BIGGER HEARTS, SMALLER WORLD.
The beginning.
Back in 2008, the seed for the founding of Amber was planted in the alleys of the Slums in Kolkata (Calcutta); where we saw hope preponderating over the bleak reality of poverty, sex trafficking, and exploitation.
Hope was taught to us by kids through friendship that sought to build a bridge between mind and heart.
An interesting phenomenon occurred when we became friends; they ceased to be a community merely defined by their ‘needs and issues’. Instead, they became friends who shared interests, skills, values, and capacity.
When contemplating the worth of an individual and the dignity of communities, We strived to dig deeper beyond the provision of food, water, security, education, and medical care. It somehow did not seem sufficient.
Eventually, a 15-year-old boy from Northlight School was the one who taught us that human dignity is measured by one’s ability to be a contributor.
Our passions.
Our conviction is that every single person in this world has value; Every beneficiary has the capacity to be a contributor.
We work with a single organisational Key Performance Indicator (KPI) - Has the beneficiary become a contributor?
Today, our passion flourishes as we collaborate and cultivate in three distinct domains: Education, Enterprise Ventures, and Social Impact. They all function dynamically in our ‘eco-system’ of sustained and positive development.
Our values.
Whenever we embark on any project, we rely on the four pillars we established as our core values to guide us.
Firstly, we believe compassion comes from the love felt and given to every person we affect. From this love, we bring ourselves not as knights in shining armour but as friends who have a deep concern for the well-being of the individual and community.
That is how we truly can laugh with the communities, skip and smile with them, and bear their burdens with them.
Through their friendship, we share their dreams as they share ours; Dreams that reality can barely touch; Dreams that we work towards together.
Which leads us to our last pillar, to hope. Hope not only for a better tomorrow but to be that hope for those around the region who need that friend to walk with them.
I end with an apt exposition from Emerson that truly captures the flavour behind what we try to do as an organisation…
"To laugh often and love much; To win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived – This is to have succeeded."
With Hope, Love & Joy,
Suraj P. Upadhiah
Director & Co-Founder
