Vision

Things and people are not always what they seem. I hope that you agree that we as human beings are complex creatures. However many people are conditioned to dwell on the surface. I believe richness stems from depth, like the roots and soil that feed a tree. But all our eyes see is what is on the surface. What do you spend your time looking at? Aren’t people who are deemed Visionaries individuals who see what others cannot? Which reminds me of this quote “eyesight is a test to see if we can see beyond it…”

I remember the 1st time I saw my mom outside of the singular yet admirable and complex role of my mother. I went to a graduation of her organization, training futures (http://www.nvfs.org/trainingfutures.htm a shamless plug for an amazing organization that is always looking for volunteers). She was speaking in front of over 200 people in a formal business setting. She spoke with such passion and grace. It hit me hard, rocked my world and never looked at her the same again. Getting a peak into another layer of Susan Craver created a deeper sense of respect, admiration and love.

I had a similar experience today when Ed, Pris, Dr Z, (author of a great book called seven steps to deep transitions) Mousina and I went to visit the Satyam (the organization I work for) Foundations. This 30,000 person organization (as I have been learning since joining three weeks ago) is dynamic and impressive. Our journey today took us on a tour of three foundations, an urban development foundation called Satyam foundation….a rural development foundation (Byrraji foundation), and Emergency Management and Research Institute. EMRI is the equivalent to 911 in the US which did not exist anywhere in India until Satyam created and continues to fund the much needed service.
We got to tour the facilities, interact with the leaders of the organizations and learn about how these services have saved and sustained the lives of hundreds of thousands of people throughout India with clean water, health care, education, disaster relief and so on. In a country where 40% of the population lives off of a dollar or less a day and life expectancy is around 64 these types of services are literally lifesavers. Like seeing another facet of my mom, learning about all the important and transformative community development work Satyam does reveals more of its richness and depth. I look forward to sharing my volunteer efforts in the community in the near future.