Living a Dream
Posted on Friday, September 30th, 2016 at 2:56 pm.
By Binish Desai, Secondary School Student from India
Blog originally published on Rotary Voices
Binish Desai and the brick his company makes from industrial waste.
India is my Nation
Valsad is my Station
Helping is my Aim
Binish is my Name
I’ll never forget the introduction I used as an exchange student.
This year, I had the outstanding opportunity of not only meeting other youth exchange students from around the world but also being recognized as an outstanding alumnus by my local Rotary. Rotary is an international service organization that brings together business and professional leaders, including through exchange programs. My J-1 youth exchange took place in 2009-10, and yet my Rotary experience feels like it’s just beginning.
During my exchange to Waukegan, Illinois, I searched for opportunities to be a part of the community and help out. For this I took up a challenge called the Polar Bear Plunge, which involved jumping into a frozen Lake Michigan in the heart of winter! I collected the most money any individual had ever collected for the event to support Special Olympics. In recognition of my community service, the town of Waukegan gave me their ambassador pin, and my host school district awarded me with a Superintendent’s Leadership Award. I was most honored to be named a Paul Harris Fellow by my host club.
Binish Desai takes part in the Polar Bear Plunge.
But it’s not the recognition that drives me. You could say I’ve been serving my community since I was young. At the age of 11, I had an urge to invent things that would help society. I created a brick made out of paper waste and chewing gum that is one of eight patents I own.
Just a few years after my exchange year, I started my own company to provide low cost eco-friendly building materials, and today I am chairman of the BDream Group of Industries. We take industrial waste and process it with a specially formulated base, then form it into bricks that are dried using solar power.
The toilets are stronger, cheaper, and more durable than conventional ones.
My inventions help recycle a large amount of industrial waste every day and provide low cost houses and toilets to rural India. We also provide subsidized toilets to local Rotary projects. Giving back in this way is important to me.
I joined the Rotary Club of Bulsar in 2015 because I believe in what Rotary does. I was honored to be nominated by my district and selected as one of the zone winners of the Rotary Alumni Global Service Award. Being one of the youngest youth exchange students to be nominated for this award humbles me, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Categories: Program Spotlight
| About Rebecca Pasini Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchange | |
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Rebecca A. Pasini joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchanges in July 2023. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister - Counselor, Ms. Pasini has been an American diplomat since 1997.
Ms. Pasini previously served as the Director of Public and Congressional Affairs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs from 2021-2023. Other Washington assignments have included positions in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Office of Foreign Missions, and as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security. She has also completed multiple overseas tours, including as Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Islamabad, Pakistan, and as the Consular Chief in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Other tours included Mexico City and Kuwait.
A Maryland native, Ms. Pasini has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, a master’s degree in National Security and Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School, National Defense University, and an undergraduate degree from Mary Washington College.
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