From sustainable organic farming to making ‘cooler’ PPE kits – the top Social Stories of the Week

Padma Shri awardee Trinity Saioo is helping over 800 women with the organic farming of Lakadong Turmeric. Meanwhile, K R (name changed) is helping people quit the habit of tobacco chewing — one he was a victim of a few years ago.

While the frontline workers continue the pandemic fight, Ronnie Screwvala’s Swades Foundation has raised over Rs 15 crore to aid rural communities. And a 19-year old student from Mumbai has developed an attachment for PPE kits that will help keep the PPE kit cool.

Here are the top Social Stories of the week:

I was addicted to chewing tobacco for 35 years, but I am helping others quit the habit now 

My name is K R (name changed), and I am a 65-year-old married man. I live in Mumbai and come from a family of folk singers. I had a very happy childhood and never gave any trouble as a teenager.

When I was 30-years-old, I started chewing tobacco. It first started when I was going out with my friends. Everyone was doing it, and I succumbed to peer pressure and started doing it once in a while. Then it increased to once or twice a week.

Read more to know how K R helped himself and others quit the habit.

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Trinity Saioo has empowered over 800 women with turmeric farming 

Trinity Saioo — a former school teacher and a member of the Jaintia Hill Tribe in Meghalaya — is leading a silent revolution in her state by cultivating Lakadong Turmeric — a special variety of the spice native to Meghalaya.

The 53-year-old turmeric farmer from Mulieh village in the Northeastern state is one among the many farmers cultivating this variety of turmeric.

In 2020, Trinity was awarded the Padma Shri for her work in developing sustainable organic farming and successfully training around 800 rural women to grow turmeric through these methods.

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How this Jharkhand-based tribal woman is supporting her family

In Jharkhand, in a quaint little village called Patrayur — situated about 13 kilometres away from Torpa block, Khunti district — about 230 families live who mainly rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

Among them is 25-year-old Cristina Herenj, a woman of the Munda tribe who lives in a joint family of 10 with her children and her husband, Deepak Topno. While caring for the children, she also had to find another source of income to make ends meet.

With the help of TRSDW, she identified that the vegetable production in the surrounding villages was high. Cristina used this opportunity to not only help these farmers to sell their produce but also earn some money herself.

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Ronnie Screwvala’s Swades Foundation raises over Rs 15Cr for COVID-19 relief

According to the official 2011 Census, there are about 104.3 million adivasis in India, comprising 8.6 percent of the population. Unofficially, that number is believed to be much higher.

With successive lockdowns and restricted access to markets, their plight has only worsened. Among several private and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helping these underserved communities is the Swades Foundation, founded by Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala, which works in the area of rural empowerment. 

Speaking to SocialStory, Ronnie Screwvala shared some of the work that the foundation has been doing during the pandemic to support rural communities and the urban poor. 

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This 19-year-old from Mumbai is making PPE suits ‘cooler’ and more comfortable

While PPE kits are extremely protective when it comes to safeguarding from the virus, wearing them for long hours results in profuse sweating, which can further lead to fungal infections.

To combat this problem, Nihaal Singh Adarsh, a 19-year-old student from KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai, has developed a compact ventilation system called ‘Cov-Tech’ for PPE suits through his startup Watt Technovations Private Limited.

The product caters to doctors and medical practitioners who are currently working in high-risk environments.