Join our circle. Build a greener future.
Search

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here

 

India’s caste system may be deeply embedded in its culture, but it is hindering skilled and inspired young people from getting equal opportunities. Dr. Abraham George is on a mission to put an end to the cycle of poverty by making high-quality education easily accessible to the country’s lowest socioeconomic class. Joining Corinna Bellizzi, he shares about founding The Shanti Bavon School in India, a boarding school committed to guiding children from their first day of school to their first day of work. Dr. Abraham also opens up on how they keep the institution up and running even without government support and how it has positively impacted around 15,000 people.

 

About Dr. Abraham George

Care More Be Better | Dr. Abraham George | Cycle Of PovertyDr. Abraham is a renowned philanthropist and social entrepreneur, best known for founding the Shanti Bhavan School in India. Growing up in India, Dr. Abraham saw social injustices at an early age, which he one day hoped to address. After a few years of service in the Indian Army, he moved to the US to study at NYU (Stern) and became a top finance executive and entrepreneur, leading companies like Credit Suisse First Boston and founding Multinational Computer Models, Inc. After 22 years away, he returned to India to fulfil his promise of empowerment and set up The George Foundation in 1995. The nonprofit supported ideas like Shanti Bhavan, Project Lead-Free, and Baldev Medical Center, and earned him the Spirit of India Award.

 

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shanti-bhavan-children's-project

Guest Website: https://www.shantibhavanchildren.org

Guest Social:

https://www.instagram.com/shanti_bhavan

https://www.youtube.com/user/ShantiBhavanSchool

https://www.facebook.com/ShantiBhavan

https://x.com/ShantiBhavan

 

Additional Resources Mentioned:

Advancing African Excellence Through Education Investments with Dr. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire of 8B Education Investments

These 4 college students from Shanti Bhavan School have an incredible story to tell

 

Show Notes:

Looking Back - 01:08

I understand that you served in the Indian army studied at NYU and became at top Finance executive within illustrious career.

Daughters Of Destiny - 04:34

Your work with Shanti Bhavan school has been featured in a Netflix series, which I've had the privilege to watch a few episodes of that's called the daughters of Destiny.

Caste System - 08:43

I know that with India, I mean I'm I studied cultural anthropology and Archeology and prehistory much and my earlier academic career.

Shanti Bavon School - 11:32

What I see that is that with this school that you are working to dismantle that is hard as you can

Brain Drain - 19:51

You're reminding me all so of an earlier conversation. I had one of my first I think it was in my first 20 episodes.

Lead Contamination - 23:39

I know that this isn't your only philanthropic effort with the George Foundation.

Housing And Medical Efforts - 28:37

I am no longer in that effort because after that getting India unleaded gasoline I left that and focused on other things and went back to the rural segment.

Second School - 31:43

I wanted to ask you that now you've opened a second School.

Government Support - 33:12

Do you have government support at all?

Closing Words - 35:20

I wanted to just offer you the opportunity as I do with most of my guests.

Science Camp - 37:48

I want to say something in reference to what you just shared that whole Pay It Forward times 100.

Episode Wrap-up - 41:43

It's always such a treat for me to be able to engage with someone as Purpose Driven as Dr. Abraham George.

 

JOIN OUR CIRCLE. BUILD A GREENER FUTURE:

🌴 Subscribe to our newsletter, and we'll plant a tree in your honor! https://circleb.co

🌲 Subscribe and rate us wherever you listen, and we'll plant another tree

🌳 Shop our cause-before-commerce store and support earth-first charities through our partnership with 1% For The Planet.

 

Follow us on social media:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/caremorebebetter

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@caremorebebetter and https://tiktok.com/@circleb.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CareMore.BeBetter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareMoreBeBetter

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/care-more-be-better

 

Support Care More. Be Better: A Social Impact + Sustainability Podcast

Care More. Be Better. is not backed by any company. We answer only to our collective conscience. As a listener, reader, and subscriber you are part of this pod and this community and we are honored to have your support. If you can, please help finance the show (https://www.caremorebebetter.com/donate). Thank you, now and always, for your support as we get this thing started!

