-
I followed the link to his ideas on achieving the MDGs... the interdependence of these issues is critical. We need to view all issues/challenges through the eyes of the individual, the culture, the envirnoment and the system as an integrated wh***.
It seems to me you share the same qualities you identify in Bunker Roy :-)
-
Comment by Jenny Siler on April 5, 2010 at 10:54pm
-
I'm a huge advocate of self-help, and Bunker Roy has the same goals for a better world. Thanks for sharing Rahul!
Comment
Latest Activity
Fourth of July on the Lake
This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Stinging Nettle
In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
The meal
It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Future
FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
public servants
The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
© 2024 Created by Alchemy.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!
Join Urgent Evoke