Cover story featured in By Design Magazine:
Having had their arable land taken from them by corrupt landlords and their nearest water source three and a half miles away, the people of Basauli, India, a village of about 600, were severely impoverished. Cyrus Mafi, of Mafi International, began the Impact A Life foundation in 2007 to address these issues of poverty in India and Nepal, but at that time, their largest project was a 20-child orphanage in Katmandu, Nepal.
Sundeep Bhardwaj, a computer engineer Mafi had met while traveling in India, came to Mafi suggesting they adopt Basauli. Mafi remembers concern for taking on an entire village. Bhardwaj planned for the project to start small by building a school, later adding adult education, a well for clean water, and roads to the village. Mafi agreed to the ambitious project.
Mobilizing local volunteers, the village got schools, clean drinking water, and a road in less than a year. When word got to nearby villages that there were schools in Basauli, children began walking two to three hours to receive an education. One young girl, Shusha, who had lost her foot at the age of four, was among the children making the long walk from the nearby village Varanasi. Responding to this demand, the Impact A Life foundation expanded to Varanasi, building more schools. In January 2012, Bhardwaj sent word to Mafi that 12 to 15 doctors had volunteered to do free, monthly medical examinations in Basauli.
“It pretty much ran its own course, and it really became a journey for us,” said Mafi. “Our goal is to give these people enough resources so they can take care of themselves.” Over the past three years, Mafi International has dedicated about $250,000 to Impact A Life, of which only about $3,000 has come from outside donations. For every purchase from the Mafi Signature collection, 10-20 percent goes to the projects at Impact A Life. A portion of the profits for the Mafi Signature 16 program go solely to operations in Nepal.
“A lot of people in both Nepal and India suffer from malnutrition, lack of hygiene, lack of education, and total poverty – something I had never seen anywhere else,” says Cyrus Mafi.
Take Action
Please consider donating to the Impact A Life Foundation, and know that each donation goes even further as Mafi International matches every dollar donated.
If God ever presents you the opportunity to give,
Close your eyes, jump in with the right foot forward…
have faith that you will not descend, nor sink,
but rather soar like an eagle. Or, if privileged enough,
will land upon a smile or two...
Happy Thanksgiving from the Mafi International family.