---

Ending The Cycle Of Poverty Through Education With Dr. Abraham George

Welcome to another interview episode of the show, a CircleB show. Each and every week, we invite you to care more about a specific issue so that together we can create a better world. As we get started, I encourage you to visit our website CircleB.co and sign up for our mailing list. For each new subscriber, we’re planting a tree in collaboration with ForestPlanet.

While you’re there, visit past episodes and take a peek under the hood of our ecoshop. Proceeds from your shopping efforts help us to keep this show going. Plus, 1% of your purchases are donated to Earth First charities through our partnership with 1% for the planet. We’re going to explore the topic of education access as we connect with Dr. Abraham George, a renowned philanthropist and social entrepreneur best known for founding the Shanti Bhavan School in India. His work has benefited more than 15,000 people as he works to end India’s cycle of poverty and their caste system. Dr. Abraham, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Corrina. Thank you for inviting me.

Looking Back

It’s so amazing to have you here. Now, I understand that you served in the Indian Army, studied at NYU, and became a top finance executive with an illustrious career. What led you to this particular shift and focus?

If you would allow me a few minutes to explain.

It’s a big shift, so yes.

You are right, I was an officer in the Indian artillery and this goes back many years. Soon after the Chinese invasion of India in the 1960s, I got my commission. I’m quite ancient, by the way. I was sent to the border with China on the Tibetan side, high in the Himalayas. It was 14,000 feet and it was the highest battleground anywhere in the world. That is the passage through which China had invaded.

Anyway, I was set up there to establish a gun position in the valley. The Chinese crossed and we would defend. I was there for almost ten months then I got blown up in a dynamite accident where I was trying to dig into the mountains and it blew up on me. During that time, I was alone. I was the only officer there. I was sent up there. I used to climb the mountains and sit and ask myself, “What am I doing here at the top of the world?” Looking down, the sky is below me and that was the time I read a couple of books which had a very big impact on me.

One was by Albert Schweitzer. He is a German who won the Nobel Prize. He went to Gabon in Africa and set up a hospital for the tribes and did marvelous work. I was fascinated as a young man of eighteen years of age and very romantic to be in this forest with the elephants and everything else. He talked about service and it had a major impact. Later on, I read a book by Bertrand Russell, The History of The Western Civilization. He talks about there is nothing right about war. It’s about what is left.

That was an interesting line, “What is left?” Nobody’s left after the war, but anyway. When this accident happened, I asked myself a question, “Is this the career I should have, killing people?” Why was I saved? Why did I escape? That is when I made a decision that I will work and make money and work for my life to service. This is the big story, then I got an opportunity to come to America at age 21 and went to NYU. Later on, I started my own business. My whole goal all through that time was, do you have enough money to start something like what I’m doing? How can I serve people who are deprived? That’s my story and that’s the beginning.

Daughters Of Destiny

What a wonderful beginning it is. You may not be as young as you want to be but the impact that you’re having is quite incredible. Now, your work with Shanti Bhavan school has been featured in a Netflix series, which I’ve had the privilege to watch a few episodes of. That’s called the Daughters of Destiny. Tell me how that particular effort came to be.

How did it come about, do you mean?

What is the impact of the show?

It was very unexpected, an Oscar Award Winner. I'm happy to hear about it. Vanessa Roth came and visited us then she decided to fill in the story of five girls. We didn’t give much importance to it. She was there for seven years. They were shooting for seven years. Netflix was filming us and they were there. The camera crew was there while the children were growing up. They could see the impact and they went and visited their homes in the slums and everywhere else.

We didn’t get to know what they were doing. The night before the film was screened, we were shown the film and the next day, it was available throughout the internet. It had a major impact on us. The world got to see the work we were doing. Where I am, I’m in a remote village in Southern India. Another few months, I’ll come back to New York and New Jersey.

I’ll be there for a couple of months then I’ll return here. I’ve been doing it for many years. The impact was tremendous. People came to know the story and it has generated a lot of interest on the part of people who want to do something of their own while looking for a purpose, and people who feel very strongly about social justice and poverty. Different types of people that come forward to help us.

