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Corporate Philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy has become a popular trend with many corporations in the world. It is seen as a way of giving back to the community in an attempt to liberate the people from ignorance and poverty. In the past, Philanthropy was seen as an obligation where a prosperous corporation had to donate some of its resources to development projects through grants. However, this misconception is slowly giving way to a new Phase of Philanthropic activity in which big conglomerates willingly dedicate some of their resources to charitable courses. Tej Kohli is one of the celebrated CEOs who found it in its heart to dedicate some of his resources to the Underprivileged.
The Tej Kohli foundation was founded in 2005 as a non-profit organization which started out by catering for the needs of underprivileged children in Costa Rica. Although nutrition was a major concern, Tej Kohli had an emphasis on education. If all people had an equal chance to quality educational facility, it would be easier to eradicate poverty in most communities. Currently, the Tej Kohli Foundation maintains a special focus on six major projects. These are: Provision of education to underprivileged children Nutrition for malnourished children Rural health care Women Empowerment Corneal Transplant and eye donation awareness Vocational training for the disabled
In most communities, the disabled are entirely dependent on other members of the society. There is a misconception which leads people to believe that a disabled person is deprived of the chance to earn their living by venturing into an activity which generates substantial profit. However, the Tej Kohli Foundation holds a different perspective. Everyone has their fields of strength regardless of their physical capabilities; by exposing the disabled to appropriate training courses, they can earn their own money and therefore decrease the dependency rate in any community.
In other views, it lowers ones self esteem if they cannot indulge in an activity which makes them Independent. Vocational training for the disabled will certainly help in eradicating poverty by increasing the productivity of any community. As a philanthropic organization, the Tej Kohli foundation has found it important to involve the disabled in building the nation by providing short term training courses.
talent goes to waste if they cant find access to quality educational facility. In India, a large number of children will drop out of Primary School just because their parents cannot afford to pay their fees. Only a few will join secondary school for the same reasons. Eventually, just a small percentage from well up families will be lucky enough to join Institutions of Higher Learning.
So, what it is the fate of those children who are deprived of a chance to quality education? Most of them will find their way to casual working environments which hardly meet their daily needs. A good number will compromise on moral virtues and get involved in criminal activities or indulge in high risk sexual activity. Although these activities are condemned in the society, uneducated youths have no alternative options from which they can earn a living. Ever since it was founded, the Tej Kohli foundation has been providing scholarships to underprivileged children in a quest to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. The beneficiaries are expected to improve the living standards in their communities afterwards. It has to be noted that children reflect any nations future; exposing them to education which helps them discover their talents is a fundamental milestone in eradication of poverty.
Improving medical infrastructure in the rural areas is one of the projects which have been undertaken by the Tej Kohli foundation. India has the largest population of people in the world. Keeping this in mind, the few medical centers in rural areas are not enough to cater for the needs of the entire population. Shortage of medical equipment and drugs has been a problem which leads to a high death rate. The foundation is renovating units which already exist and will continue to provide rural health centers with essential medication. Although a permanent solution can be found in improving the living standards in rural areas, the situation must be taken care of. Cases of acute malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and other serious ailments are given a higher priority. The foundation has been funding ambulances which will cater for the needs of those people who live far from the hospitals.
Women empowerment
The role of women in any community can never be overlooked. A campaign has been put in place to put an end to domestic violence, gender disparity and stereotyping which affects women negatively. In rural area, women are deprived of a chance to quality education, good employment opportunities and leadership with the general view that women are inferior to men.
transplants and eye donation awareness. Most blind people are in their productive age; however, they cannot earn a substantial profit considering their impaired sight. The Tej Kohli Foundation dedicated some of its resources to corneal transplant with the belief that the large population of blind people will venture into profit generating activities and therefore ease the dependency rate in India. Among the challenges faced by the foundation is the shortage of Corneal Transplant surgeons and inadequate medical facility to cater for the 4.5 million blind people who can regain their sight. If India plans to treat all its corneal blind citizens, more than 100,000 patients should be addressed each year. A mobile clinic was launched on the 25th of August this year and is expected to treat more than a hundred blind people everyday. The Drishti Rath Project is one of the strategies which were laid out to reach poor communities who live in the rural areas. Among the services which will be provided are free eye check ups and corneal transplants.
The Tej Kohli foundation would also want to bring it to the nations attention that it cannot possibly succeed in its mission if people will not be willing to donate their eyes. A campaign was set up in the year 2010 and has been effective in mobilizing the masses towards eye donation. However, a great number of blind people are still on the queue and waiting for a well wisher who is willing to
donate their corneal. Although the foundation is already in the process of building a specialized clinic which will cater for the medical needs of corneal blind people, The Philanthropic project is a collective responsibility and will only be successful if different parties including citizens and the government join hands.
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