Big Shift: NGO to Self-funded Social Initiatives under our business venture SimbaQuartz! CSR - August Edition

I have been lucky throughout my journey of life. Been to TEDx stages, IITs, IIMs because of my business achievements and village to village for my social campaigns, life has given everything to us. Initially from 2013 my ventures have always been social ventures, they took birth in rural areas, through digital marketing they flourished in every part of the world and today they are mature enough to be in a stable form at the verge of further organic growth. The bootstrapped IT services venture - SimbaQuartz in 7 years, reached a team of 50 and approx. 3 crores turnover, never funded by a bank till July 2020. 

In 2016 end, because of my social inclination being in a village, I also started the “Smiles Care” an NGO to widen the scope of social services with the help of others. In three years Smiles Care distributed over 18,000 Shoes to the needy kids, men and women. Helped a few medical cases and building projects too. Free Food Sharing was a regular activity, also we ran an evening school free of cost for the kids of our rural area. It has been a phenomenal journey along with my teammate Gurjit Singh, a very hardworking champ. 

However, August 1st, 2020 we took a major decision to move all our social projects under our own umbrella of business ventures and not to operate under NGO Smiles Care and not at all to accept any third-party contribution. Though we were a continuous donor to the non-profit organization, still I observe that the non-profit is hiding our business identity, especially the diligent effort of a woman like me trying to develop business in rural parts of the country. Though I am thankful to all those who supported NGO Smiles Care, We as a business venture felt the best way to contribute is under Corporate Social Responsibility of our own ventures. I also observed the very sick mentality where people start relating non-profits with Conflict of Interest or personal benefits. 

I am a woman of my rules and guts. In the honor of all women who are associated with me, this is another big step where the profits of the business will fund all the dream social campaigns. I believe in the education my parents gave me, I believe in the trust my husband, my friends have on my capabilities. Further, I firmly believe in the effort of my team, their passion to grow not only our IT business but a series of business ventures right from a rural location. I respect the entrepreneurial spirit of women, women who do business, and have enough courage to fund various social projects for the betterment of the world around themselves on their own.

I along with my teammate Gurjit Singh are working aggressively on strengthening our Corporate Social Responsibility wing of our parent organization - SimbaQuartz. We took over our major campaign “50000 Shoe To Give Mission” under which we completed over 18000 shoes under NGO “Smiles Care” earlier and the rest of the 32000 shoes, we will be completing solely under our IT venture SimbaQuartz. 

Interestingly, we are further working on designing new projects. The new projects under Corporate Social Responsibility of our venture SimbaQuartz will cover majorly Education & Skill Development, Health, and Environment. 

Though this month of August went all in planning for us as there is a major shift from NGO to Self-Funded Social initiatives, still we could extend our support. As the fulfillment of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) here we're highlighting the August Edition of CSR activities By SimbaQuartz:

Health

a.             SimbaQuartz helped for the surgery of Baljinder Kaur - A resident of the village Tangra where we are located. Baljinder Kaur comes from a needy family and requires an emergency operation of her stomach. The family directly approached our office. SimbaQuartz helped the family with the partial payment of funds. 

     Recently, we've employed Baljinder's sister - Kulwinder Kaur as a paid intern in SimbaQuartz and providing her training for computer-related courses. Though Kulwinder does not have any professional experience or skill, SimbaQuartz has hired her just to support her family with regular income by an earning family member.

b. Donated for a medical case of severe aplastic anemia for a 12 years old boy - Manav is suffering from a severe health disorder called aplastic anemia and by Bone Marrow Transplant, he can be cured. It is a complicated and expensive surgical procedure which his family cannot afford on their own. SimbaQuartz helped the family with the partial payment of funds.

c. Monthly Groceries to Shinda Singh from Rayya, Amritsar - Shinda Singh is an aged person and does not have a regular earning source. SimbaQuartz often helps his family with groceries and house rent payment. In the month of August SimbaQuartz helped the family with monthly groceries. 

d.          SimbaQuartz has also helped Shinda Singh and his wife to get the eye check-up this month. In this concern, we arranged an eye check-up for Shinda Singh & his wife from a reputed eye specialist. During this consultation to the eye specialist, we got to know that Shinda Singh can see from his one eye only as his left eye does not work and even incurable at all. On the other side, Shinda Singh’s wife had been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes and recommended for eye surgery as a permanent solution. On learning about the condition and also treatment, we immediately decided to get Shinda Singh’s wife the recommended surgery. Though due to COVID 19, the hospital has delayed the treatment.

Education

a.             SimbaQuartz gives the utmost importance to education and support students who are in need. Following this mission, we paid with a partial fee of Ms. Kaur, a resident in Bathinda for her admission in the first year of graduation. 

b.            Ram Singh - a young boy aged 12 comes to SimbaQuartz daily as he cannot afford to buy a mobile in this lockdown to continue his studies. By using our devices and resources and air-conditioned space, it's easy for this young intelligent champ to study comfortably. Our team also clears his study related doubts if any. 

Skill Development

a.            SimbaQuartz is providing free computer skill development training to Upasana & Gurpreet Kaur teenagers from Village Tangra. Both the girls have completed their basic computer course at SimbaQuartz and now are learning web development technology. Under skill development, we want to empower learners with requisite skills and make them employable. This month we bought separate computer systems for both the girls. 

Helped a family getting their house roof repaired -  

A family-based out of VillageMuchhal, Amritsar, had been struggling to get their house roof repaired. Ram Singh, studying in class ninth, lives only with his grandmother approaching SimbaQuartz. He said that his house roof is in really poor shape and during monsoon, they have to face severe water leakage. We took up the responsibility to help the family in getting the roof repaired.

Theatre Classes & Evening School –

In our village – Tangra, people do not have many opportunities. There are youngsters and kids who have a great interest in art, acting, and theatre. To help them pursue their interest and further convert this interest into a career, we have started Free theatre classes in which students are trained in acting by an art teacher – Mr. Vishal Sharma and his assistant Snehal, paid a monthly salary by SimbaQuartz. Magic Pencil - ( a must watch ) is our first short movie project. (Do watch, you will love it for sure) 

Besides Theatre Classes, SimbaQuartz also runs an evening school in which nearly 60 kids from nearby areas are studying at present. The evening school had previously been run by Smiles Care, but now, is taken care of by SimbaQuartz. We are supplying stationery and books to the kids currently at home due to pandemic. We also allow students to come and clear their study-related doubts if any. We also consult them over the phone. 

In the upcoming months, SimbaQuartz will conduct more CSR activities with the hope to uplift the society and make lives better. Kudos to our customers who trust us for our services. Thank You!

My Honest Writings

Mandeep Kaur Sidhu

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www.mandeepkaursidhu.com

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