Care More Be Better | Dr. Abraham George | Cycle Of Poverty

 

I have to say I can see the impact through the stories by watching them on Daughters of Destiny. We do also see you not surprisingly on film and we meet Ajeet George.

Ajeet is my son.

Is the George Foundation then an integrated family effort? How are you as a community serving with both the school Shanti Bhavan and beyond?

When I first came many years ago, I thought I had made enough money and I could do it myself. I do not ask anyone for money. People here wanted the foundation’s name to be George Foundation. I was not very much in favor of that. For the first fifteen years, I did everything I did here on my own with the money I had made in America, but then 2008 came about. The after effects of that hurt me then Ajeet joined me to raise money.

It was the best thing that ever happened. Very few people say that losing all the money in the 2008 crisis is good for them, but it turned out to be very good because we created a community of people who are part of this mission as opposed to one guy trying it himself. This is not a cost that one should try to do himself unless he’s got a lot of money. Even then, you need the support of people to make it successful.

What do they say? Do they say that, “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together?” I’m getting who should be credited with that. I can look it up but it’s something I often think about. I like to do solo work myself. I feel like sometimes because you have such clarity of vision with what it is that you want to do. Sometimes, it is easier to get started on your own but eventually, you’re going to need support no matter what it is.

Caste System

The reality is that by doing that and by bringing in your son, you have a situation where this is something that will survive you. You can rely on future generations to keep the fire stoked and this effort going. I studied Cultural Anthropology, Archeology, and Prehistory much in my earlier academic career. I’m now in a PhD Program in Sustainability Education.

When I was in that earlier career, I took this course Cultures of India with Triloki Pandey who was an exceptional cultural anthropologist. We wrote this book called The Untouchables, which was about this class of people that were part of the official caste system, which has now supposedly been dismantled but which still has its after effects on the lives and well in the community. In fact, I saw that back in 2015, CNN’s New Delhi Bureau Chief, Ravi Agrawal, published an article with the headline India’s caste system: Outlawed but still omnipresent. I have a question for you. Is it any better years later?

One could argue that it is better because many of them were able to get jobs from the industrial expansion in India that all “the untouchables” were in the rural area mainly and there are some in the urban areas, too. With the industrial progress, they could get jobs as construction workers and so on. They moved out from the village into the urban slum.

I suppose they earn a little bit on a steady-wages as opposed to seasonal jobs. In that sense, yes, but remember one thing and that is that India has instituted laws which says that you cannot discriminate on the base of caste. Yet, the caste system was never bad. In fact, if you apply for a government job, one of the first questions they ask you is, “Which caste do you belong to?” The still people that are there. They are invisible. A lot of them are in the villages. Seventy percent of India’s population are in the villages and a good number of them are of lower caste.

Care More Be Better | Dr. Abraham George | Cycle Of Poverty

 

To me, I read a book called Caste, which was all about how essentially whether or not you have a defined caste system. We live in a society that is hierarchical and in that nature when you live in a hierarchical society, you have castes. Sometimes, those are divided along racial lines but often, it’s just socioeconomic. You’re talking about people who the-haves and the have-nots or the maker class then the servant class.

Shanti Bavon School

When you have that type of a system, you end up in a situation where it perpetuates itself. What I see with this school is that you are working to dismantle it as hard as you can while still identifying that these children aren’t exceptional. I mean that in the kindest of ways, but if they don’t succeed in the coursework. It may still be hard for them to escape that spiral that they’re stuck in. I wonder what your thoughts are now after having run this school for a number of years. If you even have some successes you can point to or say, you’ve positively impacted 15,000 people but what does that look like now?

I spend most of my life in America. One of the reasons I was able to do well is I had the opportunity to start my own company, make money, and do what I’m doing now. I realized that what holds back the so-called untouchables is the fact that they are economically very poor. With social justice, you cannot achieve without economic justice. First, they have to be successful.

