1st Anniversary: Power to those Making a Difference

It’s hard to believe that Lifealicious is going to be one year old tomorrow – December 2. I hadn’t set out with any ambition for this blog and therefore achieving this first milestone means a lot.

And to celebrate this special occasion, I thought of many giveaways for my readers but couldn’t think of one that will make a huge difference to the recipient. Thankfully, we’re all blessed with quite a bit :) And that’s when I decided that my giveaway should be something that would really help make a difference somewhere to someone who really needs it. 

I’m so happy to have found that someone who will put to the bestest use and honoured to introduce you to Masarat Daud, a young woman in her 20s living in the UAE. Masarat is an example of those who not only dream but take action to set out on a path they believe in and do what they really want to.

With her 8-Day Academy, Masarat is taking tiny little steps to change the world. This initiative is currently going in to the rural areas of Rajasthan (India) and educating men, women and children in 8 days on something that is the need of that particular community – it could be computer literacy, public speaking, creative thinking or just about anything.

I was first introduced to Masarat on a radio show, Dubai Today, and was instantly attracted to her cause. She was narrating an incident of how a young teacher in her teens at one of the academy’s public speaking programmes in a small village in India couldn’t speak a word, she cried and cried on Day 1 and on Day 8, she was a new person with renewed confidence to take on the world. And all it took was 8 days! See a part of this on the YouTube clip here. It’s heart warming.

In many ways, the 8-Day academy is the need of the hour in this fast paced world- short, sharp and super effective.

So how did it all start? Well like a lot of us, Masarat was in a job she didn’t want to be in and then 26/11 happened in Mumbai which angered the hell out of her.  That is when she saw two choices in front of her– either stay with her job and build a hefty bank balance or go out there and make a difference. If she chose the former she had no right to get angry with what was happening around her and if she chose the latter there was hope that as more and more people were educated, they would be empowered and live a life of dignity.

She first did her session in February 2009 where 17 teachers in Shekhavati were taught computer literacy. In 8 days, from zero knowledge of computers, they knew and operated software such as MS Word, Paint, etc. These teachers have since passed their knowledge on to their students—more than 100 of them and still counting!

In celebration of my first anniversary, Lifealicious will donate AED 5 to Masarat’s 8-Day Academy for every comment (one from each person will be counted) posted here until 12 midnight on December 3.

This and all money that is collected goes towards funding more 8 day training programmes across rural India, towards replacing the much needed infrastructure in village schools and providing scholarships where parents can’t afford their children’s education.

If you’d like to know more about the 8-Day Academy, you can get in touch with Masarat on Twitter @masarat or by sending her an e-mail at masarat[at]8dayacademy[dot]org

More Power to you Masarat and a BIG THANK YOU going out to my readers for all the love, encouragement and support.

And wait, how could I forget – it’s the 38th UAE National Day too tomorrow, so here’s heartfelt wishes going out to the leaders and the people of this Nation.