Day 78 of Mentor on Road, USA

“The mistake is that we want to tie the whole world down to our own plane of thought and to make out mind the measure of the whole universe.”
-Swami Vivekananda

Day 78 of Mentor on Road, USA started with an UN event organized by Rotary club of New York. We were glad to have the opportunity to listen and debate with the Minister of Macedonia on investment opportunities and strategies. Mentor on Road shared about its initiative and how the entire journey has turned out to be very beneficial and promising for both the countries, India and the USA.

Known as the "Host Club of America", the Rotary Club of New York is comprised of 200 leading international business and professional men and women who meet weekly at a luncheon to advance the interests of New York City, to keep informed on key world, political, economic and social issues, and to serve the community. Founded in 1909, it is the sixth oldest Club in the Rotary International organization.

From Rudolph Giuliani to the Russian Ambassador, Rotary speakers from the widest range of civic and international interests provide insight on local, national and world issues.

Fellow Rotary members of many nationalities who are top executives represent a broad range of private business, government and professional activities in New York City furnishing a unique personal network of resources.

Volunteer activities and other contributions to civic, charitable and service organizations offer an unparalleled opportunity to serve the community of New York.

We then discussed on several ways of working in Macedonia with micro, small and medium companies to create competitiveness and connect them to global markets. Mentor on Road would soon be submitting a proposal on the same.
                                       

In the evening, Mentor on Road was honored to receive a book in New York on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “The Making of a Legend” at the hands of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak whose organization, Sulabh International is doing trend setting work on sanitation in India. 

Sociologist, social activist, and Founder of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement, Dr. Pathak believes the toilet is a tool for social change. He has received a great deal of national and international recognition for his work, including the Stockholm Water Prize in 2009, and he is considered a pioneer for social reform.

Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, a non-profit voluntary social organisation founded in 1970 by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, is dedicated to Gandhian ideology of emancipation of scavengers. Sulabh has been working for the removal of untouchability and social discrimination against scavengers, a section of Indian society condemned to clean and carry human excreta manually. 

Sulabh is noted for achieving success in the field of cost-effective sanitation, liberation of scavengers, social transformation of society, prevention of environmental pollution and development of non-conventional sources of energy. 

Environmental friendly two-pit, pour-flush compost toilet known as Sulabh Shauchalaya that is socially acceptable, economically affordable, technologically appropriate and does not require scavengers to clean the pits and implemented in more than 1.2 million houses all over India that has helped liberate over a million scavengers.

Construction and maintenance of public toilets at public places and in slums on ‘pay & use basis’ is a landmark of Sulabh in the field of sanitation. So far it has constructed and is or maintaining over 8000 such public toilets in India and has constructed 200 biogas plants all over the country. Production of biogas from public toilets and recycling and reuse of effluent through simple and convenient method is the major breakthrough in the field of sanitation and community health.

                                             

As we are coming closer to the end of this journey, Mentor on Road would like to thank all those people who have been a part of it and have shown their support towards the many initiatives approached by us to strengthen the ties between both the countries, India and the USA. It’s been a marvelous journey throughout and Mentor on Road feels extremely grateful to come across all the opportunities till date. 

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)