Having been desperately poor during most of his young life,
Amitabha Sadangi knows, intimately, the struggles that the world's lowest-income families experience on a daily basis. He also knows, from experience, what they are capable of accomplishing. With that in mind, Sadangi heads up
International Development Enterprises - India, a non-profit that works to provide the poorest populations of the world with the tools and resources they need to become self-sufficient and build both their income and their community. Sadangi is strongly opposed to the idea of a "hand-out" and has expressed the belief that if farmers and other low-income populations in developing countries are offered the opportunity to improve their lifestyle, even if it means paying for tools or equipment, they will take it, and they will succeed. With experience working for the Churches' Auxiliary for Social Action and OXFAM, as well as postgraduate degrees in Labor, Social Welfare, and Law, Sadangi is no stranger to the needs of struggling communities. His skill though, it seems, is finding a motivating solution to propel such communities out of poverty and into productivity. For helping improve the lifestyles of nearly a million people in India through his work with IDE - India, Sadangi has received a Skoll Foundation grant that will assist in funding IDE's work and will help Sadangi reach his ambitious goal of serving 25 million more people over the course of the next decade.
Quotations
"My entire life, I have listened to the poor and learned from them."