I thought about it when I was in NYU and so on, I was taking courses and delving into economics and so on. I was asking myself the question, “What is a solution to this?” Going and preaching in churches or in temples and telling people to treat people in a just way is not going to make any difference. The change has to come from within and doesn't depend on the government or on other people. I obviously can’t do this on a very large scale but the solution I came up with was that I should take a few children and make them extremely successful so that they can go on to work in major companies. They can study in Ivy League schools and so on.

There are twelve children studying at Stanford, Duke, Princeton, and so on. They came from a small little hut 10x10 with no toilet and kitchen. It has never happened in the history of India that these children have excelled. They are in these colleges and good colleges in India and in Microsoft and ExxonMobil and companies like that.

What they are able to do, they have completely transformed their family’s lives. They build houses. They provide for their parents for food, clothing, and medical insurance. They educated their siblings. I’m not talking about 1 or 2. We are talking about 500 others who are going through a school or having gone through a school. In turn, they multiply that effect. Their siblings are now doing well because they’re going to school.

The multiplicative effect is what makes this program successful. Apart from the fact that their self-esteem has improved and they’re in fact very strong. The village folks see them differently. They no longer treat them like untouchables because their houses are better. Their children have built houses for them and they live reasonably well.

Care More Be Better | Dr. Abraham George | Cycle Of Poverty

 

The caste system, in some ways, among at least these people is breaking down. A number of the children that went through Shanti Bhavan School are married into middle class families. Some of them are upper class families. Some of them married upper caste people which would have never happened. It’s very exciting that it’s a silent revolution, I would say. It’s quietly taking place and it’s nice to see these children doing well.

I think what you just shared agrees with this idea that it’s less a caste system now than it is one of socioeconomic and opportunity. That’s part of this dismantling of what had been colonialism around the world. Another thing I have heard from friends who are of Indian origin, is that it is commonplace to do a little bit of what you’ve done. I’m not saying everyone goes back to India and starts to non-for-profit and serves the community in this broad capacity.

Often, people who have the opportunity to become educated. Let’s say work in high tech and Silicon Valley do so for a 25-year career. Go back to India to take care of their families and are essentially there to support the next stage. I think this gets to the root of the cultural difference between where we have been over the last few decades in America where we are very focused on individual success and less so on the family unit.

I have this sneaking under current like thought the creeps in around the fringes for me that as we become a more global society and as more people become economically mobile and crossing cultures and things along those lines. We might see that that shift and that would be my only concern. There’s something beautiful and righteous about caring enough to say, “I’ve got my success and I’ve been able to save some money. Now, I’m going back to my home culture that feels like home to me in a way that’s different from living in America.” I wonder what your thoughts are.

The people who have come to America and a lot of them like me. They have had their children there and they’re born in America. That generation, the newer generation, is not so much interested in coming back.

They’re Americans.

My generation is vanishing very quickly by age. What we are finding is that the younger generation, though, are not born in India. They were born in America, but their parents were of Indian origin.

They have become naturalized citizens, but they didn’t originate here.

They have some affinity towards India and they have been there a few times with their parents. They have a heart for the country and they know what is happening with the underclass. Having been in America, seen and heard what it is to treat people as equals and what is social justice. All these issues are debated in America. Not in India.

These young people, my son, Ajeet and others were born and brought up with the idea that there is no distinction between people based on caste and all this nonsense. They are willing to reach out and help. In my son’s case, Ajeet lives in Seattle, but he spends 3 or 4 months in India with me and to help me, then he races money in America. We have a chapter in the US, this Shanti Bhavan Chapter in the US. That’s how it’s funded.

To let you know, this may be of some interest to your reader. Seventy-five percent of the money we raise comes from America. Not from India and a good 60% comes from these younger people who were born in America, the Americans. The other 40% are those of not Indian origin. They reach out because of the social costs that we have to take. People are moved by that. Some come all the way to see what we are doing and be attached. They go back and help us. We have a wide range of people both of Indian origin and non-Indian origin who believe in social justice, equality, and better treatment to poor people.

