The Better India » Livelihood

Innovation: Biomass Cooking Stoves

Dhimant Parekh — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:07:26 +0000

In this article, we write about the Biomass Cooking Stove innovation that is being nurtured by the Villgro foundation.

Context and problems with LPG

Micro and small establishments that provide boarding services to 40 – 100 individuals in rural and semi-rural areas face the three pronged problem of not having the access, both financially and in terms of availability , to LPG, having to incur the costs of large amounts of biomass required to run their relatively inefficient stoves and dealing with the associated health impacts that inefficient, outdated stoves generate.
Unlike small households, micro and small establishments rely on purchasing fire wood and not on collecting biomass. These costs average around 2000 Rs. / ton. As such the inefficiency of stoves used by this category of users has a direct impact on their expenditure and thus on their income and savings. When compared to households these establishments utilize their stoves for much longer (upto 10 hours a day when catering to 100 customers) and thus the impacts on wood consumption and health issues are
exasperated.

Burning wood creates CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Establishments, based on size, generate between 20 – 80 tons of co2 a year. While small when considered at a national or global scale, this contributes to climate change in its own way.

Enter Biomass Cooking Stove, an innovation by Svati Bhogle of SustainTech India Pvt. Ltd.

The Biomass Cooking stove is an application specific high efficiency wood burning stove specifically designed for a range of cooking needs. The innovation offers to the end user: saving in fuel costs, by being up to 50% more efficient than conventional stoves and improved health impacts. The features that make the stoves innovative are, optimum air fuel ratios controlled by efficient vents, well designed combustion chamber volume resulting in high combustion and heat transfer efficiencies, good insulation to prevent losses to the walls and an optimally designed chimney to vent the flue gases away from the breathing zone of the cooks and designed to reduce heat losses to the atmosphere.

Salient Features

High efficiency because of controlled burning, good air fuel ratio
Ability to regulate air supply and hence the fuel burning rate
Use of grate for good combustion
Good insulation and a uniform temperature profile across the plate because of staggered finning of the tava (flat plate). This has been designed so that one side of the tava uses preferentially radiative heat and the other side convective heat obtained by burning of wood on a grate.
Increasing the velocity of the flue gases towards the end of the plate, good insulation and an optimally designed chimney

Who is impacted and how?

Owners of micro and small boarding establishments, including semi-portable food vendors will be impacted. This covers a range of individuals with daily revenues between 500 to 5000 rupees per day. A market survey revealed that the total number of tea shops, small & medium hotels and street food vendors to be 73,650 in the state of Tamil Nadu alone.
On the lower end of the economics scale – this includes street side food vendors who spend considerable amounts of their income on firewood. These individuals were shown to spend upto 30,000 Rs. annually on firewood with monthly take home incomes of around 7000 Rs. On the higher end of the economics scale – this includes proprietors of small size ‘hotels’ catering to the needs of approximately a 100 customers a day.

Environmental, social and economic benefits

SustainTech India Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL) is reaching out to the needs of a fuel stressed segment of society – initially the street food vendors, who operate on push carts and where cooking is done inside the cart or on railway platforms, roadside shops and small hotels who with a roof and some seating capacity.
A survey conducted shows that these stoves are in operation for about 10 hours every day and each unit caters to about 100 clients every day. The 65,000 fuel efficient wood burning stoves (considering only the tava, frying stoves and tea kettles) that would be sold by SIPL in the first five years would therefore offer a safer, cooler and healthier working environment to at least 65,000 cooks and 6.5 million people who would eat
around these stoves every day. India has a high incidence of respiratory ailments and a smoke free working environment would reduce the medical expenses of the affected people working around wood fires.
The survey data also shows that 38% of the street food vendors and tea shops use kerosene for their cooking needs. Very limited kerosene is available in fair price shops and this is inadequate. Very often the sector uses unfair means to procure kerosene creating stress and tension besides eroding the profitability.

A Frying Stove Biomass based

Moving to a biomass stove would reduce the stress associated with procurement of kerosene, improve profitability of the business and show that it is possible to replace a fossil fuel with a renewable energy source.
At the global level the movement to a fuel efficient wood stove would significantly abate CO2 emission. A survey conducted in the project area shows that stoves are in use for about 8 -14 hrs every day and for 300 -350 days in a year. Data has also been collected about fuel consumption patterns in conventional stoves and performance of improved stoves tested and some of them certified. With a projected stove life of 5 years, the carbon abatement potential of the venture through installations in the first 5 year planning period would be 3.7 million tons of CO2. (1 kg of firewood saved = 1.5 kg of CO2).
Firewood is purchased by the end users of SIPL products at Rs 2000 / ton. The saving in fuel costs, because of energy efficiency should enable the end user to payback the cost of the stove without financial stress in 12- 18 months. Each stove purchased would on an average save Rs 20,000 – 30,000 of fuel cost every year.

The enterprise projects that through its intervention and in their life time, the stoves installed in the first
5 years period, it would conserve Rs 4000 million in fuel costs thus creating wealth for a very needy community.

