Stories Of Change

Silent and Selfless Green Warriors

Karaikal and Rameswaram | Puducherry and Tamil Nadu

Green Friends workload rocketed ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation. Beyond exercising regular duties like waste collection, processing and sensitizing communities on MSWM, Green Friends have been assisting in various government initiatives to tackle the pandemic. Be it collecting waste at quarantined households, spraying disinfectants across towns and cities, sensitizing communities on the pandemic and other precautionary measures undertaken by local governments, they remain committed and focused amidst all visible conundrums that get unfolded every minute.   None other than the burial of the deceased due to COVID-19 complications can highlight their clarity of work. In Karaikal and Rameswaram, Green Friends continue to assist the local government in transporting and burying of the corpses as per safety protocols, 31 cases to date, to be precise. Such selfless, brave souls need to be acknowledged and empathized, for we could not even imagine what they actually endure being the frontline warriors who protect us…

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Little Masked Heroes

Satellite Teaching Centers | Tamil Nadu

During these unprecedented times, we had our little masked heroes to the rescue. The children who are part of HiH India’s Satellite Teaching Centers (STCs) were encouraged and guided by the teachers to hand-make their own masks to ensure safety during the COVID-19 second wave. These teaching sessions were shared with the children via online platforms. The 175 children from the 28 STCs across Tamil Nadu being super enthusiastic about this new project produced 335 masks and we are still counting!   The masks made were not only distributed to their families but also to others in their respective villages. To motivate and encourage these children, we at HIH India have organized a special ‘appreciation contest’ in the coming days to award every child with a special prize for being a ‘masked’ hero!

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Steadfast and Committed Green Friends

Solid Waste Management Project | India

Amidst the surge of COVID-19 second wave and even during total lockdown, our committed Green Friends (sanitary workers) with their brave hearts continued their daily operations of door-to-door waste collection in 200,000+ households in various cities, towns and villages spanning seven states across the country. Irrespective of the pandemic scenario, abiding to all the precautionary measures with utmost dedication, around 1500 Green Friends selflessly render services under the HIH India’s Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) project.

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Lending a Helping Hand

Kancheepuram | Tamil Nadu

HIH India launched a Health Help Desk at Government Headquarters Hospital, Kancheepuram. Through the desk people can avail any assistance regarding patients, attenders, visitors, and any other general information including details on COVID-19. To date, the desk has seen to the needs and helped 23,274 visitors and patients. The aim is to ensure that the visitors to the hospital are not overwhelmed and to make them comfortable, help them in any way possible. The desk is tended to by an amazing team of social workers and frontline health workers.

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Sangita: Enabling girls to have a happy period

Sangita Chouhan | Madhya Pradesh

The pandemic lockdown led to many adolescent girls falling back on the wagon of old menstrual habits that were not hygienic. The lockdown blocked the access of store-bought sanitary napkins for these girls, as they could not step out much. This is when Sangita Chouhan, an Anganwadi worker, took matters into hand and began educating girls on DIY sanitary napkins. She taught the girls to make these napkins with clean cotton cloths and raised awareness about the importance of washing and drying them in the right way. She individually counseled 18 adolescent girls and 15 women. The MHM training provided by HIH India enabled and empowered Sangita to share her knowledge with others.

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Marvellous Masks from Tamil Nadu

Renuga Devi | Tamil Nadu

The Pandemic crisis led to a high demand for face masks. To meet this supply and demand issue to be ahead of the curve, seven beneficiaries led by Mrs. Renuga Devi started the manufacturing of face masks at their respective homes. There was a bucket full of orders from various companies in dire need of masks, and to meet this demand the team of women worked day and night to produce 15000 masks. This created a revenue of INR 30,000 with each woman earning INR 3000 to INR 4000. The skill training acquired from HIH India’s Palladam Centre turned into an income generation opportunity for these women in times when there was no job security.

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Learning through Song, Dance and Art

M Velu | Tamil Nadu

“I study in Grade 4 at the Poongavanam RSTC. I love the arts and crafts period at school. It’s so much fun to create things from paper and paint! My teachers are fun too, they sometimes dance and sing with us. Back home, it’s just my mother and myself, my father died when I was younger. Since then, the two of us were making small money through rag-picking and I had never been to school. When Hand in Hand India put me in this school, I was initially feeling home sick. But today the school is my family too! I have now realised how much fun learning is. I hope to study and take care of my mother when I grow up” Our schools follow the Activity Based Learning system that is a very interactive way of teaching. Our children learn concepts through games and colourful books. For children like Velu who have never been to school, this system has been working wonders!

