The Vodafone Foundation has launched the ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’, a unique initiative to celebrate the achievements of ordinary women accomplishing extraordinary feats across India. The key objective of this initiative is to spread awareness, garner support and raise funds for NGOs working to empower several other such women. The Red Rickshaw was flagged off from New Delhi on 9th March and it has arrived to Jaipur city of Rajasthan today.
The ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ has three committed women, Laura Turkington, Director of the Vodafone Foundation in India, Carina Deegan, who supports the Foundation’s activities and Sunita Chaudhary, first female auto rickshaw driver in Delhi NCR, traverse a distance of over 1,500 km from New Delhi to Mumbai in a specially designed red auto rickshaw, in 9 days. During this journey, the three women will engage and interact with inspirational women whose initiatives have positively impacted people’s lives and made a real difference within their communities.
Sharing insights on this unique initiative, Marten Pieters, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India said, “Vodafone India’s commitment towards society extends beyond products and services. The Vodafone Foundation has been working in the area of women empowerment and the Red Rickshaw Revolution is a one-of-its-kind campaign to build support for this cause by taking it to a larger audience. We strongly believe that empowerment of women is vital for social development and the funds raised from the initiative will benefit several more.”
The ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ will raise funds for 3 renowned NGOs- Apne Aap Women’s Collective (AAWC), Breakthrough and Corp India. All funds generated will be used by these three NGOs for educating the underprivileged, provide sustainable livelihoods, and providing safety for women. The Vodafone Foundation has already committed a corpus to support this cause.
Vodafone plans to reach out to maximum people to generate support for the ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’. Vodafone customers in India can donate by messaging DONATE to 58910.
Donations can also be made online at http://samhita.org/redrickshaw or donations can be made by cheque in favour of Nadathur Trust. International donations can be made online at http://www.justgiving.com/redrickshawrevolution. Additionally, the Vodafone Foundation has started an ‘Angel Programme’ for corporates to participate in this campaign. Companies contributing INR 1 lakh or more to the ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ will be featured on the website.
Speaking on the occasion, Laura Turkington, Director of the Vodafone Foundation in India, said, “The ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ (RRR) as an initiative was conceptualized from a small concept of riding a rickshaw and getting to meet some of the amazing women in India who have been working selflessly for a social cause. The idea is to give these women a platform to voice their stories. By undertaking this journey, we plan to reach out to maximum number of people and build awareness around this campaign through various social media streams and encourage them to join the revolution.”
Departing from New Delhi on March 9, 2013, the three women in the red rickshaw will travel through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, before ending their journey in Mumbai on March 18, 2013. A dedicated website www.redrickshaw.in will broadcast live interactions and reveal untold stories of India’s unsung women heroes. Visitors to the website can also see videos of several women from different parts of the country speaking about why they feel ‘proud to be a woman’. Every day, the achievements of one extraordinary woman are being showcased under the section “Today’s inspiration”.
The awareness about the ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ is already creating much excitement in the digital media space with the support of partners such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Hungama. To join in the conversation and support the cause of women empowerment, in addition to visiting the website, people can:
access Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RedRickshawRevolution;
follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Redrickshaw2013
get updates on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFIgzNfEWW2UnXk22ST-8iMfYgxYZyL2f&feature=mh_lolz
Expressing delight on this association, Sunita Chaudhary said, “The ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ is a great campaign and it inspired me to contribute by creating awareness about women empowerment. While we celebrate Women’s Day, not many people are aware about their rights of being a woman. I am very excited to be a part of this campaign as it will highlight achievements of the ordinary women who have accomplished extraordinary feat.”
Equally elated on this upcoming journey, fellow rider Carina Deegan, who actively supports Foundation’s activities said, “I have met several brave heart women while actively working with different NGOs in India. I see this as a great opportunity to contribute to the amazing work that they have been doing. I am excited to be part of this cause and request everyone to donate generously.”
The ‘Red Rickshaw Revolution’ is a collaborative work of key partners who have provided active support towards this cause. Vodafone Foundation would like to thank and appreciate the support of the following partners for their collaborative work towards this cause
- Digital Partner: Digital Empowerment Foundation
- Social media partner: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Hungama, mydala.com and myntra.com
- Fundraising supports: Samhita and Just giving
- Other partners: India.com, kipl.net , missmalini .com, Rickshaw challenge, Cocoberry and ibibo.com
