At Atlas Network's Liberty Forum earlier this month, Sixit Bhatta, whose company Tootle is the focus of our newest video in the Poverty & Freedom series, caught the audience's attention with his comments about the differences between development and progress.
"...when you see downtown Manhattan—big buildings, wider roads, bigger cars—that is development. But only when women are allowed to drive; that is progress. You have many satellite channels hearing news and everything. Millions of places would have that. But that is development. But when you have freedom of expression—that is progress."
Several years ago, the Kathmandu-based Samriddhi Foundation challenged Nepal's Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act, which currently does not recognize rideshare businesses. Samriddhi, one of Atlas Network's partners in Nepal, has been working to change this, and they got to know Sixit because, as Deependra points out, "Kathmandu is a very small place,"—or at least as small as a city of three million can be!
My Atlas Network colleague Tarun Vats was in Kathmandu to meet the team at Samriddhi, and he writes of his experience riding on the back of a motorbike!
If you weren't at Liberty Forum, you can still check out the fascinating panel on Poverty & Freedom, led by Atlas Network president Matt Warner and featuring Sixit, Deependra Chaulagain of Samriddhi Foundation, other partners who have appeared in the Poverty & Freedom series, and filmmaker Charlie Fritschner, whose talent and creativity has shaped these outstanding short films. Think of it as an hour of bonus content!
With the release of Poverty & Freedomand Matt Warner's presence in both the media and at major international development conferences like Devex, we're reaching an influential audience with the message that economic opportunity should be led by local think tanks—like Samriddhi—that understand local needs and are invested in lasting change.
I hope you enjoy the video! Sixit's entrepreneurial vision and the impact it's having on people like Tootle driver Bhim Maya remind me of the limitless potential of the human spirit when it is unleashed to discover, forge, and soar.
Thanks again for your support of Atlas Network!
Cheers,
Melissa Melissa Mann
Vice President of Communications
Atlas Network
Melissa Mann