Abraham George
Dr. Abraham M. George | |
|---|---|
| File:ABRAHAM GEORGE.jpg | |
| Born | February 25, 1946 |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman, The George Foundation |
| Spouse | Mariam George |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | tgfworld.org indiauntouched.com |
Dr. Abraham M. George is the founder The George Foundation (TGF), a non-profit organization based in Bangalore, India, that is dedicated to the welfare of economically and socially disadvantaged people. His foundation has initiated several projects in poverty alleviation, education, health, empowerment of women, and several other major endeavors. His keen interest in promoting democratic institutions and values led to the creation of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore, where he serves as the dean. His work in the field of environmental health was instrumental for the removal of lead from gasoline throughout India in April 2000 and the creation of the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India.
Childhood in India
George was born and brought up in the seaside town of Trivandrum in the coastal state of Kerala, at the southwestern tip of India. He was the second son of Mathew and Aleyamma George and the older brother of two sisters. As a young boy George was out going, and excelled in sports and other extracurricular activities. He prefered to learn from the every day experiences of life and from interactions with people, than from the classroom.
As a young man, George was attracted by the discipline and glamour of the military. At fourteen he was admitted to the highly selective and prestigious National Defence Academy in Kharakvasala. He subsequently went on to become a Second-Lieutenant in a medium artillery regiment of the Indian Army. George's first posting in 1966 was to the North-East Frontier that borders China, following the Chinese invasion of 1962. He was the first military officer to take medium artillery guns to an altitude of over 14,000 ft. above sea level at the Sela pass on the north-east frontier of India with China. It was a key point, a position India needed to defend if it was going to successfully ward off any future aggressions by China into its territory.
The assignment at Sela ended abruptly after only ten months, when George was injured in a dynamite explosion. Upon his return from convalescence, he was assigned to the Indo-Pak border with India where he served for nearly two more years and rose to the rank of Captain. He found both field assignments rewarding experiences that taught him lifelong lessons. Through his years in the army, he learned much about loyalty, leadership, teamwork and discipline. It taught him about his responsibility to others and about the needs of soldiers under his command. "There is, I suppose, some stage in each one’s life that has a greater impact on his future than all others. For me, it was these army experiences that helped shape much of my outlook on life."[1]
During this time, George also realized that, while he admired the dedication and values with which the military functioned, it was not a lifetime career his wished to pursue. He felt there were other opportunities out there, possibilities for a future where he could apply what he had learned from the army.
In the third year of George's service, he suffered a hearing disability that would plaque him for the rest of his life. At the time, doctors in India were not trained to tackle his medical problem as it needed specialized surgery. By this time, his mother was already in America, teaching physics and working for NASA as a research scientist. He knew his mother’s position was an opportunity to come to America; he could have his surgery done there and then embark on a new life. After considerable effort, he managed to persuade the Indian Army command to give him a medical discharge. A new chapter in his life had begun.
A New Life in America
The transition from India to America was a startling, nearly overwhelming for George. He joined his mother in Alabama, during the heyday of the segregationist governor, George Wallace. "I felt he had gone to another world, not simply another country".
Soon after arriving in America, George began to attend New York University's Stern School of Business as graduate student. He specialized in developmental economics and finance with the hope that one day he would be able to make a contribution to India or one of the impoverished African nations. "I was working part-time for the Singer Company to meet the expenses toward my studies, and as a young man too idealistic about what I should be doing with my life, I asked the management of the company to remove my name from its records after I had left so that I would never be identified with a profit-making institution". He attempted to join the World Bank but was not offered a position. Soon after completing his doctoral work he decided to enter the teaching profession. But teaching was not sufficiently gratifying, and he wanted to go out and do for himself what he was preaching to his students. That was when Chemical Bank, now part of JP Morgan Chase Bank, offered him a job as an officer in the bank. He felt it was time for him to put aside his idealism and work for a prestigious bank, and hopefully save enough money over the years to do something for humanitarian causes.
George had worked for Chemical Bank for only two years when he decided to start his own company which would offer computerized systems to large multinational corporations to enable them to deal with their international financial risks. In the mid-1970s, software solutions for management decisions, especially if they involved gathering and processing information across many international subsidiaries, were something new, and somewhat expensive. Personal computers had not yet been invented, and companies had to rely on expensive mainframe computers and terminals that were connected through international telephone lines in a time-sharing environment. It was several years before his business became somewhat profitable, but when personal computers came along, they migrated their software to this new environment with great success. As his fortunes began to turn rosy, he thought of the day when he would make enough money to pursue work for the poor.
By 1995, after 25 years in America, George felt he had accomplished what he had set out to do in his professional business career. He had not lost my youthful idealism; it had been buried, perhaps for awhile, but he felt there were more important things to accomplish than success in business. Over the years, he had built a company from the ground up, and would soon sell it to a large multinational firm, thereby concluding another chapter of his life. It was time for him to pursue what he had originally set out to do, to work full-time in the non-profit sector. He had read about the hardships faced by the poor in India and elsewhere, and their problems had emotionally affected him. He always knew that after accomplishing his professional goals, he would turn towards non-profit work in developing nations. While he was most interested in India, it mattered less to me which country he worked in as long as his efforts would make a difference, and help alleviate the poverty and suffering that had spread worldwide.