Care More Be Better | Dr. Abraham George | Cycle Of Poverty

 

Brain Drain

You have a fan and a representative in me as well. You’re reminding me all so much of an earlier conversation I had. I think it was in my first twenty episodes. I’m now over 200 in which I interviewed Lydiah Kemunto Bosire of 8B Education Investments. That’s her not-for-profit. What she does is, she is working to support the education journey of people out of Western Africa primarily because that’s where she’s from.

She was able to essentially escape the poverty school system by winning a spot in a lottery which enabled her to go to Cornell and I believe also to Cambridge, which enabled her to get her PhD and live in a new way. Now, she’s paying that forward by coming forward as a speaker, getting on stages, collaborating, and ultimately, raising funds that can support the education journey of these individuals who would otherwise not qualify for a lot of the scholarships and things along those lines.

They are having to pay International tuitions, which are higher generally speaking. They are also not necessarily able to qualify for loans because they don’t have family history of wealth. It’s just harder to make those leaps. She had mentioned one thing that I thought was interesting which is also coming up and my graduate studies at Prescott College in Sustainability Education.

She had mentioned this idea of brain drain and how there were people that said, “I don’t want for you to be taking all of the best, brightest, and smartest out of Africa and draining Africa of their educated individuals thinking like doctors and other people that can serve the community there.” She said, “We just need to put this to bed because it’s a bad idea. There are plenty of intelligent people. We need to ensure more of them can rise up.” I wondered if you have confronted a similar issue or thought point even from some of your fundraising efforts.

The idea of brain drain was relevant some years ago. The people leave India then come and live in America and they don’t come back. In a global scenario, where everything is connected, but it doesn’t matter where I am. I am talking to you from a remote village, so it doesn’t matter any longer. That’s one change. The children that are in America. For example, as I said, studying it at all these great universities. They have a burning desire to transform their families.

In today’s global scenario where everything is connected, the idea of brain drain may not be applicable anymore. It does not matter where you are any longer.

The way they are going to do it is to have good jobs wherever it might be. It could be in New York or India in Bangalore. Wherever it is. They earn that money, help their families and transform society. I was initially planning to start something in Africa. It didn’t happen and I ended up here. My take on it is that if you have a heart and you want to help people. It doesn’t matter who you help those who are in need. It could be in any country and you can do that from any country.

Lead Contamination

I love that. Frankly, I tend to agree with you. Access to technology has changed a lot of things. You’re seeing that even wages across cultures are starting to increase. A lot of people employ virtual assistants now and they’re starting to earn what would be living wages in the United States in some cases as well. I think that’s all healthy. It’s like we’re moving in a better direction overall. Now, I know that this isn’t your only philanthropic effort with the George Foundation. I understand you’re also tackling things like lead contamination with project lead free and even doing work in the medical field. Can you talk about these efforts?

When I spent the first few years, I realized that I was in a city. This is called the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore, but the pollution was so high. I was falling sick coming from relatively New Jersey. Not having that much pollution.

They called it the Garden State. It’s pretty green, right? When you’re in, what is New City or Jersey City? It’s like, you’re right there in this concentrated populist, but most of New Jersey is pretty beautiful.

Exactly. I was in Western New Jersey, in the Morristown area. I lived there for many years then suddenly, I come to this crowded city and my eyes are burning and everything else. I found out that they haven’t removed lead from gasoline. I went back and met with CDC and US EPA and New York City pollution control environmental people. They taught me how to test for lead in children. The children are the ones who suffer most.

I imported a lot of equipment from the US to test blood. CDC trained me on how to do it and I came back then I pointed to some 6 or 7 hospitals to do the testing. We did one of the largest blood testing. 22,000 children were tested all over India. CDC, World Bank, US EPA, and WHO, everybody came for a conference along with some 25 other countries. They sent their representatives for this conference to find out how you can prevent this and treat it and so on.

