The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Loyola College students awarded $25,000 for helping Dalit victims of tsunami

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Loyola College students awarded $25,000 for helping Dalit victims of tsunami

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: A team of five students from Loyola College representing India at the International Student in Free Enterprise (SIFE) competition 2007 in New York has been awarded $ 25,000 for their work of helping Dalit victims of tsunami, fisherfolk and gypsies to secure sustainable livelihoods.

The Loyola team topped the group of nations from Asia and was ranked 5th out of 50 countries involved in the competition, which ran for a week from October 7. The award was given by Brandaid UK, an association of businesses undertaking social projects. The award money would be put into current and future SIFE projects run by student teams from Loyola College.

SIFE, a U.S.-based non-governmental organisation sponsored by business giants including Coca-cola, Walmart, KPMG and Goldman Sachs, challenges students at universities across 50 different countries to develop community outreach projects under the five criteria of market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and business ethics. The Loyola team defeated 39 other universities in India at the national championships in Mumbai in June to reach the international competition.

Drawing on their educational experiences, the expertise of their faculty advisor, and the support and resources of their local business advisory board, SIFE Loyola developed three projects. The team worked with tsunami-affected Dalits in Kovalam to create a handicraft business using locally available resources, with fisherfolk in Pulicat to desalinate the backwaters and develop prawn hatcheries, and with gypsies from Chennai’s slums to professionalise previously ad-hoc sales of jewellery, educate their children on basic health issues, and give their youth opportunities in a local bakery.

SIFE Loyola student president Ignacy Arokiyaa told The Hindu that the team was proud of its projects and that apart from learning much about the skills necessary for entrepreneurial success, the team had understood the needs of sections of people living in poverty in the country and experiencing inhuman treatment.

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