**OT**
FWIW, the story which inspired me to act:
more.abcnews.go.com
By Peter Jennings
ABCNEWS.com
N E W Y O R K, Nov. 17 — Om Dhutta Sharma has been driving a taxi in New York for 20 years. He was born and raised in an Indian village that is so small that it isn't even on the map.
Sharma and his wife, Kishna, have done well in America. They worked hard, saved their money and raised two kids who are in college now.
“I always thought, always thought,” says Sharma, “at the end of my life I will do something for the people back home in my village.”
How the Dream Began
Sharma is hardly at the end of his life, but in 1996, when his mother died and left him $50 and the family property back in India, Sharma had an idea.
“The law helped me a lot,” Sharma says. “It makes you analytical in whatever you do.”
In fact, Sharma had been a lawyer in India, though he didn't practice in the United States. He knows the value of his education. And he also knew that the girls in Dhoobher Kishanpur, his village, had no school.
Sharma decided he could make a difference.
“My wife started saving the money, $10, $15,” Sharma says. “I started saving 15 percent of my income every day. Whatever I make I just put in a jar.”
He invested the money in a school for 200 girls, which he built on his mother's property. He named the school, “The Ramkali School,” after his mother.
The Value of Each Dollar
A dollar goes further in India. One thousand dollars pays the teacher's salaries for a year. There is also enough money for a doctor.
Sharma is planning to build three more schools, including a high school.
“I'll pay the salaries,” Sharma says. “I'll pay the books. I'll pay the uniforms of the children … I want to utilize their creativity … and for that if you give financial help you never know what can happen.”
Some of these girls may even go to college, as Sharma and Kishna and their children did.
“The gift of education is the best gift you can give anybody,” Sharma says.
His is a gift for the future, earned on the streets of New York. |
