25 Village Children Love Reading, Thanks to This Sirsi LEADer.

Reading is not only the most important tool in education, it can also be fun.  If children spent more time reading for enjoyment, they would be more successful in their studies.  However, many children shy away from reading because they have not managed to develop an interest in it.  LEADer Archana N Hegde of MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, made it her goal to inspire children to read. She approached a school in the village of Kerekoppa and met with 25 children regularly to help them enjoy reading.  She read to them, encouraged them to read, and conducted activities with the children to create interest among them.  Following the completion of her project, a teacher of the school informed Archana that the students had been using the school library more than they were previously. 


Archana's project was showcased during Yuva Summit 2014. 

Sirsi LEADer Helps Families Through Sustainable Agriculture Practices

In villages near Sirsi, agriculture dominates the local economy and makes up the majority of people's livelihood.  LEADer Seetaram from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, recognized the importance of sustainable agriculture, and decided to implement local solutions.  He trained two families about effective animal husbandry.  Specifically, he taught the families how to grow more grass for cows in smaller areas.  Additionally, he taught farmers about vermi compost. Finally, he trained the farmers and their families about how to accurately use pesticides.  These farmers are now regularly practicing these sustainable agricultural techniques, which is saving them money and therefore adding to their income.

Sirsi LEADer Promotes Organic Pesticides to Promote Livelihoods and Health

Pests pose a serious threat to agriculture.  A way to combat these pests is through using pesticides, but consuming agricultural products treated with chemical-based pesticides can be harmful for health.  With the aim to help farmers yield more crops to increase their income and to take care of the health of consumers, LEADer Raghav Hegde of MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, supplied 10 farmers with organic pesticides and trained the farmers how to apply these pesticides.  Now, these farmers are protecting their livelihoods, as well as the health of their consumers. 

My Story: Sandesh Bhat

Sandesh Bhat 
(MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

 

I  joined LEAD because I wanted to help people by becoming a good leader. More specifically, I wanted to improve upon my ability to identify problems in society, to generate solutions for those problems, and to implement those solutions. 
 

Since joining LEAD, I have completed over 30 projects, and I have ideas to do even more. I have devoted most of my projects to helping rural people by helping them improve their agricultural practices. Many rural people suffer from financial problems. I wanted to inspire others to help rural people. My projects range from encouraging a single family to incorporate mixed crops in order to increase their family’s income, to organizing a major workshop for hundreds of local farmers to teach them more effective agricultural techniques. So far, my projects have benefited over 600 people in and around my community. 

Although I have successfully completed 30 projects, I have also encountered many challenges along the way. Many of my projects required additional fundraising. I turned to the public to raise these funds so that I could complete his various projects, but initially, the public was not supportive. I worked tirelessly to explain to the public about the objectives and benefits of my projects. With each new completed project, though, approaching people and getting their support became easier. From my completed projects, I have fundraised a total of over Rs. 51,000. 

Prior to joining LEAD, I had no knowledge about leadership. But now, I know what leadership means.  LEAD has helped me develop essential leadership skills such as communicating with people, convincing people, identifying problems and creating and implementing solutions, and how to effectively use resources. LEAD has also exposed me to some of society’s biggest problems and helped me expand my social networks.

Sirsi LEADer Teaches Environmental Awareness to 50 Villagers

LEADer Aravind Hegde from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, conducted "Vanmahotsava" ("Go Green Revolution"), a program to create environmental awareness in his village, Jaddigadde.  After convincing the forestry department to donate over 80 samplings, he gathered 50 villagers and encouraged them to plant the saplings in their home.  Additionally, he taught the villagers about natural rainwater harvesting, and several villagers are now implementing this technique. 

Sirsi LEADer Provides 60 Books to Help Rural Students

Books, while necessary for education, can be very expensive.  Many students today find themselves incapable of affording costly books, and their education therefore suffers.  LEADer Mohit Hegde from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, conducted a book bank to help students from Koligi.  He was able to collect and distribute over 60 books for the rural students. 

