Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community

Jhamtse Gatsal tells its children who are mostly abandoned or orphans from very poor families that ”You Matter” and assures them a shelter and a home on which they can fall back at any point in life. 

Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community is more than a school, it is a concept where education goes beyond academic curriculum to practicing principles of love and compassion, to create thinkers and doers. After travelling for almost three days from Guwahati in Assam and through incredibly bumpy roads, it seems that one has entered a world of magic as one experiences life in this community school located in a remote area called Lumla of Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh.

In 2000, Lobsang Phuntsok, the founder of the organization, participated in the UN Peace Conference at New York, after which he started teaching Buddhism and universal principles of love, compassion, wisdom and peace in the United States and Canada. The Community came into existence as a model to showcase these principles in action in a geographical area where development was a remote possibility in the near future.

The school looks at all round development of the children. One can witness a growing model community and school here, which nurtures academic excellence, kind heart and healthy body. It seeks to provide experiential education, build vocational skills and much more. It aims to revive the organic agriculture of the region, the Lion Dance and the Tanka painting through its community school.   

Gatsal has brought about radical changes in the quality of life of 82 children, of whom 9 are orphans and 3 were abandoned. It has successfully provided safe homes to all of them who are being brought up by their housemothers. It provides quality education and health care free of cost. There are on campus medical and dental care facilities for community and local people. It promotes good health care and hygiene practices. It has put in place a recycling and waste management system. It is tapping wind and solar energy. Its health center, family houses, classrooms, office and dining area have solar back up.  The school is reviving organic farming practices in the area. There exists campus wide wireless connectivity, the teachers have laptops, e-learning is encouraged and children get cured through telemedicine facilities. All these are distant dreams for a community that has to travel 14 hours to get an X-Ray done and remains cut off from the world for at least 4 months in a year.  

Thus this school lives up to its names which in Tibetan means Jhamtse - 'love and compassion', and Gatsal - ‘garden'; a garden of love and compassion. 

to know more contact - LobsangPhuntsok (Founder and Director), JhamtseGatsal Children’s Community P.O. Lumla, District Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh 790106

writetolobsang@gmail.com

Conserve India

Reuse-Reduce-Recycle – the three “R’s” the mantra for environment conservation. All of us have heard of it but only few start initiatives that put words into action.

Anita and Shalabh Ahuja founded Conserve India as an NGO to recycle the waste in their neighbourhood that wasn't being managed by local authorities. They quickly realised that plastic bags pose the biggest problem in Delhi, not only because there are so many of them but also because they could not be recycled locally. After much experimentation the team at Conserve India realised that the solution lays in upcycling the bags into sheets of plastic that could be reinvented as fashion accessories. They named this material Handmade Recycled Plastic. Conserve converts the ‘nuisance’ called plastic into coveted handbags, shoes and accessories.

Handmade Recycled Plastic :

Over 300 crafts persons and rag pickers are employed with Conserve in Delhi and Haryana.

Conserve upcycles approximately 1.5 to 2 tons of waste into 5000 HRP sheets every month.  It has not only brought dignity to the rag pickers but pays them thrice as much they would be paid outside. These workers of Conserve also undergo medical screenings to help them diagnose health problems on time and send their young children to the Conserve School. It has trained more than 1200 people making of handbags and footwear.

Conserve works with different kinds of materials like plastic, rubber tubes, denim, seat belts, and old fabrics. Conserve products are sold across various international stores across the globe.

Some people behind Conserve India:

Santosh Kumar started collecting plastic bags for Conserve because he can earn three times as much selling his bags to be made into Handmade Recycled Plastic instead of selling the rubbish he collects elsewhere. Bharti has been working for Conserve from the start and has done many jobs.  Today she works in one of the most important departments of the whole organisation; quality control and packing. Alka and Aditi meet buyers and collaborate with designers, as well as maintain relationships with long standing clients, and establish new contacts with potential customers. 

To know more visit www.conserveindia.org

Nuru Energy: revolutionizing energy production

Nuru Energy has revolutionized efficient and economical means of energy production. Thus far Nuru Energy has attained the funds to invent two new pieces of technology. 

