NGO Focus
Synergy India Foundation
A non-profit and secular organization currently working in Andhra Pradesh, Synergy India Foundation or SIF has impacted the lives of more than 8500 people in the areas of Health, Environment, Safety and Education.
Latest Articles
Less Plastic More Life
How many of us have cringed when handed the dreadful plastic bag, but found ourselves helpless in its omnipotent presence? How many of us have been alarmed at studies that point to the potential damage caused by a single plastic bag, let alone the millions that are consumed everyday? How many of us have wished that action groups, corporations, the government – someone would take a stand against this...
Mission Kashmir - From The Notes of a Global Volunteer
In a previous post Meeting the World Challenge, we had mentioned about She Hope Society and the remarkable work they were doing in rehabilitating the disabled in the Kashmir Valley. In response to that article, we received a note from Diane Emerson who was headed to the Centre to volunteer for a period of 3 months starting in April. Hailing from New Zealand and having traveled all over the world volunteering...
On The Eve Of Development
Neetu (13) is a student of class seven. Her village, Rampur located in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, has a primary school (up to standard five), so she has to go to the adjoining village Mathanpura for her schooling. She has two sisters and one brother. All of them go to school. Her cousin Rinkoo studies in class eight. But she does not go to the school and would appear for the exams only (because...
India Biodiversity Portal
India boasts of one of the most amazing biodiversities in the world. The vastly differing terrains and climatic conditions present along the length and breadth of the country gives it a unique flora and fauna, unmatched almost anywhere else in the world. From this one can gauge the enormity of a task like documenting or mapping this biodiversity in any useful format. However, there is one body that...
Super 30 - The Road To The IITs
Welcome to the second contribution from our remarkable guest editor Utkarsh Joshi. In this interesting article he talks about the selfless commitment of one man who has made it his life’s mission to identify and nurture talent that has the potential but not the financial means to make it to the IITs. This is the story of Anand Kumar and his Super 30. ———————————————————————————————————————————————– It...
Paper Saves Lives
Sahariya tribe is a nomadic tribe in Madhya Pradesh that deals with poverty of the magnitude that mothers buy saris and tear them in half so that their daughters have something to wear. These people have little money available for essentials, let alone luxuries like education. The women are typically very badly treated, often turning to prostitution or collecting dry wood to sell to neighbouring towns...
Science Is Fun!
How much fun can Science be, you ask? Lots, if it is taught with the help of a simple rocket experiment and other practical applications! The techie duo of Udaya M V and Adithya B, who visit select government schools in Bangalore on weekends, do precisely this. Both young software engineers who are in their early twenties realized that Indian students need to break away from the traditional mould...
Breathing New Life Into Old Trees
How many people would pay from their own pockets to restore life into old trees? Perhaps not many. That is why it is inspiring to hear about Dr Ramana Rao, who paid nearly Rs one lakh of his own to relocate two ancient peepal trees that were felled in Bangalore to make way for new roads. Catching sight of the two giant trees - one 225 years and the other 240 years old, lying at the side of a highway,...
BPOs Reach Rural India
A lot has been said of BPOs. They have changed people’s lives and brought a modicum of hope to the lesser privileged sections of society that was denied for so long. However, till now the story was mostly restricted to urban India. Thanks to the efforts of a few like an enterprising District Collector in Tamil Nadu, Santhosh Babu and an economics graduate straight out of a US college, Kartik...
Cooking stove that saves lives
A cooking stove that not only cooks faster, saves fuel but also reduces harmful emissions by 80%. This is the promise of the stoves manufactured by Envirofit India Pvt. Ltd, part of the Shell Group. And they have already found 50,000 takers in the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Eliminating the dependence of poor people on gas and electricity, both of which are...
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