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Winning an Award is Hard Work

Meera Soundarajan | Tamil Nadu

“When I received the Pratibha Award, I had tears of joy on my face. I come from the Irula community in Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu. No one in my family has ever been to school, I was the first. But I had to drop out to help my family at a brick kiln and grazing cattle. My life changed when Hand in Hand India staff spotted me and called me to study at the Hand in Hand RSTC, it was home away from home.” The Pratibha Award is given to meritorious students of Grade 10. When Meera joined our RSTC, she got back to the basics, worked her way up to Grade 8 and finally was ready to move to a full-fledged school. Our RSTC is for children like Meera who had to drop out of school due to tough circumstances. Here they are brought up to the basics and given a holistic education with physical education, discipline and everything that is needed to make them a rounded individual.

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To Sir, With Love

Bangu Girwal,12 | Madhya Pradesh

Bangu’s is a sad story. The kind we know will have a happy ending though. He is 12, lives in Mograbav in Madhya Pradesh. His father is a daily wage-earner, mother is physically challenged and elder brother is mentally challenged. With a tiny income and a big family, Bangu’s father saw a solution in sending him as a bonded labourer to a neighbouring town. For three long years, the boy grazed cattle, did household chores and more for very little food and a cold bed to sleep in. Good tidings came in the form of Hand in Hand India mobilisers who found his name on the school records, but the boy was missing. After a small struggle with his parents and employers, Bangu was enrolled in Hand in Hand India’s NRSTC. Bangu finds happiness in reading stories and learning new things. To make up for his lost years, the shy little boy tells us that he wants to become a teacher. More power to the teaching community!

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When School means fun and friends

Muskaan and Mahi | Madhya Pradesh

Muskaan and Maahi dropped out of school in Grade 3, as their parents were migrant workers. Itis common to see families live a nomadic life in rural India, migrating to nearby states in searchof daily wages. Muskaan being the eldest child, looked after her three siblings while her parentsworked. Hand in Hand India mobilisers spotted the children, counselled the parents and got theduo back into school. At the Transit school run by Hand in Hand India, for children of migrant labourers, Muskaan andMahi study with children of mixed age groups. The smiling faces of the two sisters set themapart from the other children. They have been with the school for a year now and love spendingtime with their friends when not studying. While most children want to become teachers anddoctors, Muskaan is daring and wants to become a Police officer. Mahi, however, wants tobecome a nurse. Behind their smiles, we see a silent grit that comes from hard work andambition.

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From the Streets to School

Sakthi | Tamil Nadu

Sakthi hails from the Narikura Community in Tiruvannamalai hills of Tamil Nadu. The communityis a largely discriminated one, and its children hardly get accepted in schools. Sakthi toodropped out of school and went back to his community’s ways of rag-picking. It was ahand-to-mouth existence, with five siblings in the family. The 12-year-old’s life changed when hewas identified by Hand in Hand India to continue his education. The Residential Special TrainingCentre (RSTC) gave Sakthi the advantage of a great atmosphere for learning, with teacherswho made him feel like family. The RSTCs run by us provides children an opportunity to regaintheir childhood through value-based education. This new episode of his life saw him become achanged person and also a motivator for 28 more of his community to join school.

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Empowering through Adult Literacy

Kamala | Rajasthan

Kamala is from Pali, Rajasthan and has a lot of fun learning Hindi alphabets from her teacher Pooja. Nothing special as most classes go. Just that in this case, Kamala is the 40-year-old mother and Pooja is her 20-year-old daughter! The mother belongs to Hand in Hand India’s SHG where she joined to learn how to utilise her time productively. It was a pleasant surprise to see her daughter as her teacher. Kamala quickly made up for lost time and is now able to keep up the business accounting of her family’s dairy farming with great confidence.

