When Dave Kissoondoyal returned to Mauritius after working two and a half years in the United Kingdom, he realised the lag Mauritius had in terms of Information and Communications Technology. Therefore he founded the Internet Society of Mauritius (http://www.isoc-mu.org) with the objective of promoting the Internet in Mauritius. He is the President of the Society. The Internet Society of Mauritius is a chapter of the Internet Society (International), http://www.isoc.org. The Internet Society of Mauritius was nominated in the E-Achievers Award 2002 for the whole African Region.
Dave helped in drafting the Global Information Technology Readiness Report in 2001, initiative by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard University. He is also the Manager of the MSN Group for Mauritius, Manager for Google Groups for Mauritius, Manager of the Yahoo group of Mauritius as well as the Ringmaster of the Mauritius Webring.
He is also a Zealot, an especially prestigious role in building one of the most influential directories on the Web. Zealots control and shape non-commercial categories in the Zeal-LookSmart directory. Sites and categories he adds to Zeal are published throughout the LookSmart Network, which includes Microsoft's MSN, AltaVista, Prodigy, CNN.com, and hundreds of other sites.

Dave was involved in Youth club and social activities at Mare d’Albert. Was one of the founders of the Celtic Youth Club of Mare d’Albert and has been in the Executive Committee for many years. Has also been a Member of the Rural Youth Movement of Mauritius (RYMOM). Followed course on First-Aid from the St John’s Ambulance and also obtained the Bronze Award of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. He was one of the pioneers of the National Young Volunteers Scheme. In 1983, he followed a course on Club Management and Leadership from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Dave Kissoondoyal has always been engaged in social and religious activities. He is currently the Executive Member of the Rose Belle North Government School PTA. He was the Secretary of the Mare d’Albert Community Health Centre. He was also the Secretary of the Geetanjali Sangeet Sangh of Mare d’Albert. This is an association with the objective of performing religious musical items in public gatherings. He was a member of the Arya Samaj of Mare d’Albert. He is a member of the Hindu Samelan Sabha of Union Park and the Union Park Arya Sanatan Dharmic Sabha. He attaches much importance on moral and religious values. He thinks purification of the self helps oneself to combat all obstacles and helps to lead a happy life. Due to his religious convictions, he has maintained strict discipline on his character and personality. Since childhood he always fasts on the first day of the week. He consumes only sweet food and fruits on Mondays. He also fasts on any Hindu religious day like Shivaratree – including the Monthly Shivaratree, Ugadi, Cavadee, Ganesh Chaturthi and Ram and Durga Nawmi

To purify the society, he has organised Kathas for the public. As secretary, he performed the first katha for the village of Mare d’Albert between the 18th and 26th April 1987. When he moved to the village of Union Park, performed various other Kathas as Secretary of the Union Park Arya Sanatan Dharmic Sabha.

Dave Kissoondoyal has also studied Indian Philosophy, but unfortunately could not take the exams since he had to travel to the United Kingdom on his professional commitments. At some stage in time, he also started the Priest Course from the Mauritius Sanatan Dharma Temples Federation to acquire the religious knowledge. Dave is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and mentions that he will follow the same path as the Mahatma and if ever he would get a death like Mahatma, he would open heartedly accept such death.

One of the main objectives of Dave Kissoondoyal is to work for the welfare of the community especially those that are vulnerable and who need help. In this respect, much effort was concentrated for the welfare of Children. Dave held various responsible posts at the Save the Children Mauritius. His stay at Save the Children was remarkable since he was fully engaged in the activities of the Association and held important posts such as Secretary, Treasurer and President. As a volunteer, he has been continuously struggling for the betterment of the Mauritian Child. He has operated at all levels, be in the advocacy level, influencing the policies, at the grass root level with the communities, in Emergency relief, Training, national and regional levels.

