Highlighting a BANA member

By Suhana A. Rai

During the N.J. BANA convention I was very touched to hear of some of the achievements of my fellow Bunts. I was inspired listening to Dr. Vinod Shetty's moving speech about Dr. Sharmila Shetty's work with Doctors without Borders. As a proud member of the Bunt community, I am often amazed and thrilled to see how successful Bunts are in so many different arenas. I want to take this opportunity via BANAVANI to highlight BANA members who have dedicated a part of their lives to non-profit or charitable work. In each BANAVANI, I will highlight BANA members who’s giving attitude and dedication to others is an inspiration for all of us. In our inaugural issue, I would like to highlight Ms. Sanjana Ballal, daughter of Dr. Suresh and Anita Ballal. She is a first generation Bunt-American who is a native of the Staten Island, NY area. Sanjana lived in Washington, D.C. while she attended George Washington University. Sanjana graduated with a degree in non-profit development in 2007. I interviewed Sanjana about her current work in New Orleans with "Katrina kids" for the non-profit, “Teach for America”.

Suhana: What is Teach for America?

Sanjana: Teach for America is a non-profit organization that places college graduates at high need schools across the country. Teach for America develops the teacher professionally and offers support during the teacher’s two year position. I applied to Teach for America during my senior year at George Washington. Hurricane Katrina had caused many teachers to leave New Orleans and new schools were built that needed teachers desperately. I decided to place New Orleans among my top choices and was later selected to join the Greater New Orleans Corp of Teach for America.

Suhana: What influenced you to go into the non-profit field?

Sanjana: My parents always raised my sisters and me to be compassionate towards others. I remember when my Dad dealt with his patients he would offer his services even when they (the patients) could not pay. My parents always say - people first. My sister and I also did volunteer work in high school. Sangeetha (Sanjana's sister) ran a Boston Marathon for the non-profit, Horizon for Homeless Children.

Suhana: How did your family react to your choices?

Sanjana: My sisters were super excited for me. My parents were very supportive but also apprehensive about me being so far away and about my safety in New Orleans. About half way through my placement, my parents came and visited me in the classroom. I think that is when they got a clear picture of why this job was so important to me. The stories I told them about my kids were now real to them. I could really tell that they were excited now that they had seen firsthand what I was actually doing.

Suhana: What are your plans for the future?

Sanjana: Officially, my placement was done in June of this year. But I chose to stay on a third year. I was promoted to lead teacher of the third grade and I wanted to see how I did on my own without their (Teach for America's) support.

Suhana: What piece of advice would you offer other BANA members who want to get involved?

Sanjana: This experience has been the hardest of my life. My school kids were called Katrina babies because they were in Kindergarten when Katrina hit. Most of them missed their entire kindergarten year. Many of them were in and out of schools from kindergarten through first grade as their parents were relocated from Texas to Alabama. Most of my students lacked the basic social and academic skills that skills that formal education brings. Having said all this - I know that this experience is the most important thing I have done in my life so far.

I would tell other members to get involved. You don't have to give up two or three years of your life. The smallest things can make a huge impact on someone's life. I see that happen every day.

To highlight a BANA member for BANAVANI, please contact Suhana Rai at suhanarai@hotmail.com with the member's name, a sentence or two about their non-profit/charitable work and contact information.