From the man who rescued 70,000 animals to the NGO uplifting Adivasi farmers, the top social stories of the week

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” – Scott Adams

This quote perfectly exemplifies the stories we covered this week.

From Pradeep Nair who rescued more than 70,000 animals, a brain dead woman saving the lives of five people to a coffee project in Andhra Pradesh that changed the lives of Adivasi farmers — each story is a tale of kindness, compassion, and humanity.

Here are the top Social Stories of the week:

Meet the 35-year-old who has rescued over 70,000 animals

Pradeep Nair’s love for animals knows no bounds. The 35-year-old web developer by night and an animal rescuer by day has been helping animals since he was 11 years old. 

Born in the small town of Sathupally in Khammam district of Telangana, Pradeep’s tryst with animals began when he released his pet parrot and discovered a deeper sense of joy. Since then, there has been no looking back. 

From volunteering with the Blue Cross, a UK-based animal welfare organisation, laying the foundation for an NGO on his own, to rescuing and treating more than 70,000 animals, Pradeep has done it all. 

Brain dead woman saves five lives in Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai

According to a study, the average organ donation rate in India is 0.36 per million. While there is no database on the refusal rate in the country, the study suggested that the biggest challenge was training people on how to deal with brain death.

In a rare ray of hope, a 39-year-old woman (name not revealed), who was declared brain dead, saved the lives of five other individuals through organ donation in Pune. Her heart, cornea, lungs, kidneys, and liver were retrieved and sent to different hospitals across the city, and private hospitals in Chennai and Hyderabad.

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These Tamil Nadu women used their sarees to rescue youngsters from drowning

Gurugram-based Samarth is helping the elderly lead an independent life

While many retired urban senior citizens wish to live by themselves, their children are often unwilling to let them do so either due to their old-age limitations or the lack of adequate care.

But Gurugram-based Samarth has found a way to enable senior citizens to live an independent and social life. Launched in 2016 by Asheesh Gupta, Gaurav Agarwal, Anuradha Das Mathur, and Sanjay Ahuja, Samarth aims to help India’s elderly live on their terms while putting their children’s worries at ease.

The startup provides professional assistance and support to the elderly to help them live independently. In times of the pandemic, the startup’s pre-planned execution helped its members with the requirements, despite the lockdown.

A coffee project in Andhra Pradesh is changing the lives of Adivasi farmers

Founded in 1998 by Manoj Kumar, who quit his career in banking to enter the social sector, Naandi Foundation is enabling farmers in Araku Valley climb out of poverty by providing end-to-end support – right from the seed to the cup.

Whether it is preparing soil, sowing seeds, watering them, harvesting, processing the beans, or marketing the final output, the organisation provides expertise, as well as the right resources.

The NGO started by implementing projects to address specific issues like malnourishment among children and high dropout rates of girls from schools. But later, it went on to work towards enhancing the livelihood of thousands of Adivasis through sustainable, community-centric coffee cultivation and production model, which eventually came to be known as Arakunomics.

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Pandemic Heroes: Bengaluru teenagers distribute sanitary napkins to women in slums

2 Class 5 students from Mumbai win MIT Hackathon Award 2020 for Climate Change app

Two Class 5 students from Mumbai made India proud by winning accolades at the App Inventor Hackathon 2020 held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US between July 12 and 19.

The duo developed an app on climate change titled ‘Climate Catastrophe – Earth in Dearth’, bagging the first and fourth place in the 'People's Choice' and 'Judge’s Choice' categories, respectively among 300 participants across the world.

While 10-year-old Ayush Sankaran is pursuing his education from Billabong High International School (BHIS) in Malad, nine-year-old Jashith Narang is studying at Bombay Scottish School in Powai.