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Income, Independence and Innovation

Ooki Devi | Rajasthan

When Ooki Devi, 56, wanted to help her family of 6 by supplementing the family’s income, it was a resounding ‘NO’ from the family. It wasn’t smooth running with her husband and two sons having to support the family with their unstable daily wages. When Ooki joined Hand in Hand India’s SHG, it was an eye-opener to an entirely different world - where she could earn and save money for the family. With some diligent training and insights from the group, she decided to start a rope making enterprise. The raw material was waste cloth from nearby factories and a small loan from the SHG helped her kick start her business. Ooki’s enterprise soon became a family enterprise with her daughter-in-laws joining in too. She proudly shows us how her savings has helped her home get a makeover. Expansion is next on her agenda.

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Linking Potters to the Market

Ajnas Potter Community | Madhya Pradesh

In Ajnas village of Madhya Pradesh, gender equality takes on a new meaning. The women here haven’t stepped out of their homes, but run their own pottery enterprises with never-before zeal. The women potters of Ajnas follow a tradition that has withstood the test of time. However, the one thing that lay between these women and their passion for tradition was the lack of monetary support and importantly market linkages. As members of Hand in Hand India’s SHG, the women potters took up a business development training. With the help of our business loans for SHG women, they avoided the money-lending sharks and also got an uninterrupted supply of raw material. Our market linkages to Khadi Gramodyog’s pottery range of cookware and home decor was what gave these women the big boost. It was a start to something big!

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The Art of Money Management

Kala | Madhya Pradesh

40-year-old Kala is the leader of the Madhu SHG, a group formed by the women of the Kewat fishing community. This group of women are multi-talented, they take out their boats to fish as well as work in the fish-processing sector. Seasonal fluctuations in the fishing industry doesn't help the savings for these fisherwomen. Our SHGs are trained in group saving, so Kala and others use these savings to tide through the fluctuating markets. Fishing is also a highly equipment-intensive industry and this group of women need constant upgrades in fishing gear, nets and navigational equipment. This is where Hand in Hand India stepped in with a business development loan for the group. With a prayer to their river Goddess Narmada and a little credit support from us, Kala and her group are rearing to test deeper waters!

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Fifteen years of Friendship and Fraternity

Durgaiamman SHG | Tamil Nadu

In the early 2000s, a group of 15 housewives came together in the village of Thirupukuzhi in Kancheepuram to form the Durgaiamman SHG - to promote mutual support and economic empowerment among women. This group is the oldest among all our SHG’s and have grown along with us. This group started out trying to learn skills and create jobs for the women among them. As their power grew, they moved to solving issues that the community faced. The SHG has since then become a force to reckon with in many ways; starting with getting bus service to their village, renovating the Anganwadi in their village and winning the Best SHG award from the District Collector. The 15 women of the SHG have gone places too - some are businesswomen with their own enterprises, some are brave breadwinners of the family while others have found freedom in education.

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Creativity and Credit go hand in hand

Gita | Tamil Nadu

Gita and her husband Meghnad pack a long hectic day. In Keelkathirpur, rural Tamil Nadu where they live, the couple run their business of making areca nut palm cutlery. They are riding on the wave of eco-friendly cutlery that is much in demand. Two years ago, however, they were rearing livestock and just managing to make ends meet, with three young children to look after. Gita is a member of the Hand in Hand India SHG, where she was trained on running businesses. She came across the idea of making disposable cutlery and with a loan from Hand in Hand India to buy machinery, the couple was off to a start! Gita is very tech-savvy too and looks up the internet for ideas to make their business better.

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Bringing home the marketplace

In 2017, a quiet digital revolution was happening in rural and tier-2 cities of Tamil Nadu. It involved 50,000 women entrepreneurs from HiH India’s Self Help Groups who were selling diverse products. HiH India and its CSR partner were bringing together these women under a unique, revolutionary B2B mobile marketplace. Rural women who had their own products, now had a marketplace to trade them on. From selling snacks to leather goods, poultry to paddy, this app allows women-run businesses to find their customers online. The entrepreneurs were trained in using mobile devices and the internet to enable them to become tech-savvy businesswomen. Linking these women to various Government schemes was next on our task-list. Today the app is in the stages of evolving into an e-commerce platform. The women on this platform have increased their market linkages many times over and so also their income. The project has been an evolution that has changed many lives.