My Story: Chetana Bhat

Chetana Bhat 
(MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

"I always welcome a good challenge"

From conducting a blood grouping and donation camp, to teaching village women skills to help them earn additional income, to helping local women market their homemade products, and more, I have completed several projects throughout different fields and sectors since joining LEAD.  I work on diverse projects because I believe in overcoming challenge as the best tool for growth.  Working in the same field or sector is easy, but working within different spectrums allows me to be more versatile and learn about different types of people and perspectives.  I always welcome a good challenge, and it was this mindset that led me to join the LEAD program. 

Before joining LEAD, I was always aware about problems in society, but I never really considered them much.  I definitely did not see myself as a potential change-maker to make society better.  I hesitated to take action with anything.  After I joined LEAD, I learned about different projects that were being implemented.  I became more motivated to help people in my community. 

In my most recently completed project, and what I consider to be my best project, I taught women how to earn additional money from making bags out of waste cloth and different crafts out of paper.  With a small monthly investment of only Rs. 250, these women are now earning Rs. 6,000 every month.  I even connected the women with the Deshpande Foundation’s Navodyami program to further market their project. 

LEAD has given me some awesome opportunities.  My communication has really improved through my projects, and also through all of the networking I have done with LEAD members throughout other locations and local organizations and media.  Networking is a strong point I would like to emphasize.  Networking is powerful because through networking, we can share many ideas and form deep connections that can ultimately help people.

 I know that the skills that I have gained from LEAD will help me in my future career also.  My future goal is to become a lecturer. In LEAD, I have learned how to manage groups of people, communicate with people, and mentor people.  These are strengths that I will need to possess in order to lead a successful career. 

 My goal for right now while I am still in college is to build and improve the LEAD network in Sirsi.  I want to form a LEAD group, in which older members can mentor younger members to successfully solve problems.  I want to change Sirsi. 

Being in LEAD has made me very busy, but I enjoy the work.  I am excited and I have lots of energy.  If I spend my free time relaxing, then I help only myself.  But if I spend my time working, then I can help others. 

Sirsi LEADer Builds Low-Cost Bridge; Helps 30 Village Families

LEADer Shivaprasad Hegde from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, identified a need for a bridge in his village of Irgoppa.  The construction of a bridge, however, can require a great deal of time and money.  Shivaprasad innovatively devised a low-cost bridge for his village by using only soil and tree trunks.  Additionally, the construction of the bridge required minimum human resources.  Shivaprasad's bridge is helping over 30 village families. 

Sirsi LEADer Motivates His Village to Take Initiative

LEADer Anath from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, utilized his LEAD project as a platform to not only improve and inspire his community.  In his village of Narsagal, the main road was badly in need of repair.  He didn't just wait around for a solution to happen; instead, he encouraged the villagers to take action themselves.  Anath and the villagers worked together to repair the road.   Anath's project not only helped the public, it also showed them the importance on taking generating solutions for community problems and taking initiative to solve those problems. 

20 Children Take Interest in Reading and Improve Reading Skills

Possessing strong reading skills are essential for educational success and can open many opportunities.  LEADer Archana from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi, made this realization and decided to stimulate an interest in reading within school children to help them succeed in their future.
Archana worked with 20 government school children and conducted different activities to help them enjoy reading.  Additionally, she collected books from members of the local community and donated them to the school so that the children could continue practicing their reading. 

Sirsi LEADer Helps Rural Women Earn Rs. 6000 Monthly

LEADer Chetana from MES College of Commerce, Sirsi  found that there are lot of rural women who can creatively make the best out of waste material by creating things  such as bags out of old clothes and photo frames and hanging mirrors from arecanut  leaves. However, they lack the knowledge to effectively market their products.  Chetana created opportunity for these women. Because of her initiative,  these women from Hulgol are earning Rs. 6000 to 9000 monthly and only investing Rs.200 monthly. Chetana also connected with the Deshpande Foundation's Navodyami Program to create further opportunities. It's nice to see LEADers connecting the dots and creating sustainable solutions for problems in their communities.

