My name is Tanvi Vattikuti and I am thrilled to join the BRAC USA team as an intern in the Summer 2010. As an individual who is deeply passionate about effecting social and economic change in impoverished and underprivileged populations, I find BRAC to be an inspiring organization.
In my personal travels, I have been devastated to see the extreme poverty in which people live. It is particularly poignant when contrasted with the living standards of developed countries. While in India in 2005, I had the opportunity to visit villages in which microfinance loans were in place. It was my first encounter with both international development work and microfinance and it left quite an impression. I was immediately intrigued by the apparent effectiveness of the microfinance model but I remained curious as to how one can create a model that effects both economic and social change.
While studying Politics at New York University, I began to contemplate how an individual can most effectively contribute to the global battle against extreme poverty. This contemplation and subsequent research led me to BRAC. BRAC has succeeded in creating models to effect both economic and social change. I am in awe of the organization’s holistic approach to poverty alleviation and by the scalability and sustainability of BRAC’s model. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute to an organization that touches so many lives. I am excited to see the impact BRAC USA has upon BRAC International as domestic awareness of BRAC’s operations grows.