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One Stitch at a Time

Renuka, 37 | Tamil Nadu

A group of women are learning to stitch using sewing machines at the Hand in Hand India - NSDC training centre at Kancheepuram. Amidst all the chatter, Renuka works silently at her task. She is concentrating yes, but the silence is because Renuka is hearing and speech impaired. With no skills to her aid, she had taken to working as a house-help. Work was tough, the pay was less and her mason husband’s income was not enough for the family. The young mother of two has now become a sewing machine operator with the primary goal of getting out of housework. She now takes on small orders from companies who outsource tailoring orders. A machine and new skills saved the day for Renuka!

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Getting Out of the Ghoongat

Maya, 38 | Madhya Pradesh

Skills bring change. For Maya from Dewas in rural Madhya Pradesh, skills brought not just change, but a whole new life too. Maya was the mother of her children and a homemaker looking at life from under the ghoongat, (a traditional way the sari-end veils the face). Change arrived in the form of Hand in Hand India’s workshops for women to make handcrafted bags. Here, our skill training extended beyond just imparting skill, we also encouraged gender-equality workshops to help lift the veil. Maya’s new identity is that of a woman entrepreneur and also a mentor to many women like her. She smiles broadly for a photograph, but not from under her ghoongat.

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At Home with Entrepreneurship

Jyoti Bai, 39 | Madhya Pradesh

“I joined Hand in Hand India’s Integrated Gender-Energy and Enterprise programme in 2013. I was part of a group of 20,000 women entrepreneurs, we were trained in the repair and manufacture of CFL bulbs. I am also proud to have been the select few who got trained as Business Development Service providers to mentor other women entrepreneurs. It’s a huge achievement for me to be at home and earn money!” From CFL technology, Jyothi has also moved to learn LED bulb making. Today Jyothi earns anywhere between INR 15,000 to INR 20,000 from the comfort of her home.

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Setting Up Life Skills

Shubam Maheshwari, 22 | Madhya Pradesh

Subham Mobile Gallery in Dewas is one of a kind. Locals head there when they need their mobile repaired, or for their stationery items and photocopy needs. But they also head there for friendly banter with the young man who owns the shop - Shubam Maheshwari. The smiling Shubam has only completed his 10th Grade but is a successful entrepreneur. From Hand in Hand India’s entrepreneur development workshop, Subham learned not just mobile repair skills, but how to set up a connected enterprise that would make a rounded business offering. This training has given him a direction that he never had. It would seem skills and success are very much related!

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Making Health and Hygiene a Way of Life

Durgabai | Madhya Pradesh

Among the Bheel community of Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, soaps and sanitary napkins were unheard of some years ago. 40-year-old Durgabai from this community didn’t know that washing hands with ash and soil wasn’t very hygienic. When she became part of the Hand in Hand India Self Help Group, she was encouraged not just to become financially savvy, but also given a training in personal hygiene, menstrual health, nutrition, anaemia and more. It is the women of the family who change the way of life, so did Durgabai. With this education behind her, the family and then the community saw instances of stomach ailments decrease. Taking baths, cutting nails, using clean water, sanitary napkins during menstruation - all this has now become a way of life in Durgabai’s village. They also started the toilet revolution in their village by being one of the first to build one in their home!

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Breaking Barriers with the Menstrual Cup

Usha Nandini | Tamil Nadu

“I am a social mobiliser with Hand in Hand India. My job involves being on the field every day and training women about Menstrual Hygiene. However, I have a tough time when I am on my periods as I can’t always find a place to change napkins. When Hand in Hand India started promoting the use of menstrual cups, I was the happiest and the first to try it out! It’s also easier to talk about this new concept as I have first-hand experience. I feel more confident to head out now even during my periods.”

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Medical Camps to the Rescue

Devaraj | Tamil Nadu

For a fisherman, even a day away from the sea is a loss of daily wages. A year ago, when fisherman Devaraj met with an accident and his left leg was injured. For four months, his family - wife and two young sons - led a frugal life. Devaraj didn’t go to a doctor because of two reasons - access to a doctor was tough and he was scared of the costs of treatment. When the Hand in Hand medical camp came to his locality, Devaraj was relieved to know that it was a treatable injury. He was directed to the Government hospital where he got it operated on at minimal cost. Devaraj is back at sea and is happy for it!