It was an immense success. The government of India decided that it will do something about it. The oil companies came to the conference and announced that within eighteen months they will remove let from gasoline. In 2000, unleaded gasoline in India started disappearing. The World Bank took up our report and sent it to so many other countries. I don’t know how many of them implemented their policies. It had some effect there too. That was one project, then I got into one after the other. Social workers like emotional quicksand, you get it because they start going from one to another.

You can’t help yourself, I know. I want to pause here for a moment though and talk about the lead issue because especially younger people. They might not have an idea of what it was like before we had unleaded gasoline in the United States. The reason lead in gasoline was such a huge problem was that you would burn the gasoline. The lead particles end up in the air. Every time it rains, it comes down in the rainwater. It ends up in your food, your groundwater, and everywhere.

This creates persistent pervasive problems. You’d breathe it in. You had children with more asthmatic issues. We see less of that now. People still have asthma. It’s not like that whole system was completely eradicated, but I have to tell you when I was a little girl, there were a dozen kids in my school who had to go around with an inhaler all the time. I don’t see that as much anymore.

Even in the course of a generation or two, because I’m in my late 40s and I have young children because I got my family started late. It’s about two generations ago, literally. We’re not seeing those problems quite as much anymore. Environmental pollutants like that can impact the health of the populace. It’s difficult to tease out. It’s difficult to eliminate the problems because often, it’s because you can’t move the dump site or you don’t know where the toxins are leaching in from or even what toxins are causing the problems.

We’re confronting these issues now with PFAS or forever chemicals because they are so persistent and invasive and have hit some of our water tables as well. Stay tuned for more on that. I’m likely to talk about it in the future.

Housing And Medical Efforts

I want to add to what you said. Everything you said is absolutely right. Lead is a peculiar harmful metal. It is largest in your brain and affects your IQ and so on. It’s in the paint. New York City has a lot of lawsuits against the city and others apart from the lead painting. Anyway, I am no longer in that effort because after getting India unleaded gasoline, I left that and focused on other things and went back to the rural segment.

I found that a majority of people in villages are living below the poverty line, are discriminated against and so on. We embarked on a number of social ventures. They’re building houses for the poor. When COVID started, we found that they lost jobs so we started distributing food every month. You’ll see a mile long line waiting to get dry rations, not cooking food. They could use it for weeks at a time. That much quantity, we would put in a bag and give it to them for the family then we started a medical clinic.

That clinic didn’t take any inpatients. It’s an outpatient clinic. People who have some problem come there first. We intervene and if we can’t handle it, we send them to your hospital some distance away. I embarked on various things. By the way, I also got into journalism. I thought one of the problems is that the press wasn’t doing his job. Enough, I don’t want to make enemies of journalists, but they were not challenging what people write, the government or policies and so on.

Journalists must challenge what people write and every policy the government enforces.

For a variety of reasons, you all know why they don’t necessarily write. I started journalism school and for many years, nearly I ran it and I decided finally, I will get out of that and focus entirely on rural India. The problems are rural land and poverty and how the caste system can be broken. That’s where I am spending time and my son, Ajeet is very much involved. One day, I’ll hand it over to him. He doesn’t have to be him. There are many others who are part of this effort. Such lovely people who had joined me.

There are over 120 people who are part of our effort and they are committed to the cause. With that, Ajeet will be able to carry this mission. We have opened a second Shanti Bhavan. We are doubling our numbers. Before I go, I hope I’ll start a couple of more if funding allows me to do it then he can take on from there. The need is so big, 300 million people who belong to the caste hierarchy. Maybe the number will increase and just because they are able to get a job somewhere as a laborer or somewhere or something like that. It doesn’t mean that their life is changing. They don’t have the opportunity to send the children to good schools. They don’t break the cycle of poverty and discrimination. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Second School

It’s a noble effort. I wanted to ask you, especially given that now you’ve opened a second school. How many children are you actively supporting at any given time?

The school takes only preschoolers. Only at the age of four. By the way, it’s a residential school. We need to get them at a very young age. If you don’t get them at a young age, we can’t change them very much. We are about the age of three and half and four. In the second school, we take 30 children. The first school takes 28 because it was built some 30 years ago. The room sizes are small and classroom sizes smaller, 30 children. Remember now, many years later a lot of them graduated. They have gone on to college. We educate them in college, too. All the way. Whatever education they want, Masters. One kid is in Hofstra in New York, Long Island doing a Clinical Psychology, PhD. Amazing things have happened.

