Protecting Deer by LEADer Mahalinga KS

LEADer Mahalinga KS from Veershaiva College Bellary realized that in his region, there was a critical situation of deer being killed.

First, he and his team collected data through qualitative measures such as asking neighbouring people, exploring the areas where deer are found, and speaking with forest officials. They also collected any quantitative measures they could find, such as population numbers. It was a challenge collecting the first-hand data, as this involved going to the forested areas when the deers live in the hot summer months.

They then took all this data and compiled it, and gave it to the forest office, local government, and local police so they would better understand the situation of deers being killed. They also wanted to make sure that not only the authorities knew, but the people knew about the issues as well. They went around to villagers to distribute information and pamphlets, attempting to change the village mindset about deer killing.

The team got a good response from the villagers and authorities when they shared the information. They feel positive that their project has had a positive impact in changing how the villagers think about the deers, thus reducing the amount of deer killed in the region.

Village in the Digital Age by LEADer Dharmendra K

LEADer Dharmendra Kumar Patel from BHU wanted to help his village gain their basic needs in the modern age. With new requirements from the government but barriers to the villagers obtaining these requirements, Dharmendra realized that many of the villagers would be unable to receive subsidy or rations.

Dharmendra took on three projects in his village: bank account set-ups, AADHAAR identity card sign-up, and ration card sign-up. Together, he felt these basic needs would help the people in his village have their presence recognized in the modern age. These projects also helped build basic modern skills in the village, including ATM use, making signatures,awareness of financial saving, and interacting with large modern establishments such as banks.

At first, only a few villagers were willing to take part in the process and many were hesitant for change. However, now those initial participants have told their neighbours and people are regularly approaching Dharmendra to take part and get a card and bank account. Women are coming out of their homes to sign up and join the modern age.

While Dharmendra has three specific projects, overall he is aiming to increase the wellbeing in his village. A good example of this is his motivation of a disabled woman. She had lost a leg in an accident, and was simply sitting around all day, although he had 3 children to feed. Dharmendra motivated her to learn the basic skill of sleeving to create an income, and after she had a small amount of earnings, got her to take part in his projects. Today, she has 4,500 Rs. in the bank account he helped her create, and she owns her own sleeving machine.

Hygiene for Slum Children by LEADer Amrita Raj

LEADer Amrita Raj from ABR PG College Anpara was concerned about the wellbeing of the slum children in her area. Instead of doing doing, she took action with a LEAD project in order to make a small positive change to give these children closer to the standard of living she had during her upbringing through hygiene kits.

Collecting funds door-to-door

First, Amrita gathered a team and went door-to-door collecting donations from the wealthier areas of her community. While it was difficult to convince people to give them their hard earned money, Amrita focused on explaining why their project mattered to the lives of the slum children and built trust and credibility by explaining about the LEAD program. Eventually, Amrita and her team collected 3500 Rs.

Amrita and the team making the bags

Using old newspapers to create the bags, which lowered the cost and reduced waste, Amrita and her team filled these packages with basic hygiene products for babies and young children, including shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.

The team distributed over 150 hygiene packages to young children and mothers with babies in the slum area. For Amrita, the best part was seeing how excited the young children were to receive anything new and just for them, even simple hygiene products.

Cheap LED Lights with LEADer Uttam D

Thanks to an long-term interest in electronics, LEADer Uttam D from BHU has designed a very inexpensive LED light to be used in villages.

Uttam loves to take electronics apart, and realized he could make his own small light from old electronics parts for very cheap. At first, the light only lasted for 2-3 minutes, but with the addition of a diode, the simple light is rechargeable and lasts over 6 hours per charge. Rather than using all new parts, the light uses parts from waste phones, including the chargers and batteries. This means that the product can be made cheaper, but it also better for the environment.

So far, Uttam has sold over 50 of the LED lights to individuals in his village and nearby villages for 25 rupees each, earning a small profit of 5 rupees for future supplies. In Varanasi there is a proven market for Jugaad innovations, and therefore Uttam is capitalizing on this openness to small, inexpensive, “homemade” products. He is now trying to commercialize his LED lights.

Don't Smoke! with LEADer Tara M

LEADer Tara M from ABR PG College (Anpara) understands the many negative effects of smoking, but was concerned that many members of her community did not. She felt compelled to educate them about the many reasons they should not smoke or use tobacco products, including raised blood pressure, increased chance of macular degeneration and stroke, and negative impacts on the lungs, heart, mouth, and throat.

Tara and her group visited the slum areas, where they though awareness about the dangers of smoking would be the lowest. Armed with signs and knowledge, they stopped people in the streets and visited homes to relay their message of health.

Out in the community, there was two highlights. One man, after the LEADers explained the dangers and pointed out the notice on his tobacco pack that "smoking is injurious to health, tore his packet of tobacco in half and said he would never touch tobacco again. Another women, after speaking with the LEADers, asked for forgiveness and promised to live free of tobacco and alcohol.

Tara considers this project only the first step in her motivations to "stop all the nonsense" and work together "towards a day when there is no alcohol, smoking, or tobacco factories".

Awareness of Pollution by LEADer Rathnakar

LEADer Rathnakar from GSCET is a student who is passionate about saving our environment from pollution. It is for this reason that he used the LEAD platform to create his project, "Awareness of Pollution".

Rathnakar knew he wanted to create awareness within his community about pollution by showing people videos, images, and information about the state of our environment today because of pollution. After speaking with his uncle about his project, he suggested that he direct his message to the young people, as they will better be able to understand the message and are still young enough to change their ways and make a big difference over their lifetimes. 

Rathnakar took this as a challenge, and conducted his "Awareness of Pollution" project at Vasudha High School in Nizamabad. While this was a challenge, Rathnkar felt very proud to gain compliments and thanks from the teachers and students of the school after his project. 

During this project, Rathnakar learned to speak in front of strangers and has learned a to about communication skills all throughout his LEAD journey. He also notes that this project helped him improve his confidence when speaking to elders, such as the school principals and teachers. The motivation Rathnaker got from the LEAD is what he says encouraged him to do this project and ultimately gain these skills for the long term. 

Library for a Village by LEADer Praveen Kumar

LEADer Praveen Kumar from SHEPA College has taken initiative to form a library in a village in Mehgaon, Rajatalab, Varanasi, where students can come to study. He has noticed for a long time that there are no libraries available in villages that students can afford and study. He was faced this same problem when he was studying in a village. Instead of having access to books in a library, they have to go the market to purchase new books. 

He came up with solution to start library, but faced challenges of where he will get the place to set up the library. He approached Gram Panchayat and requested that they provide a place for a new library, and at first, nobody listened him. But he did not give up. He continuously approached them and finally got the permission and room to start up the library. 

Without a large amount of funding to buy new books, he had to find another way. He made a team and convinced each member to collect used books in Varanasi. So far he has collected more than 300 books from different areas of Varanasi; not only study-related books but also religious books.

He gathered more than 70 students in the inauguration of library. This library was inaugurated by Mr. Naveen Jha, CEO of Deshpande Foundation, with whom Praveen shared his experiences & learning. Everyone at the inauguration appreciated his work and the initiative to help students learn. Praveen said, "I am educated but want to do something for students that they also can get better facility for study. All have same rights of education."

“A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life.”

Norman Cousins

“The library is the temple of learning, and learning has liberated more people than all the wars in history.”

Carl T. Rowan