The first and more famous is the NuruPOWERCycle. The power cycle generates up to 20 minutes worth of light with the requirement of 60 rotations of human pedaling. It is more efficient than solar panels by more than 100 percent. Since the POWERCycle is not affected by the weather, it can be recharged and stored anytime, anywhere. 

The second invention by NuruEnergy is the ultra-portable and rechargeable LED task light. This creation rules out one very specific product: the kerosene lamp. The kerosene lamp is popular in rural India however is also popular for creating poor health and a bad atmosphere. Nuru energy has therefore created an alternative for a major segment of India’s population, as well as in an affordable manner.

In energy entrepreneur lingo there is such a thing called “energy poverty.” Energy poverty is the absence of energy, and it exists among 2 billion people in the world. Despite the global war against pollution and CO2, the developing world is lucky to have light at the flick of a switch. Especially when compared to more societies in the developing world that have even in the year 2013 lived in off-grid areas with no energy. Lack of light means lack of opportunity, prosperity and higher responsibilities like governance. Nuru Energy not only finds solutions to reduce India’s degree of poverty but also does so in a nature-appreciating fashion.

  

Since inception, Nuru Energy has seen kerosene usage reduce by 35-40% per month. India’s rural has seen village entrepreneurs increase their income by 60% due to their decision to operate on Nuru technology. Thus far in its lifespan, Nuru energy has manufactured 10000 Nuru lights and have positively impacted the lives of consumers in 30 villages. The company has more innovative products to come and is seeking to increase tie-ups with non-profits, and corporations to reach out to more consumers.

“We have 2 lights at home. My mother previously had to use a kerosene lamp to cook and the smoke had given her a bad cough. She now uses the Nuru Light and her cough has improved” – A Nuru Customer.

Name: RamanaBhatra
Location:Hathikhamba Village, Rayagada District, Odisha
Age: 13
Family: Mother, Father, 1 Brother and 1 Sister
Nuru customer since: September, 2011
Services used: Light charging
Closest entrepreneur:Ranjan Lima
Use (hours per night): 4
Previous spending on kerosene (per month): $2
Savings (per month): $0.80
Biggest impact: “I now have a light to study with!”

To know more visit http://nuruenergy.com/

Iliana Foutsitzis is a recent graduate of Northeastern University's Political Science curriculum. Before embarking on a law degree Iliana is spending a gap year in New Delhi, India interning with the Niiti Consulting team.

Salaam Baalak Trust for India's street children

Salaam Baalak Trust works with India’s street children to give them shelter, education, guidance and the right opportunities that will hopefully, lead them out of Delhi’s forgotten shadows into adulthood. Salaam Baalak Trust came into being in 1988, shortly after a Bollywood film “Salaam Bombay” gripped the nation. “Salaam Bombay” tells the story of India’s street children and the standards within which they live due to the confines of India’s child laboring. The founders, Praveen Nair and Sanjoy Roy decided to create this organization with the film as its namesake.

Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) offers education, shelter, medical services, vocational training and employment education to ages between 5 and 18.  SBT primarily seeks to mainstream this undervalued group in society to become aware of their value and capabilities. The results speak for themselves. SBT’s website is abound with heart-warming stories of children who ran away from home, came to Delhi on the train, and tried to make a better life. Salaam Baalak Trust offers the support and ideational foundation for these children to find companionship in education, as well as freedom in the possibilities that education offers.  In the past 24 years SBT has helped a total of 4,527 children off the streets of Delhi. Yet they are still learning, adapting and having to overcome difficulties in the business.

SBT is challenged by the mobile nature of the target group. Providing these children with long-term assistance is restricted by the time-lengths that these children do and can stay in a particular place. SBT seeks to improve awareness about the program and attract more stakeholders that can improve its childcare services. Salaam Baalak Trust works towards better quality before quantity, which so naturally grows given the huge number of children of the kind. The organization intends to grow in order to expand vocational training programs. Aside from counseling, and creation of job opportunities, SBT relies on volunteers who mostly arrive from the UK to mentor and provide these children with more open-minded hope towards the future and what they are truly capable of achieving.

For more information about SBT, contact Ms. Praveen Nair, Chairperson Add- 2^nd Floor, DDA Community Center, Chandiwali Gali, Paharganj, New Delhi-55, Mob- 9818257109, E-mail-pnair1931@gmail.com.