The Birth of The George Foundation
It was during this time that George's good friend Angeline Nair decided to return to India and settle down in Bangalore after spending nearly 20 years in America. The both of them shared similar interests in social service and had worked together in America to offer a better education to Afro-American inner city children who came from underprivileged and broken households. They both spent a great deal of time discussing the ills that the poor of India faced, and the sheer lack of hope to change their fates. The more they talked, the more they realized they had a duty and an opportunity to do something about it. She promised to help him start a foundation in India that eventually became The George Foundation; it was a promise that would take him on to the next chapter of his life.
It was in January 1995 that he went back to India for the first time after a long absence. I returned with the goal of making my contribution to reducing the injustices and inequalities I had observed and learned about from the media and many published works. I had a renewed sense of purpose and a lifetime of experience to undertake what I thought was a social obligation. Money, I had decided, was not an end, but a means to an end. I had been professionally and financially successful, because of the opportunities that I had seized in my lifetime. But it was only the luck of my birth that allowed me to have these opportunities. I felt it was not fair for me to selfishly enjoy the fruits of my success when many others had never had a chance. It was my duty to do something about this inequity.
I took the journey with my 12-year-old son, Vivek, who had not seen much of India until then. I had spoken to him at length about the great landscape of India – the majestic Himalayan mountains in the north, and the plains and plateaus that cover much of the country. We talked about some of India’s great souls – Buddha, Gandhi, Tagore, and Vivekananda –, as I wanted him to be proud of his heritage. Vivek was worried about how he would be treated by the people he would be meeting, but I assured him of the hospitality and the caring he could expect. We decided we would tour India for two weeks, visiting my old haunts, showing my son parts of the country that had personal significance to me. We landed in Delhi on a January morning only to find the city covered by a thick fog. As the day proceeded, the air did not seem to clear and we inquired whether Delhi was usually that foggy. It wasn’t fog, we were told, but smog. Delhi was then one of the most air-polluted cities in India.
I had expected to see lots of changes and signs of real development. Three years had passed since new economic reforms had been introduced by the government. Yes, the city was more crowded, with more cars and other vehicles. Perhaps there were a few more buildings. But real sustainable development? I saw little signs of meaningful progress in Delhi. The same was true of every other city we visited; India had grown, but not necessarily the way I had hoped. My home town of Trivandrum, once a beautiful and fairly quiet place, was now crowded and congested with people, vehicles, houses and shops. The quality of life had not improved noticeably for the middle class, but people seemed busier. In some ways, life in Trivandrum had probably deteriorated for most people, except for those who went to work in the Middle East and had returned with considerable savings.
Angeline had organized a meeting with several prominent individuals of Bangalore society, like-minded individuals who believed in the need for social service. I found an extraordinarily talented young man, Jude Devdas, who would soon head all of the foundation’s activities in India. Over these years, he has proved himself to be one of the most determined and hardworking individuals I have ever met. He oversees and coordinates every project we run, and closely works with me to manage the finances of the foundation. His commitment, honesty and loyalty have been beyond measure. This meeting was the birth of The George Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust that would work towards the goals of addressing some of the most persistent problems in Indian society, especially with regard to the poor. It was the turning point in my life and in my professional interests. The sale of my company in America soon followed; I was now committed to humanitarian work.
Philanthropy - The George Foundation
Main article The George Foundation
The George Foundation was established in January 1995 in Bangalore, India, as a not-for-profit organization under the Indian Trust Act. The Foundations mission is to work towards poverty eradication in India, promote environmental health, and strengthen democratic institutions and values in developing countries. Consistent with this mission, the Foundation initially embarked on two major projects:
- Project Shanti Bhavan: Facility to house and educate at a time 336 children of deprived backgrounds from pre-school to grade 12. It is a world-class institution committed to excellence and globally shared values.
- Project Lead-Free: Infrastructure to test for blood lead levels in urban population throughout India. In 1998-99, the project conducted 25,000 blood tests of children, pregnant women, and emergency referrals, and this study led to a world conference in Bangalore in 1999 that resulted in the initiation of prevention measures by the Government of India and several other developing countries.
Subsequently, the Foundation initiated several new projects:
- Healthcare Projects: A medical diagnostic and management system (EDPS 2000) was developed and implemented in 1998 to improve the delivery of rural healthcare. Subsequently, the Baldev Medical & Community Centre was opened in December 2000 to provide primary health care and health education for the rural communities around Shanti Bhavan.
- Women's Empowerment: Several initiatives are currently under way to empower women through education, cooperative farming (BALDEV FARMS), vocational training, savings plan, and business development.
- Community Development: Various projects to foster community involvement and welfare have been successfully initiated by BALDEV community centre.
- Tillany Fine Arts Museum and Gallery: This project is designed to assist talented and upcoming artists and artisans who have not been able to promote their work. These artists and artisans from poor backgrounds do not have the means to create art consistent with their talents, and display their work in the right environment.
- Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM): This institution is a joint venture of The George Foundation with Adi Chunchanagiri Foundation, under the banner of BS&G Foundation. The institute has developed the curriculum in association with Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, offering students a diploma program at the Master's level, to promote quality journalism through a free, fair and independent press.
- Centres for Studies in Emerging Critical Issues: Dr.George has spearheaded several studies to debate and present viable solutions to economic, environmental, human rights and other major issues facing both developing and advanced countries.
Awards
- Spirit of India Award, America India Foundation, USA
- Hind Ratna Award, Non-Resident Indian Association, Delhi
- Millennium Awards, Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, USA