From empowering women in a rural community to helping teenagers realise their dreams: the top Social Stories of the week
This week, SocialStory witnessed a slew of inspiring and uplifting stories. We also celebrated World Wildlife Day and World Hearing Day on March 3.
Dhanalakshmi — who spent her entire life in the village of Arasarkulam, Tamil Nadu — is now the driving force behind the Mahamariyamman SHG. She is managing the work of 50 women and has trained over 550 women, many of whom have started their own units and employed 20 to 30 women employees each.
Meanwhile, Perminder Singh Malik’s non-profit Scope For Change is engaging the local community members in the education and environment verticals.
Apart from this, on March 3, SocialStory also celebrated World Hearing Day and World Wildlife Day.
Here are the top Social Stories of the week:
Meet Dhanalakshmi, who is impacting thousands of women in her rural community
Dhanalakshmi has spent her entire life in Arasarkulam, Tamil Nadu. After studying till Class 12, she was married to Ashok, who ran a serial light business.
When the temple in a nearby town had a festival, Ashok got a large order that he had to fulfil in a short period of time. He finally had to ask Dhanalakshmi for help. She soon started managing the work of setting the bulbs, while Ashok started focussing on getting more orders.
Today, she is the driving force behind the Mahamariyamman Self Help Group - Serial Bulb Unit, which makes LED bulbs for hoardings and serial link lights for festivals, political campaigns, weddings, and celebrations.
She manages the work of 50 women and has trained over 550 women, many of whom have started their own units and employed 20 to 30 women employees each.
This Delhi-based non-profit focuses on two UN sustainable development goals
Perminder Singh Malik, a Delhi-based active social worker, founded Scope For Change in February last year to motivate people to be part of the change they wish to see in society.
All activities at the NGO are accomplished by engaging the local community members so that they feel empowered and uplifted.
At present, Scope For Change is working in two areas: education (United Nations Sustainable Development or UN-SDG Goal 4) and environment (UN-SDG 13).
The NGO operates in Delhi-NCR and Sector-40 of Gurugram. It is trying to implement and sustain projects in Delhi-NCR, post which it will expand for greater impact.
World Hearing Day: to communicate and be truly inclusive
For me, as an advocate for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community, and from my personal experiences as a person with hearing loss, it is an important day today: World Hearing Day with the motto for 2021 — Hearing for All.
Hearing is something that a lot of people take for granted. When I was in high school, I used to pretend to hear everything and hide my hearing aids before entering the class. I wanted to fit into a world where I would be accepted by people. Every time I try to indulge in a conversation with someone, I just go with the flow and not interrupt and do anything that calls for attention to my hearing loss.
Read on as Devanshi Chhabra talks about the important aspects of hearing care.
World Wildlife Day 2021: Indian NGOs helping preserve forests, livelihoods
Every year on March 3, World Wildlife Day is celebrated to commemorate the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) by the United Nations. The day aims to raise awareness surrounding flora and fauna.
With this year's focus on ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet,’ SocialStory listed the efforts of some Indian non-profits and NGOs that are not just conserving forests and their resources but also encouraging forest dwellers to reduce their dependency on forests by enabling them with other livelihood opportunities.
Reflective Teens helps Bangladesh teenagers express their creativity, realise their dreams
A bunch of teenagers decided to start a web magazine that would serve as a publishing platform and offer others like them more visibility. In 2013, their efforts culminated into The Reflective Teens (RT) web magazine, which was soon inundated with submissions from students, who were sending in their writing, artwork, and photography.
Students from outside Bangladesh were also engaging with the web magazine. With the increasing popularity, Yusuf — one of the team members — realised RT had become like any other mainstream magazine, which defeated the purpose he wanted to achieve.
So, he decided to diversify from publishing and designed a programme for school students called RT Talks.
Edited by Suman Singh