He was involved in various sensitization campaigns such as “Consolidation de la famille pour la protection et bien-etre des enfants” and on “ Early Childhood Development”. He was in the organisation of the salon de l’enfance. The aim of the salon was to take stock of the services offered by the Government and NGOs towards the welfare of children and secondly to sensitize the population on Children issues. He was also involved with counselling to children in distress.

As Secretary of the Save the Children Mauritius, he organised and participated actively in street exhibitions on Children’s Rights throughout the whole island. He has been actively propagating the Rights of the Child and promoting the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. He participated in the preparation of a pamphlet “Conseil aux Parents”. He conducted a survey to collect children’s views on specific issues. He also launched the child oriented and leisure activities for Children at the Save the Children Centre at Vacoas. He organised various film shows for children in different regions.

To safeguard a better future of the children, Dave Kissoondoyal is convinced that the community must be empowered. He launched various Community Development projects with the support of the local community. Examples are Creve Coeur, Chamarel and Baie de Tombeau. In Creve Coeur, a library was set up and medical screening done.

When Dave Kissoondoyal was the Treasurer of the Save the Children Mauritius, he was engaged in the setting up of the Eglantyne Jebb Training centre for disabled children and school dropouts. He organised the forum on “Adolescent et les parents” and the workshop leading to the Casela Declaration in connection to the World Summit on Social Development. He was also engaged in the joint collaboration between Save the Children Mauritius and the Jeune Chambre Economique de Beau Bassin – Rose Hill on the organisation of the Play and Leisure Day. He also initiated the setting up of a Leisure ground for disabled children at Vacoas.

Dave played an important role in drafting the alternate report on the Convention of the Rights of the Child submitted to the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child. Having followed the training of trainers course from the International Save the Children Alliance, he conducted a training course for NGOs and Government Officials on the 2nd and 3rd April 1996. Dave Kissoondoyal attended the World Congress on the Social Commercial Exploitation of Children in Stockholm, Sweden.

Dave had set up the Rodrigues Emergency Relief Operation to bring help to the people especially children of Rodrigues. Similarly he was behind the setting up of the Madagascar Relief Operation , Rwanda Relief Operation and Hollanda Relief Operation. He had set up a training Centre for school dropouts and disabled children at Rodrigues, including a library, medical check-ups for children and nutrition course for mothers.

Dave was an Executive Committee Member of the “Amicale des Etudiants”; he was the founder member of the Celtic Club of Mare d’Albert. He was a member of the Rural Youth Member of Mauritius. Dave was the secretary of the OTS-MTS Magazine committee. Dave followed various courses to help him in his social activities. He followed the First-Aid Course from the St. John’s Ambulance and the course on Club Management and Leadership from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. He has obtained the Bronze Award of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. He has also followed training on Leadership in Voluntary Social Work of the New De-addiction Centre Mauritius. He is also trained by the International Save the Children Alliance to train trainers on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In a letter dated 18th June 1985, the Minister of Youth and Sports of that time stated –“ Dewandranath Kissoondoyal..would seem to be the ideal type of the Mauritian Youth..”

Dave Kissoondoyal personal website is at http://www.kissoondoyal.com

Countries Visited

Issues of Interest Children’s Rights Children’s Rights Culture & Identity Educational Technology Environment & Urbanization Good Governance HIV/AIDS Human Rights & Equity Independent Media & Mass Media Informal/Experiential Learning Internet Governance Learning & Education Peace Building Poverty Poverty Technology & Innovation Youth Unemployment & Entrepreneurship    Friends

Organizations Supported African Youth Foundation Childnet International Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Connectivity Africa Council of Students and Youth Movements Digital Divide Network Global Youth Action Network Greenpeace International IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development International Young Professionals Foundation (IYPF) Internet Society Chapter of Mauritius Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Ministry of Youth and Sports Mouvement Militant Mauricien Political Party in Mauritius TakingITGlobal (TIG) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) United Nations Youth Unit World Tourism Organization Young IT Network Youth at the United Nations