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Solutions for Health and Happiness

Poorvika | Tamil Nadu

Like all little girls, Poorvika too liked to dress up in her best frocks. When she looked into the mirror though, her face fell and the bright smile vanished. Poorvika’s drooping eye was the bane of her life. It was something everyone commented on and led her to feel ostracised in school. She carried on at school as her mother had told her it was not curable. That was until her mother took her to the Hand in Hand India Medical Camp. Poorvika says that this was the happiest day of her life, when the doctor told her that her droopy eye can be cured! Along with medications, the doctor taught her eye-exercises and also gave her special glasses. Today, Poorvika can read with both eyes and is not embarrassed to look into the mirror. She is on her way to becoming a normal little girl!

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Water projects: Helping agriculture

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu

The Sokkan Odai canal in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu is a 4km stretch that irrigates 6 villages and supports more than 200 farmers. Traditionally, this canal was the lifeline of the region nearly two decades ago, when a 3-crop pattern was the norm. Due to climate change, the canal was blocked with heavy silting, leading to a water shortage. One crop farming didn’t seem attractive and farmers saw their next generation moving away. This was before we took up the Sokkan Odai desilting project with our CSR partner - nearly 19000 cu.m of silt was taken out, water storage ponds were made and soil erosion binders were in place. The result; a two-crop farming culture has been revived and reverse migration is also seen.

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Reviving Retro crops

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu

In Manakuppam village, paddy farming is seeing a revival like never before. Traditionally, these areas of the Cuddalore district were known to be paddy cultivation belts. However, with declining soil quality and bad weather conditions, most paddy farmers such as Dakshinamurthy switched to dairy farming to supplement their income. Our efforts to promote traditional paddy varieties worked - Dakshinamurthy has successfully cultivated five acres of Seeraga Samba variety in severe drought conditions too!

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Bringing back multi-cropping

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Madurai is the heartland of the fragrant jasmine flower. But a forgotten fact is also that Madurai was known for paddy cultivation. Pommampatti is a village in Madurai that had been having three crops of paddy and jasmine in the early ‘90s. With climate change came water shortage and the death of paddy cropping. The only crop that survived was the jasmine, that too with water that had to be bought. With CSR partnership, we rejuvenated Pommampatti’s groundwater, with the help of soil water conservation methods. Today the village does not purchase water and paddy is back in a small, but sure manner!

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The Business of Bees

Sirunagar, Tamil Nadu

Farmer Raghupathy’s connect with Hand in Hand India goes four years back when he became one of the first converts to organic farming. He attended our organic farming training and now has a thriving 15-acre land that grows paddy and watermelons. But what he would never have thought of was becoming a bee-keeper. We helped him set up a small part of his farm with bee-boxes. His additional income of INR 10,000 per month from the honey sale is indeed a sweet profit! Raghupathy has also become our trainer for the community of farmers who want to take up bee-keeping. It’s a win-win! We’ve formed 380 such green livelihood enterprises for farmers around Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh

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When Watershed Management gives Farmers a Home

Nammiyampettu, Tamil Nadu

In Nammiyampettu, the hilly regions of Vellore district, live a little over 23 farming families. These areas are known for scanty rains and a rocky terrain that doesn’t retain water. The only crops that would grow here are millets that provide just enough for the families to get by on. With such a formidable environment as home ground, these families turned nomadic migrant labourers. The Nammiyampettu community heaved a sigh of relief, when Hand in Hand India along with partner organisations, brought in watershed measures. With check dams and storage bunds, harvesting rainwater for the year became easier, multi-cropping of more profitable crops came in. Nammiyampattu became home again to these farmers who gave up their nomadic ways!

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Reviving Agriculture

Farmers are our friends. As part of our Natural Resource Management intervention, we train farmers on effective water and soil management and best practices in organic farming. But we don’t stop just there. We help them market their produce too! We have established a Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) called Indian Natural Farmer Producers Company Ltd. (INFPCL). The idea behind this FPO is to streamline farming techniques and enhance the income of farmers in rural Tamil Nadu. The produce that is generated by these farmers is diverse - rice, pulses, vegetables, honey, dairy products and more. What’s in it for the farmers? Plenty. The farmers get annual dividend on profit generated by INFPCL, saving on transportation cost, elimination of middlemen, training in new technology and conserving traditional crop varieties. Most importantly, they get direct producer-to-consumer linkage along with access to larger markets and higher price realisation.

