Washington: The US-based Javad K. Hassan Foundation has launched a “livelihood and income generation” program in central Kerala.
The program, which involves local stakeholders, has been launched initially in two villages in the Ernakulam district: Kuttamasseri and Chengamanadu, both rural suburbs of Kochi, Kerala’s financial hub.
In Kuttamasseri, which is roughly 20 miles to the northeast of Kochi, the foundation is working with a local cooperative that helps paddy farmers. The group, called Kuttamasseri Paadasekhara Samithi, supports village farmers in all aspects of farming, from the initial stages of land preparation, through production and marketing.
At the moment, farming is done in only 43 acres of land in the village. The foundation is helping the Samithi with seed money to scale farming in Kuttamasseri, Moustafa Mourad, President of the foundation, told The American Bazaar.
The funds from the foundation will be used for preparing the land, planting seedlings, paying for the workers and also for harvesting, post-harvest processes and marketing, he said.
A few miles to the northwest, in the Chengamanadu village, the foundation has established a local bag manufacturing unit to produce paper bags. The goal is to diminish the use of plastic bags by the local communities and, at the same time, empower local women to earn their livelihoods, said Mourad.
The foundation, based in McLean, Virginia, was started by prominent Indian American entrepreneur and technology leader Javad K. Hassan.
The philanthropist, who immigrated from Kerala in the late 1960s, is the founder and Chairman of the McLean, VA, -based NeST Group, a conglomerate of more than a dozen companies spread across several continents. The companies under the NeST umbrella include SFO Technologies, which is one India’s largest electronic manufacturing services companies, with more than 4,000 employees; Opterna, a global fiber optics products manufacturer; and Ecell Healthcare, an electronic healthcare service provider.
Prior to launching the NeST Group, Hassan — holder of more than 20 US patens — headed the fiber optics division of AMP, a Fortune company that is now part of Tyco International.
The two programs in Kuttamasseri and Chengamanadu are part of Javad K. Hassan Foundation’s recent shift in focus from charity to development.
Hassan said the focus was shifted with the goal of leveraging Information Technology to help underserved communities find income generating opportunities, move up and out of poverty, and join the economic mainstream of society.
“Not by donating money, but by equipping them with the capacity to be more self sustaining and more self reliant,” he said.
Mourad added, “The shift in focus reflected an effort to make the Foundations’ activities more sustainable, as well as to address community development issues that are most meaningful to the community as a whole.”
Mourad said the foundation seeks out and involves local stakeholders while developing its program initiatives.
He said besides the two initiatives, the foundation will work to expand its menu of services, deepen its engagement with the community, and cultivate additional partnerships for its community development efforts.
In Kuttamassery, the foundation has also launched a digital literacy initiative in partnership with a local public library.
As part of the initiative, it developed a Community Knowledge Center at the library, equipping it with six laptops and two tablet computers in addition to a board band internet connection all donated by the foundation, Mourad said.
The center offers training courses in digital literacy and basic computer skills, in addition to media, fashion designing for women, he said adding that it also serves as a public space where women get together to share their ideas, a rare occurrence in rural India.
The center also offers Information Technology-based classes for dozens of students, ranging from grades 6th to 10th, who are taught “open source” software development, as well as basic programming.
Another major initiative of the Javad K. Hassan Foundation is One Global Economy, a US-based nonprofit that helps increase access to information communications technology content and training for low income communities worldwide.
According to its website, One Global Economy has projects in 17 countries and 3 US Territories, including American Samoa, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guam, Haiti, India, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Northern Marianas Islands, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey and Uganda.
The nonprofit has reached more than 5 million users through online content and social networks, in-person training, and community based computer centers, the website states.
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