From serving diabetic patients to protecting women from harm – the top Social Stories of the week

Millions of frontline healthcare workers put their lives on the line during the pandemic, and Dr Wasim Ghori was one among them, as he helped diabetic patients through the rough times.

Meanwhile, Aparna Rajawat who has never found it difficult to stand up for herself is now empowering other women with her self-defence training sessions.

This week, SocialStory also marked Nation Vaccination Day and shared about corporates that are picking up employee vaccination expenses.

Here are the top Social Stories of the week:

Meet the doctor who has been serving diabetes patients during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown saw all of us confined to the safety of our homes. However, every day, millions of frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, and medical staff, put their lives at risk to serve others. Among them was Dr M Wasim Ghori. 

Dr Ghori, who serves as Medical Director and Consulting Diabetologist at a chain of specialty heart and diabetes clinics in Mumbai, helps people with Type 2 Diabetes, guiding them on how to self-manage their health to avoid long-term complications. He began ‘Healthcare on Your Fingertips’ - patient education and awareness WhatsApp messaging initiative where bite-sized health nuggets get delivered to people every morning which they can access anytime and anywhere. 

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Companies that are bearing the cost of their employees' COVID-19 vaccine

With the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout now in full force, there is a huge rush of people registering for their turn to get the much-awaited prevention against the coronavirus that has held the world in suspension for over a year. 

Many corporates in India, too, have stepped up and offered to reimburse their employees who are taking the vaccine. On National Vaccination Day — marked each year on March 16 — we look at some of the companies who are ensuring that their employees are taking every precaution against the COVID-19 virus.

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(Survivor Series) I was raped over 5 months and forced to undergo an abortion

I was born in a small village called Bagdah in the Bangaon subdivision of the North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. I grew up there, and till the age of 14, I remember being a very happy child. I used to paint, spend time with my friends and I enjoyed school, particularly my history lessons.

One day, I was walking alone to school. It was early in the morning, and a van stopped near me. Before I realised what was happening, someone had pushed me into the van. I tried to scream for help, but a hand was firmly clamped down on my mouth. I tried with every ounce of strength to run but to no avail. I had been kidnapped by three men. 

Read on about Rumana’s heartbreaking story here.

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[Survivor Series] I was raped over 5 months and forced to undergo an abortion

The vartaLeap coalition aims to build young and responsible citizens

Across the world, hierarchy and patriarchy often restrict the youth from becoming stakeholders in their development or to be leaders for social change.

Non-governmental organisation ComMutiny has been working to improve this situation through its community of practice comprising 100 youth-focused organisations. They have three core strategies: aggregating, accelerating, and amplifying youth spaces.

At a broader level to empower youth in leadership roles, it collaborated with Ashoka Innovators to initiate the setting up of a coalition of cross-sectoral institutions and individuals called the vartaLeap Coalition in 2019. The coalition aims to co-create a context for youth-centric development and promote the narrative that young people have agency and opportunity.

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The Pink Belt Mission is working to save lives and protect women from harm

Aparna Rajawat’s earliest memories of growing up in a conservative Rajput family in Agra were of how differently she and her three sisters were treated as compared to their two brothers. That single thought inspired her to learn karate and she went on to win medals at the national and international level. However, an injury in a road accident ended her career in competitive sports.

She says watching the way women moved around confidently in society was an eye-opener, and a far cry from what she had seen growing up. In December 2012, the Nirbhaya rape was a huge wake-up call for Aparna. Moved by this, and the plights of millions of other women in the country, she started the Pink Belt Mission in 2016, with motivational speaker Mansi Chandra, to train women in self-defence.