The RIM group of Flint, Michigan

The RIM Flint group is supporting 6 Samaj Shilpis (Stimulated Volunteers),8 Fellows,and 1 Coordinator (Part-Time) for RIM Tamil Nadu. The total budget for supporting them is approximately 10000$ for the calendar year 2002. We have an yahoo group -- im-sv-tamilnadu@yahoogroups.com. You can get all the updates on the work being done in TN from our coordinator in India for RIM-TN, A.L. Rangarajan. Please feel free to join the group if you are interested.

The volunteers and fellows together cover 46 villages/panchayats, working on a variety of projects. The work of the volunteers is guided by RIM India. RIM Fellows typically have their own projects that they have been working on, and their work is normally on a larger scale.

The RIM Flint group is comprised of 4 active core members, and 5 members who are semi-active. In addition, there are 10 members, and students from the Kettering University, who volunteer as time permits. Our group is comprised of both academics and professionals. We have also adopted a stretch of highway in Flint, and volunteer to clean it three times every summer. This has provided a simple task where we can contribute in a direct way, while allowing us another occasion to get together. Also, we have established a once-a-month meeting for the RIM Flint group, on the first Sunday of every month, that allows everyone to plan for these meetings.

Our principle in funding RIM TN has been to provide funds for a whole year at a time. This ensures that the volunteers on the ground can focus on the real work, without worrying about funds each month. We raise the money primarily from our core group and by one-on-one communication with our friends and relatives.

Instead of feeling that we are part of RIM, we feel that the vision of RIM is part of us, and is what attracted us to RIM. We trust the leaders of RIM, and the vision that Dr. B.V.Parameswara Rao showed us. We also owe a lot to Thyagarajan Palani, one of our initial group members, who has now returned to India, to work with orphanages through Vinimay Trust in Mumbai, for the example he set. We believe in our volunteers and their dedication to what they believe. We also appreciate the responsiveness of the RIM leadership in India to our input. For an organization with a history of just over a year, we have achieved a fair bit thanks to the hard work from our volunteers and coordinator in Tamil Nadu.

Our message to RIM & other RIMmers (please take these with a pinch of salt, these are the opinions of a small group of people)

• We feel that RIMmers have to communicate RIM accomplishments and goals to the media, friends, family and anyone else who will listen for wide dispersion. RIM can grow only by i) aligning itselfto other organizations with similar goals or ii) use part of its resources to market itself for growth.
• Feel free to question everything that is happenning, but leave the final decisions to the people who are local, and help them in every way possible.
• Talk to your friends and relatives and convince them to commit funds on a yearly basis to RIM.