From scaling the world’s highest peak to dealing with coronavirus crisis - top social stories of the week
This week wraps up an amalgam of individual achievements and community efforts, especially in times of coronavirus pandemic.
This week, SocialStory saw the efforts of three women achievers in different fields who made a difference to the lives of people from rural regions of the country.
While Kamal has achieved the feat of scaling the world’s highest mountains, Richa Prashant has impacted the lives of many underprivileged through education, and Mahita Nagraj provided aid to the elderly during the ‘Janata Curfew’.
Here are some of the top social stories of the week:
Meet the woman who surmounted many challenges to scale the world’s highest mountains
31-year-old Kamal Kaur.
Fondly called ‘The Kam Lady’, Kamal, 36, was born and raised in the West Midlands in England. When she was 15, she lost her mother. However, despite the tragedy, Kamal emerged stronger.
Kamal began her career by pursuing fashion designing at Leicester College. Ever curious, she wanted to try her hand at different things, from a sales assistant to bartending.
However, she found her calling in scaling mountains and as of today, Kamal has raised over £10,000 for social causes through expeditions. In the last ten years, she has scaled some of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro.
This NGO has changed the lives of 10,000 underprivileged women and children
Richa Prashant of Sunaayy Foundation
According to All India Education Survey, less than half of India’s children between the age of six and 14 go to school. India’s literacy rate is currently 69.3 percent, and according to the 2011 Census, India’s eastern region has the lowest literacy rate of 59.6 percent.
These hard realities and skewed figures drove Richa Prashant to do something to change the scenario. Educated in an English-medium convent school, married to the man of her dreams, and having faced no real issues, Richa considers herself a privileged Indian woman. It was to help others who were not so lucky that she founded the Delhi-based NGO Sunaayy Foundation in 2009.
Richa, through Sunaayy Foundation, has been educating underprivileged children and providing job opportunities and skill-building courses for women to help them build their communities.
Sunaayy Foundation has made a difference to the lives of over 10,000 underprivileged women and children since the past 11 years.
This woman is helping people unable to venture out during lockdown
Mahita Nagaraj, Creator, Caremongers India. (Image: The Better India)
With social distancing becoming the need of the hour, the Central and state governments have asked people not to come out of their homes in order to curb the spread of coronavirus. However, many, including the elderly, are finding it difficult to take care of themselves during the lockdown.
To address the issue, 38-year-old Mahita Nagaraj started Caremonger India in Bengaluru. As part of her initiative, Mahita delivers daily necessities at the homes of the elderly, or those who have special needs and are not in a position to venture out by themselves.
Along with the help of other young volunteers, medicines and other essentials are collected and delivered at the doorsteps of the needy. Caremonger India was started when most services were shut as a result of the nationwide ‘Janata Curfew’ imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22, 2020.
Manipur University’s chemistry department makes 500 bottles of hand sanitiser for its community
(Image: E-Pao)
The chemistry department of Manipur University, Imphal, took an initiative to meet the demand of its varsity community and made and distributed 500 bottles of ethyl alcohol-based sanitisers.
On March 19, during the first phase of the distribution of these sanitisers, 200 empty plastic bottles were acquired from a local company to aid the department in the production. Moreover, an additional 300 bottles were made on March 21 and distributed to the community when they approached the university.
Senior citizens face a high coronavirus risk. Here’s what you can do
According to the biggest case study on coronavirus by JAMA, the worst affected are senior citizens. Countries such as China, Iran, and Italy showed that people in this category are twice as likely to contract the virus. This is largely due to weaker immune systems, which makes it harder for their bodies to fight the infection.
While global authorities have repeatedly stressed on the need to take precautions and stay at home, it is imperative for the elder generation to be extra cautious due to their susceptibility in contracting coronavirus.
(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)
