The George Foundation

The George Foundation (TGF) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1995 with head office in Bangalore, India. Its founder is Dr. Abraham M. George, a successful business entrepreneur in the United States who returned to India to embark on a number of humanitarian projects.



TGF aims to alleviate poverty, promote health and a clean environment, and strengthen democratic institutions and values in India.

The principal geographic area covered is rural Tamil Nadu (mainly in Krishnagiri district) and Karnataka states, serving over 16,000 people in 17 villages. The communities are some of the poorest in the nation: over 70 percent of the population has daily income of less than one dollar per person; illiteracy and malnutrition are both over 60 percent; female infanticide and bonded labor are prevalent.

Projects
TGF groups its projects according to three objectives: alleviation of poverty, protection of health and the environment, and improvement of governance.

Alleviate poverty
TGF's poverty alleviation projects are designed to improve education and health care delivery, offer amenities such as proper housing and adequate water resources, and create employment and sufficient income to sustain the rural poor family.


 * Shanti Bhavan Boarding School



Shanti Bhavan evolved from the recognition that the innate abilities of impoverished children are no different from those of their more fortunate peers. The project assumes, given a quality education and constant encouragement, they will realize their full potential as successful, productive members of society.

According to TGF's website, Shanti Bhavan was established in September 1997 with 48 students, the school and campus are located in Baliganapalli, an impoverished area in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The students are selected from the surrounding areas of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka criteria include for selection include family wealth (with the focus being on the poorest families) and the child's intelligence (with the focus being on children considered intelligent enough to succeed at the school). TGF intends the school to increase in size to 336 students.

The school is designed to be as self-sufficient as possible, with a number of ground wells, water storage tanks, a horticultural garden, orchards, and a bakery. In keeping with ecological concerns, much of the energy needs of the institution are met by solar power.

The Shanti Bhavan program is from pre-school to twelfth grade. The school is accredited by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi. The curriculum is consistent with that of top educational institutions, covering a wide array of subjects. Formal instruction in the initial three years is limited to language and mathematics. English is the medium of instruction, and Hindi and Tamil are taught by the fourth year. The children are also encouraged to pursue interests in sports, games, art, dance, music and drama.



- In addition to Shanti Bhavan, TGF is attempting to improve public schools in the area. The quality of education in government-run rural schools is generally poor. The most pressing problem is the paucity of teachers to cover all grades.


 * Community Development Program

The Community Development Program undertakes actions in the 17 villages surrounding Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. According to TGF's website the program attempts to "bring about significant improvement in the lives of the entire population served by our intervention within a period of 10 years starting 2006" and may cover creation of livelihood opportunities and employment, education and skills-training, healthcare, housing, water management, infrastructure improvement, and social development.


 * Agri-Business Training Centre - Women's Empowerment



According to TGF's website, the Women’s Empowerment Project is intended to train women in aspects of farming. Poor women from the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will be provided with a quarter acre of land, supplies, equipment and training in cottage and cooperative farming. As of 2007 the project is still in the preparatory stages.


 * Tillany Fine Arts Museum & Gallery

Tillany Fine Arts Museum & Gallery was built in 2000 near Shanti Bhavan. It is a 15,000 square foot air conditioned facility, designed in contemporary style.

According to TGF's website, once it is fully functioning, Tillany will provide poor artists with exposure to artwork from around the world, free loan of tools to complete their own art and promotion and marketing of their creations. Art displayed at the museum will be sold with 40% of the proceeds going to the artist.

Protection of health and the environment

 * Baldev Medical and Community Centre

The Baldev Medical and Community Centre serves the 17 villages surrounding Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. According to TGF's website, the Baldev Medical Centre serves approximately 30 patients a day. The centre sends field workers to homes, provides health checks for children at the government's Deeverapalli school, and runs health education classes. Baldev Medical an Community Centre also conducts annual sanitation clean ups in the villages it serves maintaining drainage and latrines.

The centre is equipped to handle cases such as infectious and parasitic diseases as well as chronic or degenerative diseases, Respiratory infections, gastrointestinal problems, ailments caused by malnutrition, and skin diseases, as well as emergencies resulting from food poisoning, injuries, and complications in childbirth. Serious cases are immediately transported to a nearby city hospital.

Multi-specialty clinics are held on a rotation basis at fixed intervals. The specialties include obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, eye, ENT and dentistry. Patients are charged a small fee for the services and medication, based on their ability to pay.


 * Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment

According to the TGF website, Project Lead-Free was launched in 1997 to screen blood lead levels of children and pregnant women in urban environments, and workers in hazardous occupations. Subsequently, TGF hosted and organized a 3-day international conference on lead poisoning in February 1999 in Bangalore. The World Health Organization, the World Bank, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were co-sponsors of the conference. The proceedings of the conference were compiled in a book, Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment: Implementing a National Program in Developing Countries. A white paper was prepared by the sponsors and presented to policy makers in developing countries.

The results of blood screening and the conference deliberations were instrumental in the decision of the Indian government to offer unleaded gasoline throughout the country in year 2000.

The George Foundation and St. Johns Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, joined in association to establish the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning Prevention in India (NRCLPI) in 2003. The Centre’s mission is to create public awareness about lead poisoning, assist polluting industries in taking remedial measures, and confirm blood lead cases forwarded by clinics/hospitals throughout the country. NRCLPI is presently conducting follow up studies of blood lead, lead and other additives in petrol, and the level of harmful metals in potential sources such as vegetables and house dust, and pathways of lead poisoning and contamination.

Improved Governance

 * Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM)



According to the TGF and IIJNM websites, IIJNM was founded by TGF and Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasamstana in 2001. The curriculum was developed in conjunction with Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, but the school does not have any national accreditation. The courses are intended to teach bot the craft and ethics of journalism. TGF see the school as a way to improve public and private governance by encouraging a strong and independent press.


 * Centres for Studies in Emerging Critical Issues

According to TGF's website, the centre brings together prominent individuals from India and elsewhere to consider the economic, social and environmental challenges facing developing nations. The centre presents the results as papers and lectures.

Milestones

 * Since starting, the economic status of the communities TGF serve has improved significantly. Hundreds of people, especially poor women, are earning steady incomes to support their families, care for their health, pay off their debts, and change their bonded labor status. Many more people have benefited indirectly.


 * In the educational arena, Shanti Bhavan School has received world-wide attention for its mission and accomplishments, as noted in Thomas Friedman’s acclaimed book, The World is Flat. TGF's support of government schools has been instrumental in higher attendance and academic standards, especially among girls. (A case in point is the nearby Deverapalli government school which was judged the best in the entire district for the year 2005.)


 * The outreach program of the Baldev Medical Centre has reduced malnutrition and death at childbirth, and improved sanitation in all the villages. The EDPS system has been extensively tested, and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, U.S., has recommended it for wider implementation in clinics where doctors are not always available.


 * The testing of lead levels in children in major Indian cities (and the subsequent international conference) persuaded the government and major Indian oil companies to remove lead from gasoline in the year 2000. The National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning Prevention in India (NRCLPI) is now the pivotal institution in the country for promoting measures to prevent lead poisoning.


 * The Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media has increased its enrollment to 45 in the academic year starting 2006. With the recent introduction of television and radio courses, IIJNM is now rated among the top three journalism colleges in India by Business World magazine.