FWM: Share your journey.
With over a decade of leadership experience in International Human Rights, Humanitarian Relief, Children’s Rights, I started fundraising for Non-Profits advocating for Sex and Labor Trafficking Victims nine years ago, while also retaining responsibilities as the Chief of Regional Operations with the American Red Cross. A few months into my fundraising efforts, I found myself on a Police Raid uncovering a sex trafficking racket. I have been on numerous rescue missions through the Red Cross, but this was different.-Very Different. I went in with the local police force, and the representatives from the NGO, with whom I was volunteering my time. I initially thought we would find sex trafficking victims locked up in a brothel – women and girls – I couldn’t have been more wrong. I experienced a sight so brutal that it shook me to my core. As I stepped foot inside that dingy, dirty brothel, I saw children as young as 4 years old, tied to the top of square-shaped beds, the size of a four-top dining table, just enough to fit their tiny bodies over.
In a civilized society, how can we allow this horror to happen to our children? This question has plagued me for the last nine years and I have done everything in my power to stop the exploitation of children and women. However, my journey and a conscious decision of committing my life to public service started well before I landed in the US as an immigrant 12 years ago. I was born and raised by parents who were lifelong public servants. Papa was in politics. He was a lawmaker advocating for the poorest of poor neighborhoods in India and Mom was a homemaker supporting his aspirations and crazy ideas to create a better world. Without her unflinching support, he would never be able to run around chasing his ideals and serving people the way he still does to this day.
FWM: When did you discover your need to help others?
The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. I learned that early on from my father who has been a lifelong public servant and always advocated for people who were marginalized by systematic oppression or stuck in a generational cycle of poverty. While other kids were out playing and making friends, we were accompanying my Dad on his election rallies, holding his hand and walking through some of the poorest slums of India.
The people who lived in these slums had no materialistic objects around them, no food on their tables, no running water, no sanitation or electricity but they welcomed us with open arms. I would often see him sit on dirt floors and eat with these families. As a child I cringed that he didn’t mind the unhygienic conditions around him, often spending hours in these places. Now I find myself following in his footsteps and loving and understanding every minute of this journey. It’s not so much of a need to help others, rather a commitment and a calling to live in a better world where if you see injustice, you speak up and do something about it.
FWM: What is the greatest gift to humankind?
The greatest gift to humanity is the 4 lettered word called LOVE. We don’t realize that the Humans are born naturally wired to be compassionate, loving and giving. When we give, we feel joy and satisfaction. When you get up on a Saturday morning and go spend time at a shelter with dogs or donate blood, volunteer for your favorite charity, it brings you immense joy and satisfaction and Joy just happens to be THE PUREST and HIGHEST state of mind which allows wonderful things, people and experiences to flow into our existence.
FWM: Share some of the challenges you have faced as an immigrant.
I immigrated to the United States about 12 years ago. Thankfully, I had a great support system in this country and was able to assimilate quite easily until I was out there trying to find employment as a legal immigrant. With two master’s and a Law degree, it was still painfully difficult to secure a good job. In my first job as a change management consultant I often encountered people who would greet me with words such as “leave”, “go back to your country”, “they hired YOU for this” “You need to learn English” “You don’t sound American” “You need to change your accent.”
I had lived a very protected life before moving to the United States and it came as a shock to know that people could be so mean to others. However, many of those attitudes disappeared when I felt confident and secure in my skin. Most of those people disappeared when I took ownership of my space and directed my energies towards people who were welcoming and loving. Without a doubt, the United States of America is one of the most welcoming countries on Earth to legal immigrants. Without doubt, having spent 15 years advocating human rights, the United States of America is the leader in safeguarding the basic human rights of its people and the people across borders and overseas. I am thankful to have landed here and grateful for the experience, it made me a compassionate person towards others who may be just arriving in this country. Working for a humanitarian organization also gives me the privilege of looking at the immigration issue from an unbiased nonpolitical standpoint. I can’t begin to express my disappointment in both sides of our political spectrum for abusing and making it into a political standoff when legal immigration is a legal humanitarian subject.
FWM: With your expertise in Human Rights Law and Non-Profit Management, how have you made your footprint on this Earth?
When we see families, that haven’t had anything to eat for days or are using water from a nearby gutter, you wonder what’s wrong with our world where some people have so much wealth that they have a gold plated toilet seat while a daycare I just visited in South Africa uses a bucket as a toilet for 71 toddlers and the staff. It can be quite depressing until you realize your power. We are all incredibly powerful and we can ALL make a real difference to the lives of others around us. You must be mindful of how you do charitable work. Our philosophy is providing a hand up not a handout. If you want to see a real positive change in poverty statistics, you must empower people to change their circumstances. By simple preventive measures such as Jobs, Education, Medical Aid, we have been able to lift families out of poverty by giving them the tools today to succeed for tomorrow. We serve thousands of children every year and every new child we reach is our way of leaving a positive footprint on this earth.
“The greatest gift to humanity is the 4 lettered word called LOVE. We don’t realize that the Humans are born naturally wired to be compassionate, loving and giving.”
