Sudbury Living - Summer 2008 - 15

hospital in Bangalore, Narayana Netralaya. Eye glasses were donated by the Lions Club of Sudbury. “One of the eye camps was fully sponsored by Ramesh Balasar, a successful businessman in Chikballapur. He spent a good deal of money to make the camp such a major event,” says Katary. Gisele Chrétien, chair of the hospital board in Sudbury, arranged for the donation of medical supplies from the Sudbury Regional Hospital as well as laptop computers from Collège Boréal. Air Canada Jazz and Lufthansa agreed to transport them to India. The City of Greater Sudbury has made available a storage facility to store donations prior to shipment. For another project volunteers cleaned up the open gutters in the village. The next challenge is to build a vocational training centre near Kandavara. Women and young people cannot afford to leave their low skill jobs to take free upgrading in the city for even two weeks, so the plan is to build the centre closer to them, says Katary. He is lobbying Indian ofﬁcials to donate some land for the centre. He is patient, sometimes waiting for hours for a ﬁve-minute meeting with people who might be able to assist him. There are also plans for upgrading homes, improving the sewer system, bringing piped water to all households, building a playground, an orphanage, a retirement home, to upgrade the hospital, and to hire a doctor to work there. “This is community work, not personal charity,” Katary says. It is hard not to want to give money to some of the people he meets. “The demand for cash would be so great I look for projects that help everyone,” he says. While Katary was waiting for responses from doctors in southern India, he got some good news. A Sudbury chartered accountant, Brad Lecour, has agreed to provide volunteer services for Project Kandwar and to help set up a registered charity in Canada. Carmen Simmons, the executive director of the Sudbury Community Foundation, was happy to be asked to be one of the founding board members. “Narasim is a dear friend. It is amazing what he has been able to do, and how he has pulled people together here and in India to get things done.” “We examined if a foundation would work and found a registered charity would work better And I was pleased to have my name associated with it.” Other Sudbury residents who are currently contributing their skills and time to Project Kandwar include board member Deb McIntosh, and Matt Livingstone who designed and manages the website. Katary’s daughter, Shannon, is also one of the people inspired by her father’s mission. The political science graduate helps him on things such as power point presentations and other communications. “You can’t say no to starving people,” she says. SL 93 Cedar Street 675-1307 Enjoy a subscription (4 issues) for only $16.59 1 year Living Available on select newsstands around Sudbury! $ 30 8 newsstand prices! 50% off Save sudburylivingmagazine.ca To subscribe, log onto: DISTINCT DESIGNS Putting your real estate needs rst. 227 REGENT ST. NORTH 669-4371 Mauro Zuliani , B.E.S. Broker www.sudburyliving.com Sudbury Inc., Brokerage 293 Larch Street, Sudbury ON 705.671.2222 Summer 2008 Sudbury Living 15

Sudbury Living - Summer 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sudbury Living - Summer 2008