Creating Global Connections for the Greater Good

“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”
― Brian Tracy

Shree Nara, an artist and senior at Barrington High School connected with 22 year old Mitto from the slums of Delhi, India. Mitto was born without legs but was undaunted by his handicap as he relentlessly pursued learning about computer hardware. Now he is employed as a hardware expert bringing pride and expertise at the Peter Wulff Center at Project Why in India. On a recent visit by Barrington residents to Project Why in India Mitto was excited as he shared his knowledge and spoke of his job as a computer hardware expert. Mitto was grateful for the creation of the Maggie Gruber Computer Center in the Govindpuri slums at Project Why. 17 years ago a team from Barrington including District 220 teacher Maggie Gruber Black visited the Govindpuri slums and on their return presented the problem of having 300 children without any access to computer education to youth volunteers in Barrington. A collective decision was made to establish a computer center at Project Why. Youth and adult volunteers furiously raised funds for 8 computers. Funds were raised in creative ways at selling food at chess tournaments and hosting tournaments to donated proceeds towards buying computers. Almost 20 years later some of the old computers were replaced by the volunteer team at the Peter Wulff Center including youth volunteers. Across the world in India children were so grateful to Jack Weed, a youth social entrepreneur that they created a poster for him.

Shree Nara knew of Zein's Humanitarian Hummus being donated to raise funds so she decided to honor Mitto's expertise by paying him to teach others at the center.

Through sharing her ability to raise funds she gained valuable knowledge about resilience in the face of hardship, she connected with a group of youth aspiring toward self sufficiency and became culturally aware of others who struggle to develop a skill. Honoring Mitto was a privilege for the team at the Peter Wulff Center as it celebrates an impact that was unique.

The Peter Wulff Center is grateful to award winning gourmet cook, Zein Bertacchi who with her enthusiasm taught her community to be a joyful giver through her Humanitarian Hummus sales that raised funds for a variety of charities. Involvement in these charities bring awareness and understanding for the plight of others. Youth feel empowered by what they can do raising their self esteem moulding them into leaders of tomorrow. As 13 year old Krish Nara said, " I am itching to do something to raise funds for others. What's next?" Sree Nara has displayed her art work at local shops such as Frantonio's Italian Deli in Barrington to donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

A world of possibilities opens up for all who engage and share compounding their knowledge and acquiring skills that many volunteers did not realize they had before.