Project: Volleyball Tournament for Rural Youth

Ganapati Hegde (MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

Ganapati found that many young students in rural villages do not get the opportunity to practice or compete in sports activities.  For this reason, he thought to hold a volleyball coaching class for rural students.  He coached volleyball to 10 rural students.  The students enjoyed this unique opportunity, and continue to practice volleyball. 

Sweet Corn and Black Pepper

Sandesh Bhat (MES College of Commerce)

Sandesh encouraged a family in the village of Baroor to incorporate growing sweet corn and black pepper into their agriculture.  By incorporating mixed crops into their farming, this family learned the importance and benefits of growing multiple crop types.  This family was able to develop and sustain an additional form of income to help lessen financial burdens.

A special "congrats" goes out to Sandesh for going above and beyond expections.  This project marks Sandesh's 11th project completed with LEAD.  Well done, Sandesh!

Project: Janapada Habba

Hrsha Hegde (MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

Hrsha organized an event, Janapada Habba, in his village, Janata Vidyalaya Kulve-Baroor.  The objective of the event was to encourage the expression of folk culture and to give rural women the opportunity to explore their talents.  The event was comprised of the singing of folk songs, a traditional food competition, and more.  Over 100 people, including MES College Principal Mr. R. G. Hegde, participated in the event and showed great appreciation for the LEADers. 

Project: Plastic-Free Village

Shantaram Rao (MES College of Commerce)

In Shantaram’s village of Halageri, near Sirsi, the villagers were disposing of plastics wherever they wanted.  Shantaram wanted to change this and clean up his village.  He gathered the youth of the village and encouraged them to pick up garbage.  Additionally, he placed dustbins in the village to ensure the proper disposal of garbage in the future.  Now, the 300 residents of Halageri are enjoying a cleaner village. 

Project: Self-Employment

Chetana Bhat (MES College of Commerce)

Chetana helped women by teaching them how to do handicrafts and embroidery.  She further helped these women by encouraging them to participate in self-help groups. The training that Chetana provided helped these 10 women create self-employment, thus also benefitting their families in the process.   

Project: A Ray of Hope for the Physically Challenged

Shantaram Rao (MES College of Commerce)

Shantaram discovered a physically challenged person in a nearby village.  To create opportunity for the physically challenged person, he educated the parents of the person on how to access all available government facilities.  The government is now funding the person’s education.  

Project: Self-Employment: Workshop on Bike Repair for the Unemployed

Harsha (MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

Harsha improved the lives of six unemployed youth.  Harsha helped make these youth more employable by training them in the skill of bike and vehicle repair.  After the completion of this project, the youth that Harsha had trained became self-employed and were able to earn money for themselves repairing bikes and vehicles. 

Project: Electricity Connection for the Needy

Vinayak (MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

Vinayak observed that many villagers in the village of Tengin Mudi were not getting sufficient electricity.   Vinayak approached these villagers and convinced them to invest money on his project. Additionally, Vinayak was able to convince an electrician to provide free service to the village in order to fix the electricity problem.  Within 15 days, electricity became available for all of these villagers.  Because of Vinayak, these villagers will no longer have to worry about problems resulting from a lack of electricity. 

Project: Honey Bee

Subramanya (MES College of Commerce, Sirsi)

Subramanya became aware of the fact that the farmers of Kallgadde earn their livelihoods from one source that only comes once a year.  This infrequency of earnings created financial problems for the farmers throughout the rest of the year.  To help the farmers increase their earnings, Subramanya trained the farmers in all aspects of the honeybee business. 20 families’ lives have been improved by Subramanya’s training sessions, and the honeybee business now plays an important role in their lives.  Each family made a one-time investment of Rs. 5000, but as a resulf of the honeybee business, each family is now earning Rs 5000 to 6000 thrice per month.