"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." - Mother Theresa
Helping One individual, one family, one village at a time.
Who We Are (Mission)
Gram Bangla Unnayan Udyog Inc (GRABUU) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization registered in the state of North Carolina, USA, engaged in social and economic development projects in rural India.
GRABUU fights hunger and poverty through job creation for sustainable livelihood, job training, and education for children – one individual, one family, and one village at a time.
We, a group of non-resident Indians in the United States of America and a
few friends and families in India have established a public foundation called
Gram Bangla Unnayan Udyog, Inc., (aka GRABUU), গ্রাম বাংলা উন্নয়ন
উদ্যোগ, registered in the State of North Carolina, USA in 2012. Ours is a
secular, non-sectarian, non-profit public organization. It is led and managed
by a Board of Directors having six members who offer voluntary services to
carry out GRABUU’s mission. We are fully committed to transparency,
accountability and professionalism in all our activities.
GRABUU is exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 (c) (3) of
the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to GRABUU are deductible
under section 170 of the Code. Tax I.D. 45-4487432.
What We Do
01.
— We create jobs
By creating jobs, we fight hunger and poverty in a meaningful way.
02.
— We Build sustainable livelyhood
A sustainable livelyhood is an effective way to erradicate hunger and poverty
03.
— We promote skill training
Skills training enables the community members to become self sufficient in fighting hunger and poverty
04.
— We Educate
Educate the children so that they can become the warrior to fight hunger and poverty
05.
— We Care
Take action to overcome the troubles that community faces, we care and help them fight hunger and poverty
06.
— We Consult
Provide advice to the community member to overcome any hurdles in their objective to fight hunger and poverty
Impact Stories
Empower and Enable self-sustanance of the community by the development of Handicraft Industry
I. CENTRE FOR HANDICRAFT DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
The district of Birbhum, West Bengal has a rich tradition of producing beautiful rural handicraft. It the home of many gifted artisans; Their products have found their place in many homes in India and abroad. We have built a Center for handicraft development, production and distribution and would make it an independent business unit to be run by the village folks.
We have two objectives: Initially we will locate, select and buy high quality handicraft products from the local artisans and sell among our friends and families thus creating a market of our own market. Later we have a plan to develop a website for marketing and selling. Simultaneously, we will encourage the local village women folks to form a SHG (Self Help Group). We will get them trained by expert artisans in the skill required to make the following products. We expect that in one to two years they would acquire the required skill to produce good quality marketable products. Here are the products we have targeted:
- Home Decor: Framed paintings, batik prints, hand painted Rajasthani / Gujrati paintings on fabrics, decorated ceramic / terracotta tiles, soldered metallic parts, etc.
- Ladies’ garments and accessories: Kurti, Vests, Wraps, Shawl, Scarf, Stolle, Bags, Purses, etc.
- Costume Jewelry, that may include semi-precious stones, beads, metals, terracotta, etc.
Instill a love in children for Science and Technology
II. “BUILD A SCIENCE CLUB IN YOUR SCHOOL”
Many secondary schools in West Bengal particularly in the rural, small town and suburban areas are not equipped to provide hands-on active learning of the Science subjects. We want to offer our program called “BUILD A SCIENCE CLUB IN YOUR SCHOOL” to such schools that are committed to give high priority to the study of Science subjects. A copy of the MOU that details the program and a copy is attached.
Our objective is to inspire and motivate the school children and keep them entertained by engaging them in the science projects where they would learn the fundamental principles of S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). During their hands-on science project work they would be encouraged to ask questions “why”, “how”, “why not”, “what if” questions. They would be trained to think analytically, logically and creatively and would be able to learn many skills like observing, investigating and collecting data, scientific reasoning, problem solving, decision making, organizing and communicating information, teamwork, project management, etc. In fact, the children would create for themselves a mental framework focused on analytical scientific thinking. The skills they would learn in the early days of their education will be a great asset for them and help them immeasurably whatever they do in life. The California Science Teachers’ Association says, “Science projects prepare students for life”.
Six Ramakrishna Mission Schools and two other schools have studied our program and they have decided to sign MOU with us and we are planning to do it in the month of March, 2020.
It is a large project with huge educational and social implications. It will definitely have direct impact on the career path choice by the children and their parents in the early years of their studies. Nayantara Trust( NMCT), our Partner in West Bengal would be in charge of the operation and management of the Program.