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By Toby, July 29, 2007 4:57 pm

When B. Ramakrishnan registered for the Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Program, he knew that he wanted to make a difference in safety on the roads of India.  Indian roads have always been chotic, but with the double diget economic growth of the last two decades, the problems with traffic have become even greater problem.  According to the Boston Globe 276 people die in traffic accidents each day in India. Ramakrishnan’s projects seeks to do something about this, starting with his hometown of Banglor.

Here is a recent story from a news paper in Banglor

Bangalore, India

Training in Defensive driving as a Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Program. As part of the Landmark Education’s Self Expression and Leadership Programme, B Ramakrishnan has taken up a community project of imparting training in defensive driving for professional drivers, especially companies that hire drivers for their employees. Call centers and software companies are among the target group as ‘they form a significant part of the vehicular movement on the road’, says Ramakrishnan.

As part of the initiative, the first session was conducted for drivers hired by GE India Technology Center (JFWTC) where around 76 drivers from SRS Travels and Ambassador Travels underwent the four-hour programme.

The training covered the basics of defensive driving — the need, impact on community, awareness of safety on the road and responsibility of road users. They also covered some of the recent developments or steps taken by the Bangalore Traffic Police in improving driving conditions on road.

The programme, conducted by Geetha, Inspector (Traffic), Traffic Training Institute, Bangalore Police and her colleagues, included presentations, videos as well as discussions on accidents in the country along with footage that included interviews of family members of victims. The feedback, according to Ramakrishnan, was quite positive and people seemed to realise the impact negligent driving can cause on people as well as how important it is to adhere to rules.

Similar workshops will be conducted for other organisations in the near future. For further information contact Ramakrishnan at: ramakrishnan.b@ge.com

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By macaniff, July 13, 2007 3:30 pm

Scott Bedall took Landmark Education’s Self Expression and Leadership Program and decided that the area he wanted to make a difference in was the health of kids. Kids take fitness in stride, and then some

From: Times Colonist, Victoria Canada
By: Jeff Bell

The collective energy of a bunch of eight- and nine-year-olds goes a long way.

At Cloverdale Traditional School, students in Gale Penner’s Grade 3 class and Ian Macpherson’s Grade 3/4 group are two weeks into the Victoria School Wellness Challenge — and have already charged past one of their major goals.

Wellness Challenge creator Scott Beddall, whose godson Logan Diamond is one of Mrs. Penner’s students, said all of the children have been given pedometers to keep track of how far they walk and run each day. The hope was that they would make it across Vancouver Island by the time the program wraps up June 12.

Logan Diamond and Tasmin Laal show off the pedometers they’ve been putting to good use at Cloverdale Traditional School.

“The original goal was just to cross Vancouver Island in 30 days,” Beddall said. “But these students are doing so well we’ve had to shift it up to crossing Canada because they’ve already walked so far. They did 904 kilometres in four days.”

Fresh from an in-class striding-and-exercise session led by Mrs. Penner, nine-year-old Solan Baragar said he knew just how far he and his friends had already travelled.

“We’ve walked across the Island and halfway back!”

He said his classmates are using their pedometers every day and having fun keeping track of how far they go.

Mrs. Penner said the students are full of enthusiasm for the Wellness Challenge, which also emphasizes healthy eating.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “They love it. They’re actually moving.”

The students have even taken to doing high-step walking in the halls to maximize their movement, she said.

Beddall said the Wellness Challenge is a full-fledged community effort. Several businesses have given their support by supplying all of the pedometers and healthy snacks the program requires, and the Greater Victoria school board has been supportive since it was all just an idea.

He said a leadership program he was taking in Vancouver through Landmark Education inspired his plan.

“It centres around building a community project that makes a difference. I wanted to set it up in a way that kids could really stay interested and get motivated about physical fitness and nutrition.”

The program comes at time when health issues and their relation to diet and exercise are very topical, Beddall said.

“Diabetes rates are flying up, and childhood obesity is tied right in with that.”

The Wellness Challenge also fits into the goals of the province’s two-year-old ActNow B.C. initiative, which promotes a range of health- and fitness-related issues, Beddall said.

He said he had a lot of help getting the program up and running, particularly from Winona Pugh, and is hoping to do more in the future.

“We’re going to look at ways next year that we can build this up and include more schools.”