From the man behind the Chennai NGO sheltering children with HIV to the social entrepreneur revolutionising the inland fisheries industry — the top social stories this week
While Solomon Raj is providing a home to 47 children infected with HIV through NGO Shelter Trust in Chennai, social entrepreneur Neelkanth Mishra from Jamshedpur is turning around the Indian inland fisheries industry for farmers’ benefit.
Most of the time, all it takes to make an impact in the lives of others is to take the first step. While this is easier said than done, the differentiating quality of a changemaker is their ability to positively engage their energy and time not on what is, but what can be. In this process of lifting themselves up to their greater potential, they lift others up too.
A great example of a changemaker, 52-year old Solomon Raj has turned around the lives of 47 children with HIV Aids for the better by taking them in and creating a home for them through his NGO, Shelter Trust.
Apart from this, through his initiative ‘The Home Care Support Project’, Solomon is providing free nutritional kits to 60 children infected with HIV, delivered directly to their doorsteps, so that they get their nutritional quota for the day.
Neelkanth Mishra, on the other hand, is revolutionising the inland fisheries sector through his establishment ‘Centre for Aquatic Livelihood – Jaljeevika. He is also uplifting women self-help groups in the process.
This week, SocialStory took a good look at the stories of individuals who are tirelessly working for a better environment or are helping humanity in their own unique way, and inspiring others in the process.
Meet the social entrepreneur who is revolutionising the Indian inland fisheries industry
For Neelkanth Mishra, inland fisheries always seemed like a viable means of creating livelihood for the 273 million small and landless farmers in India. Born and raised in the industrial town of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Neelkanth self-identified as a changemaker from very early on in his life.
After participating in the Right to Food Movement in 2001, Neelkanth went on join Oxfam, where he saw the untapped potential of the inland fisheries sector as well as the struggles that the associated communities were facing.
“I realised that there were so many waterbodies all over the country, but that very few organisations were working on or even looking at fisheries as a livelihood option. People were working on agriculture and livestock, but not this,” says the social entrepreneur.
Neelkanth established ‘Centre for Aquatic Livelihood – Jaljeevika’ with the vision of legitimising the sector
and transforming it into one where farmers could access the resources and support they needed for a sustainable livelihood. At the core of this vision is the insight that access to shared aquatic resources needs to be placed in the hands of farming communities including cooperatives and women self-help groups (SHGs).
Meet the man behind the Chennai NGO that shelters children with HIV and helps them lead normal lives
After they got married in 1992, Solomon Raj and his wife, Felvia Shanthi, remained childless for eight years. The couple then thought of adopting a child, one who needed love and support the most.
Somehow, the process of adopting a child didn’t work out, and the couple dropped the idea. To their delight, they soon had a biological child in 2000, but the thought of adopting a child remained at the back of Solomon’s mind.
Then, through an NGO, he met Arputharaj, a child with HIV whose parents had succumbed to AIDS and was therefore without a home. He decided to take him under his wing and formally adopt him. A little while later, he adopted a girl with HIV. Soon, word spread that Solomon was adopting children who were HIV positive. When another person approached him to take in two more HIV+ children, Solomon decided to start a shelter for these children.
The 52-year-old is now considered the ‘Appa’ of 47 children with HIV in Chennai, as he has given them a home in the form of his NGO, ‘Shelter Trust’.
This beach in Kerala gets world’s first Marine Cemetery made entirely out of single-use plastic bottles
Beypore beach in Kozhikode, Kerala, saw the launch of the world’s first Marine Cemetery built out of single-use plastic bottles by Jellyfish Watersports. The project was conducted with the support of Clean Beach Mission, District Administration, Kozhikode, and Beypore Port department, and driven by climate activist Aakash Ranison.
The Marine Cemetery aims to spread awareness about the devastating effects of single-use plastic, urban and industrial pollution, and over-fishing.
S Sambasiva Rao, District Collector, Kozhikode, said,
“The Marine Cemetery is a reminder of the destruction we are bringing upon the planet in the name of convenience. So, we are supporting and promoting this initiative as part of the Clean Beach Mission to spread awareness, as it not only educates locals and the world about the effects of single-use plastic, but will also help Kozhikode become a sustainable travel destination.”
The Cemetery pays homage to eight critically endangered marine species as well as a freshwater fish, Miss Kerala (Sahyadria denisonii), which is endemic to the fast-flowing hill streams and rivers of the Western Ghats (including Chaliyar river).
How SATO is tackling the open-defecation problem in rural India with low-cost toilets
Open defecation has been a major problem in India for many years now. According to the 2011 Census, only 32 percent of rural households in India had toilets.
SATO's eco-friendly and low-cost toilets are helping with making India's Swacch Bharat Mission a reality.
The 'green toilets' have been installed across many Indian states and are a sustainable solution to India’s sanitation problem.
SATO, which is part of the LIXIL Corporation (a global leader in housing and building materials), is into manufacturing eco-friendly and low-cost toilets. Its toilets use less water and don't cost more than Rs 700 per unit.
Today, nearly three million units of SATO toilets have been shipped to over 27 countries, improving sanitation facilities for 15 million people.
The team at SATO is already at work to expand its network in India by providing affordable and low-cost toilets. Apart from villages and schools, SATO is also installing toilets in colleges where they are much needed.
Climate talks: Environment Minister Javadekar says India will work to protect its long-term development interests
Before leaving for the UN-hosted climate negotiations, the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25), in Madrid, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar enumerated India's efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and said the country “is leading from the front in climate action”.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to propose Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure,” he said, adding, “India's ambitious renewable energy programme of 450 GW has attracted world attention as it is the largest renewable programme in the world.”
Javadekar said India had reduced its emission intensity by 22 percent since 2005 and was one of the few countries that has increased tree cover in and outside forests.
On November 27, the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi, approved India's negotiating stand at the COP25 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Spanish capital.
(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)