Belgaum LEADer Feeds 1000 Needy People

Pooja Karjol, a LEADer from Jain College of Engineering, Belgaum, was saddened by the large amount of hungry people she saw wandering the streets.  In addition, she felt angered by the enormous amount of food she would see being wasted whenever she ate at canteens or hotels.  She realized that if she could connect the wasted food with the hungry people, she could help provide a solution for this problem.  She collaborated with local canteens, hotels, and messes to collect their leftover, uneaten food.  For several months, she has been distributing this food to 1000 beggars and needy people.  Pooja's initiative of connecting two problems to create a solution inspired her peers and the local community.  Two students of her college were so moved by her project that they decided to join LEAD themselves so that they could make a difference in their respective communities.

Belgaum LEADer Brings Knowledge of Malnutrition to 200 Mothers

Malnutrition is a major problem in India.  Children who are malnourished often suffer from severe health conditions later on in their lives.  Malnutrition is easy to prevent, but only if one knows the steps to take to prevent it.   Priya Muchandikar, a LEADer from Jain College of Engineering, Belgaum, made it her goal to do everything she could to protect children from malnutrition.  She prepared handmade pamphlets and videos about malnutrition and showed them to 200 pregnant women and mothers with young children.  These women are now taking the proper cautions to protect their children so that their children can lead brighter futures.

Belgaum LEADer Introduces Organic Pesticides to 1,000 Farmers

Farmers across the country rely on inorganically prepared pesticides that are rich in toxic chemicals.  While most farmers opt for these inorganic pesticides because of their convenience, many do so due to lack of knowledge of the risks posed by chemical pesticides.  Chemical pesticides may protect our crops, but the environmental and health problems that they cause outlive the pest problems that they attempt to solve.  Santosh Patil from Jain College of Engineering, Belgaum, set out to resolve this issue with farmers of his locality.   He created awareness about the dangers of inorganic pesticides and introduced organic pesticides to local farmers.  His project has so far benefited more than 1000 farmers so far, and its impact is sure to continue throughout the generations. 

This project was selected to be showcased at Yuva Summit 2014. 

Belgaum LEADer Driven to Make India Polio-Free

LEADer Rutuja Patil of Jain College of Engineering, once heard about WHO (World Health Organization) personnel that would visit India and conduct surveys detailing polio cases in different areas. Instead of just leaving all of the work for WHO, though, Rutuja recognize that she, too, had the ability to help India become a Polio free nation by conducting such surveys. After seeking help from a Belgaum physician, Rutuja and her team went to Mujavar Galli of Peeranawadi, near Belgaum, and surveyed the residents regarding whether or not their children had received polio vaccinations. The team spent two days surveying the area and reached out to 150 homes.  From the team's efforts, 250 children were surveyed and 230 were given information about polio and provided with medication. 

In addition to conducting the survey, Rutuja also helped some pregnant women she encountered acquire a "Mother's Card", a government privilege card for pregnant women.

Through her LEAD project, Rutuja is hoping to contribute to the WHO's mission to declare India as Polio-free, and she has certainly made a great impact so far! Rutuja now has plans to assist the WHO officials in conducting another survey in the village of Boragaon, near Chikodi.  

Belgaum LEADer Invents Low-Cost Grass Cutting Machine; Taps Into Inclusive Innovation

We are all aware of the importance of innovation in today's society as a way of driving economies and communities forward.  What is more important than innovation, though, is inclusive innovation.  In other words, innovations can be truly successful only if they can be afforded and accessed by all sectors of society.  With the principle of inclusive innovation in mind, LEADer Balchandra from Jain College, Belgaum, invented a simple and low-cost "Grass Cutting Machine".  The machine can be constructed using the pedals and wheels of a bicycle.  The cutter is connected to the back bicycle wheel using a rope.  Through pedaling, the wheel is spun and grass can be inserted to the cutter to be cut.

Project: Multi-Grass Cutting Machine

Sachin Bennalkar (Jain)

Sachin designed a machine that cuts grass, thereby reducing the labor for farmers.  Sachin approached people asking for donations in order to fund the construction of the machine.  After collecting the necessary funds and materials, Sachin built the machine inside his college laboratory.  Sachin’s machine has been a great help for many farmers. 

Project: Low Cost Pesticide Sprinkler

Vinay Patil (Jain)

In the village of Vagdud, applying pesticides to crops became very cumbersome and difficult for farmers, as the process required a great deal of labor and energy.  Vinay, after recognizing this issue, created a sprinkler device that sprays pesticides on crops, and he commissioned his team to teach the farmers how to use the device.  The project itself only cost a mere Rs 1600, but the device that Vinay created has benefitted three farming families.  

Project: Medoffordable

LEADer: Laxmi Hosetti 

College: Jain College of Engineering

The main objective of this project was to create awareness amongst people living in slums about the low cost, "generic medicines". The underprivileged people miss their one time meal if they go to a doctor and purchase medicines prescribed by the doctor at any of the medical stores. This project was meant to draw the attention of these underprivileged to go for the low cost medicines. The team was successful in making them understand the good side of the government's perspective of lending help through this generic medicine counter. Now people are aware of this low cost drug counter at Janatha Bazaar, Civil Hospital, Belgaum. Laxmi learnt that it is very hard to convince people about something that they are not aware of, but if one is dedicated and determined, you can easily make them understand your motive.

Project: The Dynamo Project

LEADer: Weerdhawal Chowgule

Location: Jain College of Engineering, Belgaum

This project is especially designed for students going to school in rural areas, since the government has provided free bicycles to all the students. It will help them get electricity, the lack of which is the main problem in the rural sector of India. Weerdhawal had heard from his father that students in their village school couldn’t study due to an electricity problem. This project will help the student and his family. It can also be used for workers going to sites for work who use cycles. It is eco-friendly; no fuel is burnt to produce electricity, only the energy or efforts by the rider are required. To implement this project Weerdhawal went to his native place Shivaji High School, Kadoli, Belgaum, where he asked the principal for a student who comes from a far away village, is good at studies, and is physically fit. Then Weerdhawal told the student and his parents about the project. The parents were happy about it and even helped Weerdhawal to make some connections.