You take them in at three and a half and four years old, then you’re with him for their academic journey until they get placements somewhere else. That’s my understanding.

Until they get good jobs, professional careers in good companies, then they are able to take from themselves. If they ever come back for higher studies, they can do it themselves. They don’t need our support because they already earned enough money or they get scholarships.

Government Support

Do you have government support at all? I’m just curious because I don’t know how the Indian school system works. I wondered if there was some level of governmental support, especially for those elementary school years. That’s something you would typically see in the United States.

I don’t want to upset anyone or the government who is reading. I made a decision that one of the problems of being able to offer a good program is the government’s interference. If you take even $1 from the government then they’ll tell you that you had to follow their curriculum. You have to do all kinds of things and they will come and inspect you to get approvals. All kinds of things happen. I don’t want to get into this discussion because corruption and other kinds of things are very critical.

You’ve made the choice to remain independent.

I’ve made a choice: I don't want to touch government money. I wanted to do it myself initially, then I said, “I know well-meaning people out there in the world. All I have to do is to show them that I’ve done a good job and ask them to come and see what we have done.” Even without seeing lots of people, they have come forward to help us. This became a universal mission. It’s not mine alone. The school is a global school. We have at any given time 10 to 15 volunteers from all over the world come to spend time from one month to one year. A good majority are from America from good schools and good colleges and so on.

It is a universal place, but the important point I want to make is that it is a mission that we are trying to carry. It’s not about Indian children or anything like that. If an African child wants to come here and study, I’m more than glad to take it. As long as that child is from a very poor family. The visa and so many other problems exist, so they have to find a way here. It’s a global institution and I’m hoping that others will open similar institutions.

Closing Words

I love that. Now, I wanted to just offer you the opportunity as I do with most of my guests. If there is a question that you wish I’d asked that perhaps I haven’t. You could ask an answer or if there were a particular thought that you wanted to leave our audience with for them to take away with them. You could go ahead and do that as well. The floor is yours.

The most important thing I want to emphasize is that we all have a human obligation to help other people. People who don’t have the means. We talk about compassion, but I find that compassion is not enough. Compassion in action. You must be prepared to put your compassion into an action, whether through money or time. In some way, you make a difference to the lives of people. That is a human obligation. There is no escaping religion or anything else.

No way to escape it. You can pray all day, but if you don’t help other people. It’s not going to make any difference. That’s one point I wanted to say. I tell the children who are graduating from Shanti Bhavan that you have a moral duty to carry at least 100 others with you in your lifetime then it will multiply. That is one important point I wanted to make. There are many points, but with the time limitation, I won’t. I am available if someone wants to ask me something they can get on to the website that we have, Shanti Bhavan website. I don’t know whether you put up the name of the website.

I will include all the links including how to find the Netflix series just to make it easy for everybody.

I’d be happy to help others who want to start something like that or who want to reach out and help these types of families. Me and Ajeet are always there in the US. He lives in Seattle.

You are active on most of the social channels as well, the Shanti Bhavan School. Those links will also be provided just to make it easy for everybody. You don’t have to scribble down the spelling. You can go directly to that on whatever platform or watching on YouTube. I will also say that these resources and more including reflections on prior episodes like my interview with Lydiah Kemunto Bosire of 8B Patient Investments will be included.

Science Camp

I always encourage people to check out the page on our website CircleB.co. I want to say something in reference to what you just shared, that whole pay it forward times a hundred. I’ve always come from that perspective and to share for a moment something personal for me. I grew up as a poor kid in America. When you grow up without financial resources in America, it often means that you don’t get to participate in afterschool programs or anything extra. It’s just not available to you.

