Were you ever in a position where you wanted to give back to your society but didn’t know from where to start or whom to support? I am sure during some point of your life this thought would have come to your mind and seeing no proper resources or platform you might have back out from the thought.

I am Meghana Kondury, currently in my 11th grade studying in Hyderabad and this is my project Village Alumni Connect. I am trying to connect successful people in big cities who migrated from villages at one point of time, an opportunity to contribute back and get involved in the development of their village community. I have started this by selecting my home town Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India as part of my Future Leaders Project by 1M1B Foundation. My initial goal is to support the initiatives being run by 1M1B Foundation in the communities around Bhimavaram and do my bit of giving back to my home town and the villages that surround it.

I want to start this by sharing about one of the initiatives in which young high school students from underserved communities in Bhimavaram are getting trained on leadership and future skills by 1M1B Foundation. Top 5 students are been given an opportunity to present their work at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in August 2019. This exposure and opportunity will help them develop their leadership and advocacy skills, besides getting introduced to some very senior leaders and organizations who can support them in their projects or higher education.

Bhimavaram to United Nations, New York –

         

Meet these young students from a Government High School in Bhimavaram who are beating all the odds to come up with projects that are solving some of the real problems in their community. All the students are first generation learners and due to financial constraints their parents can afford to send them only to a government school. These students are part of Future Leaders program that 1M1B has initiated in the rural areas and are undergoing the leadership curriculum based on innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.  After mentoring them for the past 3 months these students with limited resources available to them, have come up with solutions for some pressing problems in their community, from Renu (name changed), a 14 year old, who aims to decrease alcohol addiction in her village as her own household has been ravaged by alcoholism and domestic abuse to Manikanta, Nitish and Ramu who are working to reduce the usage of plastic in Bhimavaram. Experiences shape great leaders, and these teenagers are using the platform provided by 1M1B to push change in their communities.

Having personally been part of the same training under this program that took place in the urban city of Hyderabad, we, along with ten other students, can definitely vouch for how this curriculum, as well as the presentation in the UN, will be an eye opener, broadeningour perspectives and develop our personalities immensely and is helping us actually make a difference. This training will not only help address the community's problems, but will activate a whole generation of confident and capable rural youth who can live completely different lives from their predecessors and break the previous cycle, truly empowering rural India.

5 of these students based on the impact created have been selected to represent their school at the 1M1B Activate Impact Summit to be held at the United Nations Headquarters, New York in August 2019. These students have to start from applying a passport and get their visa appointment to get a chance to present their project; sadly they don’t have the finances to apply for a passport as well. People from their community have never dared to dream this big. But they can change that. They can bring a new hope in the community and inspire others to dream big.

And you can be a part of it.
How can you contribute? 
Trip Details –
The 5 students will travel to New York and stay for 3 days where they will be presenting at the UN Headquarters and meet other ambassadors and diplomats.
The total cost for the trip to UN, New York and back for 5 students for 3 days is coming out to be around 12,00,000 Lakhs (Including stay, food, transportation, visa fees, passports etc).
You can help the students achieve their dream by contributing to this project, as little as your one day’s salary can be a big contribution for the campaign or can also help us connect with corporates and organizations that can support the trip logistically.

About 1M1B Foundation –
1 Million for 1 Billion (1M1B) is a social innovation and future skills initiative aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  It is accredited with special consultative status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is also associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI).

1M1B accelerates innovation for societal impact by building conscious enterprises, and by undertaking income enhancement initiatives for underserved communities by engaging corporations, young leaders and start-ups.