Rutgers Entrepreneurs show that social change begins with us
Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Mahatma Gandhi said to “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
The message of these quotes is clear, and just as applicable now as when they were said. If you are going to sit around and expect those in power to act without you doing anything, then the change you so desire will never be handed to you.
One of the biggest embodiment of these principles can be seen with the Roshni Rides team, a group of young entrepreneurs from the Rutgers community. Roshni Rides is a group of 4 individuals, 3 Rutgers alumni and one current student who recently won the prestigious global Hult Prize, which is a $1 million award going towards an entrepreneurial start-up for the sake of solving social crises. Among 50,000 worldwide entries, Roshni Rides was named one of the 6 finalists. After presenting their pitch at the global finals at the United Nations, the team was presented their award by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Roshni Rides plans to set up a public transportation network in Orangi Town, Pakistan, one of the largest havens for refugees in the world. Their pitch was based on the idea of restoring dignity to the lives of refugees. Due to the lack of proper transportation, refugees in Orangi Town are often unable to carry out mundane daily tasks such as working, and thus, are unable to take steps towards improving their own lives. With the Roshni rides network, they are able to get one of the biggest hurdles to their advancement out of the way, and are able to improve their daily lives.
The Roshni team earning this honor could not have come at a more pertinent political time and atmosphere. Everyone knows the controversy of refugee admissions in the United States (and Europe to some extent). Trump just recently announced that the number of admissions to the United States would be limited to 45,000 refugees, less than half of what Obama permitted in his last year in office. He has repeatedly talked about the dangers of letting in refugees from unstable areas and how such acts are supposedly with the intention of keeping America safe.
However, just looking at what the Roshni Rides team was able to do, it is becoming more and more apparent that true change is not enacted through waiting for a government to act, but rather by individuals taking matters into their own hands. The individuals on the team were not “powerful” people by any means. Only a few months back, they all were just typical college students, facing the stresses of university life and worrying about their futures after graduation. However, they had a vision of the changes they wanted to make, and thus, took the opportunity.
What we can get out of this is that no matter what position one is in, he or she can make a difference in some way.
Hasan Usmani, recent graduate from the Rutgers Business School and member of the Roshni team, spoke with me in an interview about the project and its implications.
“Throughout history, some of the greatest movements/philanthropic endeavors have been the result of a common person seeing a problem and having a deep desire to fix it,” Usmani said. “When you find a good team that’s passionate about a cause, the rest will fall into place. It’s all about looking into creative ideas that will positively change people’s lives.”
Usmani then went on to give the example of the Orangi Pilot Project, a group of NGO’s who happened to be one of the team’s biggest inspirations in their pitch. Orangi Town was largely ignored by the government and the conditions were terrible in the 1980’s, with the lack of proper sewage system leading to the town getting flooded often. When the OPP was launched, they were able to build a sewage system. When the government saw this project and realized the low-cost of it and amazing effects, they were inspired and in turn, began to take action themselves.
“Do what you can, and if you’re successful, the government will follow,” Usmani said in concluding the interview.
Just these four individuals are going to have a big impact on the lives of millions of refugees thousands of miles away. They weren’t anybody special nor anything extraordinary. They just had a vision and the passion to follow it. They used their skills to enact the change they wanted to see in the world. They knew the seriousness of the issue and while they were not able to do anything about what the President is doing right now, they were able to do what they could to make change for themselves.
We all might not be able to directly influence legislation. We all do not have the entrepreneurial minds to win the prize like they did. But we all have something we are good at which, if pursued with enough passion and dedication, can enact some sort of change. The global refugee crisis is far from solved and there are still many steps to take. But with more people like the individuals on the Roshni team, big changes are inevitable.