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Being Responsible Trash-generators

Mukesh, 33 | Tamil Nadu

Every morning at Mamallapuram beach, a group of surfers get busy picking trash from the coastline with Mukesh or Mumu, our volunteer friend. An avid surfer and winner of several surf challenges, Mumu loves Mamallapuram. He grew up in the fishermen's community, the reason why he teamed up with our Green Friends. Mumu’s beach clean team & our Green Friends collect 5 kg of garbage every day! Today, there is a huge behavioural change amongst the fishing community, “Since I belong to the community, I have been able to convince people to segregate and throw garbage into the bins only. People need to understand that what you give to the ocean is what you get back”. Mumu also runs an exchange programme for 7 days where the surfing equipment is free for each day if they help to pick up the plastic and clean the beach. At his cafe, one gets a cup of tea on the house if they help in the beach cleanups! Upcycling is a way of life for Mumu, his cafe and store are filled with upcycled bamboo, wood and glass. Plastic is never in the picture!

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Not just a Job, it’s my Passion

Mariappan, 52 | Tamil Nadu

“My day begins at 6 a.m, when I start my rounds for door-to-door collection of segregated waste in Mamallapuram town. I have been working here for eight years and have learnt the importance of waste segregation. I take my work very seriously; if a household or even commercial space has not segregated waste, I refuse to collect it from them. My job is also to make people understand where their garbage goes and what happens to it. In fact, my family does it too! I am happy I have a stable job and one where I keep my town clean!”

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Working with Grace and Dignity

Amutha, 46 | Tamil Nadu

I have been with Hand in Hand India for 9 years now and this is my first job. Working with waste was not so easy and was looked down upon. Explaining what I do to my family and friends was even tougher. But I today I tell the 8 other people who work with me - ‘Do what work you do with grace and dignity’. I am proud that I contribute in my own way to society, and keep my home fires burning. My two sons have studied engineering and have just started work at private firms. My work has taken my family a long way, and I am grateful!

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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Creating an energy efficient village

Bharuch

The electricity bills of households in Akhod panchayat in Bharuch, are very minimal. Thanks to the LED bulbs that have been distributed by us and our partner organisations to nearly 200 households here. It doesn’t stop there, the streets of the village are lit by solar lamps. Smoky kitchens are a thing of the past in Akhod - around 50 households have converted to smokeless chulhas that we have distributed. We look forward to replicating more energy efficient villages such as Akhod!

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Innovation and Education

Bharuch

At the Akhod Government Middle School in Bharuch, Gujarat, children love playing on what we call the ‘Joyous see-saw’. What’s new? As they play, water is pumped through a tank and into a drip irrigation system for neighbouring fields! With our CSR partners, we have also created quality education infrastructure such as the park, Reverse Osmosis plant, renovated toilets and a sanitary napkin incinerator. We’ve also introduced the STEM education system here, where children get exposed to advanced learning such as robotics.

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A Vending Machine that works in the Reverse

Ahmedabad

What happens to the millions of PET water bottles after you use them? At the Sabarmati Riverpark in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, we have created a solution. Our reverse vending machine helps recycle the plastic in a more effective manner! More than 2500 plastic bottles are dropped into this every month, the crushed plastic is then sent to recyclers. Visitors to the park are encouraged to drop their bottles here, in return for a discount coupon for the park facilities.

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When Advocacy goes Creative

Ahmedabad

Thousand households are covered by our BCC campaign in Ahmedabad. Advocacy happens through street plays, posters, door-to-door talks and small events that promote segregation, importance of waste management and more. A typical street play in rural areas sees an enthusiastic crowd that is eager to hear a story. We bring in youngsters who enact the story of a dirty street. While the street is proud to have shops, houses, et al, it is also pointed out that the street remains dirty with garbage. The point we drive home is that waste management starts at home through segregation. Claps abound and the message is driven home with smiles.

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A changed Gujarat

Village Upliftment Program

Our Gujarat Village Uplift project work in parts of Ahmedabad and Bharuch districts with support from CSR partners. In Moraiya and Sari villages of rural Ahmedabad, women empowerment is our first step, with SHG formation and skill training. We took up Behavioural Change Communication(BCC) for waste management in two areas of Ahmedabad city. In Akhod panchayat it is innovative education and energy efficiency that takes priority.

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