In my case, I was very interested in the Sciences, but we didn’t have a lot of money. My 5th grade teacher wanted me to go to Science Camp in the summer and he chose to foot the bill for me because we couldn’t afford it. That one simple action to me made so much difference. I don’t think that he could ever have truly known. It showed me that somebody had faith in my scholastic abilities. It enabled me to open my mind and explore the natural world in a different way over the course of the summer.

I had access to a microscope and we did things like dissect squid. It doesn’t sound like it’s incredible. How do you set a trap for yellow jackets then analyzing the yellow jackets, which is a species of bee that can be prevalent in the summer. To even going to the river fronts and looking at Beaver Dams. I didn’t even realize we had beavers that close to our home. We’re seeing how they impact the ecosystem.

It was very your adventure world, but it enabled me to integrate some of the learning from the classroom into the open space. Now every year, I donate funds to a similar charity that enables children that are in underprivileged communities or have economic disparity and communities around Oregon, Washington, and California to do the same thing to be able to go to a six weeks science camp in the summer. To me, it’s something that means a lot because I know the impact it had on me.

I cannot allow this program to end without saying I admire the work you’re doing. You’re spreading the word through the most powerful media. A lot of people who know these types of programs might reach out and help other people. You are doing a wonderful job. I admire your effort. I want to thank you for asking me to speak on this show.

Thank you for joining me. This has been my pleasure.

Thank you very much.

If you have anything else you want to say, you could feel free to do so.

I just want to say that if you get a chance, go to Netflix. Look at Daughters of Destiny and you’d enjoy it. The whole family can watch it. It won the television programming with the conscience award. It was one of those programs. That’s something I asked you to do. You can look up the website. You can Google my name Abraham George, Abraham Lincoln George, Washington easy to remember. You’ll learn more about it. Finally, if you get a chance to come over and be our guest, come and spend time with the children or observe.

That would be amazing. I can envision a day in which I’m able to do that, but probably after graduate school is complete. I’ve always wanted to go to India. My father is married to an Indian woman. I have this thinking in the back of my mind where I am saying, “I want to go with them. See her family and experience the cultures of India from within it.” That would be amazing.

You have a lot of Indian connections, it looks like. Very good.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you.

---

Episode Wrap-up

It’s always such a treat for me to be able to engage with someone as purpose-driven as Dr. Abraham George. I love what he’s doing with the George Foundation and this school. Ultimately, I am giving a screaming endorsement to his show, the Daughters of Destiny. It was very revealing, hopeful, and helps you to understand the source of challenges that we run into when we have too much wealth disparity.

Now, while you always found a lot of great information on Care More Be Better dedicated site. That has now moved over to CircleB.co. The reason I’ve done that is to engage with people to think more about their consumption. This website only offers eco-conscious goods. Some of them from around the world. Things that are made from natural fibers and wood as opposed to plastics and petrochemicals.

While you visit that site, I hope that you’ll join our newsletter. For every new subscriber that joins our circle, I’m planting a tree through collaboration with ForestPlanet. Now you’ve heard from Hank, their founder, on this show before. We’re working to make a greener future. This is part of the change that I know I can affect. For every single person that joins our newsletter just an email a week or so, then we are planting a tree.

CircleB is a cause before commerce, education resource, and marketplace. We offer all those eco-friendly products I just mentioned from companies that do seek to do everything right. The responsible main products will include things like fiber clothing and textiles, plastic free personal care items and a few supplements also that are seeking to reduce your reliance on plastics. Things like gardening so you can grow your own food and do so without excessive water use. Even items that help you reduce your kitchen waste including my favorite nut milk maker the Almond Cow.

Plus, we have some perfect gift items like organic chocolate and fairtrade coffee, beautiful wood designs from cutting boards to art pieces and even some sustainable jewelry. Now, as a 1% for the planet partner, 1% of all sales benefits Earth First Charities. We’re focused on planting more trees. Join our circle and let’s build that greener future.

Thank you to our audience now and always for being a part of this pod and this community because together, we can do so much more. We can care more. We can be better. We can improve access to education for all people and build a more equal society. With schools like Shanti Bhavan, we’re already on our way. Thank you.

 

Important Links