FWM: Tell us about Gift Global Initiative. What is unique about your non-profit?
GIFT Global Initiative is a global humanitarian organization that serves children and families from some of the poorest places on our planet in Asia, Africa, South, Central, and North America. GIFT was founded to protect families and their children and prevent situations that lead to the exploitation of these people. We do so by 1) identifying areas that require support 2) implementing programs that are preventive in nature ad scope such as Education for All, Renewable Energy, Clean Water Initiative, Medical Fund, Mobile Clinics, Pop Up Schools, and more. Our work depends greatly on donor support and volunteer time.
FWM: Can you share a moment that was a game-changer for you?
That night I spent in that dirty dingy brothel was a game- changer, an eye-opener for me. I don’t think anyone who experiences that sight of young babies being snatched away from their families and tossed into the sex trade could go on with their life without at least trying to play a part in educating people about the horrors of the forced sex trade.
FWM: Why are you a Formidable Woman?
I have always been a dreamer. I’ve had stars in my eyes since childhood and my visions and aspirations never sleep. “Get your head out of the clouds!” my mom would say. And I rolled my eyes thinking there is so much more up there. Justin Bedard says ‘The greatest human tragedy is being born to all of this with the little time we have. It is too precious to waste on stagnation. It is too brilliant to spend every moment with your head in the sand rather than in the clouds trying to figure out where you’re off to the next.’ I agree with him and appreciate and acknowledge the importance of dreaming. It gives you purpose, vision, ideas and ultimately those dreams manifest into solutions.
I am an idealist, and while idealism might be false hope to many, I am happier being a hopeful dreamy idealist than living in stagnation. It makes me unstoppable when I dream of solutions and set my mind to bringing those to the less fortunate areas of our planet. What makes men and women like me formidable is their steady defiance to societal pressures to drop their ambitions, aspirations for a more mundane ‘normal’ life. Cause without people like us, nothing would ever get off the ground.
FWM: Human-Trafficking is an extremely important issue for you. Can you share your experience?
My introduction to the world of Human Trafficking was about 10 years ago when a friend reached out to be to engage my help to raise funds for a Non-Profit that had rescued children from a sex trafficking racket. The funds were to be used to rehabilitate these children and put them through school. I started researching on Human Trafficking to educate myself on the nature, scope, and reach of this criminal enterprise. A few months into my fundraising efforts, I found myself on a Police Raid uncovering a sex trafficking racket. I have been on numerous rescue missions through the Red Cross, but this was different. Very Different. I went in with the local police force, and the representatives from the NGO, with whom I was volunteering my time. I initially thought we would find sex trafficking victims locked up in a brothel – women, and girls – I couldn’t have been more wrong. I experienced a sight so brutal that it shook me to my core. As I stepped foot inside that dingy, dirty brothel, I saw children as young as 4 years old, tied to the top of square-shaped beds, the size of a four- top dining table, just enough to fit their tiny bodies over. These children are held in these dingy brothels, raped about 7-8 times a day to break them, for up to 7-8 years of their life. By the time they can make sense of life, that’s the only life they know.
FWM: What is the greatest need for Gift Global Initiative?
The biggest need of the hour for GIFT Global Initiative is Travel Sponsorships. As a company policy, GIFT does not use donor dollars for travel unless it’s under unavoidable circumstances. Most of the mission-related travel arrangements for our staff and volunteers are done through generous companies donating travel tickets, air miles, and hotel points. Individual donors such as yourself can do the same. There are plenty of perks attached to becoming a travel sponsor for GIFT including boosting your brand image as a travel sponsor, expanding your markets and attaching your brand to a social cause. After all,75% of the millennials show brand loyalty to companies that attach themselves to a social charitable cause.
FWM: How can we get involved?
There are several ways to get involved with GIFT but let me narrow it down to three things –
- Donate Money (giftglobalinitaitive.org and click donate)
- Donate Time (https://www.giftglobalinitiative.org/become-a-volunteer)
- Donate Items (In-Kind Donations by emailing Donate@giftglobalinitiative.org)
There are ways to help under these three broad umbrellas. For instance, you can donate money in several ways including but not limited to the following
- You can donate money yourself to any of our programs
- You can run a Facebook fundraiser to raise money for GIFT and rally friends and family to donate
- You can inquire about your employer’s matching gifts policy that matches donations and volunteer hours in the form of cash donation to the charity of your choice.
- You can join our Holiday Challenge and run fundraisers – online and in-person to collect donations which will then be used to bring Solar lights, Food, and Water to Africa, Asia, and Mexico.
- You can donate via wills, trusts, and estates
GIFT is a registered 501 c 3 and all donations made to GIFT are tax-deductible.
Website: https://giftglobalinitiative.org/
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/manna-dabholkar-265296a5 (Manna personal )
FB: https://www.facebook.com/GIFTGlobalInitiative (GIFT)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannadabholkar/ (Manna personal) https://www.instagram.com/giftglobalinitiative/ (GIFT)
