Teen's efforts help the poor of rural India to see: NCSU student to get international award

Oct 22, 2008 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Next time your parental chest swells at Junior's stints in the soup kitchen, his 5K walk for cancer, his donation of Christmas money to charity, imagine how the parents of Sindhu Ravishankar of Cary must feel.

A year ago, Ravishankar, a 19-year-old N.C. State University sophomore, raised the money for and organized two daylong "eye camps" in rural villages in India, providing 945 eye screenings, 130 same-day prescription eyeglasses and 257 cataract surgeries. All free, for the poorest of the poor, who queued up in long lines.

"These are people who make perhaps 50 cents or $1 per day for an entire family," said Sashi Kumar, translating for Shivaprasad, who goes by a single name and represents the Lions Club International in India. "The eye camps were the difference between these people having spectacles or not, between them having surgery or not. What is astonishing is that it was such a young woman who made all of this happen."

Today, Ravishankar will be one of three teenagers honored with a Global Action Award from the Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian group. One of the judges who helped pick Ravishankar's work from among 3,000 nominations was Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

A synopsis of her efforts: She raised $1,700 for the camps by giving recitals, playing both the Indian and "western" flute; she asked for donations to the eye camps in lieu of graduation gifts. She led the collection of hundreds of used eyeglass frames -- enough to fill a suitcase. And she persuaded doctors and nurses from hospitals in bigger cities in India to donate their time and services.

In the days before each camp, she and an army of volunteers, many of them relatives from her parents' hometown in India, not only hung signs and banners advertising the free services, they went door to door to spread the word among the largely illiterate villagers.

"We also had speakers on the rickshaws announcing that the eye camps were coming," Ravishankar said.

When the registration tables opened at 8 a.m., lines snaked down the street. Ravishankar, dressed in traditional Indian garb for the events, provided food and drink to all of the attendees. The people who needed cataract surgery were whisked straight from the camps to a hospital five hours away.

"To have paid for that kind of surgery would be 10,000 rupees or $200, which would be unthinkable for these people," said Kumar. "Especially for the elderly. They have no income. Most of them do not see a doctor even when they are very sick."

Remembering her roots

Ravishankar was born in India, but moved to the United States with her parents at 8 months. She and her sister, Seema, a 16-year-old student at Raleigh's Enloe High School, are typical American teens in many ways.

But their parents were determined to maintain an appreciation for Indian culture. Their father, Ravi Ravishankar, made certain his daughters learned the native language flawlessly. On annual trips back to India's Karnataka state, where he and his wife grew up, he also stressed the family's responsibility to the homeland.

"We have a comfortable life here," said their mother, Savitha Ravishankar, gesturing to the vaulted ceilings and gleaming hardwood floors in the family's elegantly appointed home. "We wanted our daughters to understand what kind of situation people in other parts of the world experience."

Ravishankar's charity work began in grade school, when she and Seema raised money, then bought, wrapped and delivered birthday presents to children being helped by the Raleigh Rescue Mission.

"It was the perfect thing for that age," said Ravishankar. "We got to go to the mall every month and we got to play with a bunch of nice kids. It didn't seem like work. It was fun."

When Sindhu was in eighth grade, she and Seema used one of their trips to India to launch a "Flutey Tootie" program in the government schools serving poor children. They would play a mix of traditional songs on the Indian flute and recognizable American songs -- think Disney -- on the "western" flute to begin the students comparing and contrasting Indian and American culture.

But it was when an international director of Pratham, a charitable group focused on improving education and health care in India, came to Wake County that Ravishankar found herself in charge of an eye camp. She'd always planned to be a doctor. In a meeting of Indian emigres, Ravishankar mentioned a Lions Club video she'd seen of the need for better eye care in countries like India.

The Pratham director challenged her to do something about it.

Next week, Ravishankar and her parents will travel to New York City to collect her award and a $5,000 check.

Meanwhile, Ravishankar maintains an A average at N.C. State in her double majors of biological sciences and international studies. She minors in music performance. Ravishankar is also a member of the Thomas Jefferson Scholars program, for students majoring in both the sciences and the humanities, and the Caldwell Fellows, for student leaders.

Ravishankar said she hopes to recruit other fellows for an expanded version of the eye camps next summer, providing dental and medical care as well.

Pay attention Junior. Put down the Wii and start saving the world.

ruth.sheehan@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4828

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