LIFEIS: We Are the World… We Are the Children…

Like every respectable company, LIFEIS is committed to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs; being a new entity, we are still defining the most applicable to our business and capabilities opportunities. We Are the World… We Are the Children… - this lyrics from the popular song touches every heart – and ours too…

We have reported in our earlier post on initiation of long-standing relationship with Indira Gandhi International Academy in Bangalore. It was very tough to leave these charming children, and many of us (though we declared this officially) decided to come back. And, true to our promise, we did came back!

It was last Sunday when LIFEIS made its first official visit – the visit that was meticulously prepared and planned. It coincided with the Independence Day – and this is very momentous – Independent India makes a lot to help its less fortunate neighbors to overcome their problems. Indira Gandhi International Academy is a vivid example of this. LIFEIS is very proud of this opportunity to show its involvement in international relief effort.

Ravi Puri, LIFEIS Chief Executive Officer addressed the children: “LIFEIS, as to its nature, is the company with heart, and this heart is very sensitive to the needs and status of people. In our business, we are dealing everyday with grown-ups, but we always bear in mind that the man is always formed at his childhood – if being a child, he is confronted with the people who care, than the chances are high that all his life he will be caring, compassionate and attentive to other people. Thus, LIFEIS has a distinctive intention is not just to help once and forget them, but it is to teach and make them capable of helping others.” These words were applauded by all present, as Mr. Puri affirmed LIFEIS’ intention to frequently visit the Academy and try to help overcome its current hurdles of food. And not food only… At the time of our last visit, we noticed that many of the classrooms and halls would use some improved ventilation – so as the first commitment LIFEIS donated 32 fans, which were with gratitude accepted.

LIFEIS flags were popular as well as our theme song…
We also spent some time singing and dancing with children, watching their dance and song performances.
At the end of our visit we distributed chocolates and stationary.

We were happy to leave, for we noticed that our interaction with these deprived children brought some smiles to their faces – “keep a smile on your face, it’s so nice to be happy”

Lifeis CSR - A Start at Indira Gandhi International Academy

An important part of business life of every respectable company is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. “As a worldwide industry existing in more than 150 countries with retail sales of $109 billion in 2006 and 58 million independent direct sellers, the direct selling industry takes its responsibility for good global citizenship very seriously. Our commitment to good citizenship is expressed in our giving back to people around the world and to the communities where we live and work. Four in five direct selling companies (82 percent) sponsor or support corporate social responsibility activities (CSR).” These are the words from “The Global Citizenship of the Direct Selling Industry” by World Federation of Direct Selling Associations. We do participate in direct selling industry, thus we consider CSR as integral part of our business strategy.

Helping less fortunate is an integral part of Earthstone Holdings, - the business endeavor that is managed by Lifeis Founder and Chairman, Mr. Pankaj N. Shah. Thus, CSR is integrated into our business strategy; Lifeis has worked out a number of CSR programs. Despite the pre-launch phase of our corporate development, we have already started some of them – and this Sunday we initiated a long-standing relationship with Indira Gandhi International Academy in Bangalore. We took opportunity to visit the Academy when they have celebrated 6-year old girl’s Birthday.

The Indira Gandhi International Academy was established in 1990 with the goal of provision of education to the children of Sri Lanka. Basically they stay for 10 months in a year; while many of them simply have no one to return to. Currently there are 350+ kids of various age (5 to 21), many of them are orphans or their families are misplaced with no chance to contact them.

First that surprised us was that all children are very nicely dressed in clean clothes, and the territory of Academy is well taken care of. Indeed, when I was told that we are going to visit a ‘refugee camp’ I was anticipating seeing some sort of slums – but this is not the case. This is a great achievement of the management of Academy. Of course, kids are kids, but I was ready to see dejected and depressed – but, once again, they seem to be happy.

We went over the dormitories and classrooms, participated in a birthday party, had lunch with the children, but what was the most stirring part – informal interaction.
One of us was revealing the secrets of cricket to boys,
while the others were singing and dancing…
We also chatted with one of the best graduates – A. Muralidhasan – a boy whose family location is unknown – and now he is facing all the cruelty of adult world. Lifeis decided to look into the future and try to arrange some opportunities for this talented boy.
Some of us donated cash, and the Management decided to help improve infrastructure of the classes – as soon as we can do this.


You may look at all photos from our visit at our Flickr Page – click HERE