SustainTech is now being incubated by Villgro. Villgro is a not-for-profit company empowering rural development by identifying and incubating innovations that could be translated to market based social enterprise models thus impacting thousands of lives. In efforts to impact rural life, VILLGRO actively promotes social entrepreneurship and works with different stakeholders to create and support an eco-system that empowers social entrepreneurship by means of seed funding, mentoring, networking and recognition. Villgro has impacted over 360,000 rural users with technology & solutions reaching the grassroots. Villgro has identified and activated more than 2000 social innovators.

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Conserve India: Using Fashion Against Poverty

Rahul Anand — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:20:57 +0000

Urban India is glaring at a huge waste management problem with no clear policy examining waste as a part of the production-consumption-recovery cycle. In India, over a million people find employment in rag picking and recycling of waste; and this is an unorganized sector.

Most of the rag-pickers are poor, illiterate and belong to rural immigrant families. Many commence their profession at the young age of five to eight years. Most of them have never attended any school. While collecting rags they are subjected to chemical poisons and infections. Due to malnutrition, they suffer from stunted growth and anemia. These rag pickers have been weaned out of our social fabric and as begging is being abolished more and more beggars are becoming a part of this scavenging community.

Conserve India, an organisation in Delhi founded by Anita and Shalabh Ahuja was born of a desire to reduce India’s mountain of waste. Their team, after a lot of research, struck upon the idea of Upcycling by washing, drying and pressing plastic bags into sheets.

Handmade Recycled Plastic (HRP) is made from polythene bags picked from Delhi’s streets, rubber from old truck tyres’ inner tubes, old denims and saris. The processes used to make ‘Conserve’ bags and accessories have been specifically developed to be as energy efficient as possible and to keep out polluting dyes and chemicals. This not only helps the environment, it also cuts costs, giving the organisation more money to invest in other social projects.

Santosh Kumar started collecting plastic bags for Conserve India as he could earn three times as much by selling plastic bags to be made into HRP instead of selling the garbage elsewhere.

Ragpickers enjoy working for Conserve as it directly implies that they, perhaps for the first time in their lives, will have enough to feed their families and rent homes that they can be proud of. On an average, a conserve ragpicker earns around $70 a month compared to a ragpicker who earns somewhere around $25.

The ragpicking community is unorganised; it is hard for them to protect their rights. By giving them ‘Conserve Employee Cards’, Conserve India helps them have a voice in the society. Conserve India has also started a campaign called Recognition for Ragpickers. As part of this, the organisation is trying to persuade the Delhi government to create an official register so as to recognize Delhi’s 150,000 ragpickers and give them their right to a fair wage.

Conserve also offers training to its workers so they can do better jobs in their organisation. Conserve supports schools in slums where many of its employees live. With an initial funding from Asian Development Bank, Conserve is now starting two new projects for tracking the general welfare of its workers and providing health clinics for those who have no access to healthcare.

In collaboration with top designers, Conserve India makes high-end fashion items like handbags, wallets, shoes and belts from the handmade recycled plastic.

Conserve India has collaborated with Fair Trade for marketing its products, which are available in stores across US, Japan, Europe . Their products can also be bought online through the Conserveshop.

By buying Conserve’s products one not only gets to be a trend setter in fashion, but also gets to help some of India’s poorest people and its environment.

For more information visit their website http://conserveindia.org. Infact if you want do something about the waste clogging the streets of your city, you can set up your own Conserve and be the change that you want to see in the society. Mail Conserve India at info@conserveindia.org or call on +91 11 43095301.

New! Jobs Listings featuring internships, volunteering opportunities & more. Click here.

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Narayan Seva Sansthan: Helping Polio Victims

Guest Reporter — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:39:30 +0000

Situated in the lake city of Udaipur, since its foundation on 23rd October, 1985, Narayan Seva Sansthan has been working for the “service of suffering humanity”. Since its inception, Narayan Seva has been rendering its services to physically, economically and socially needy people. The organization helps the physically challenged, especially the polio afflicted and those born with disabilities. The help is not only medical, but goes beyond it to ensure that the people are made self-dependent via employment.

Since 1985, over 95000 polio afflicted people have been able to stand on their legs after getting successfully operated under Sansthan’s move towards self-dependence of the handicapped. Besides free distribution of clothes, medicines, food grains etc. to the tribal in remote areas, it also provides free vocational training to the physically disabled and economically weaker sections of the society. It has provided facilities for the training of these people in wood craft, carpentry, black-smith trade, leather work etc. supplying the necessary tools and raw materials to begin with.

The organization has also been running an orphanage taking care of children who become orphan due to ‘Nata-Pratha’ – a social evil prevailing in this region of the country in which after the death of the husband, the wife goes away to stay with some other man leaving the children behind . Over 600 children have been taken care of and sent back to the main social stream.

As a part of its endeavour to make medical care available to poor patients at their door steps, the Sansthan maintains a mobile medical care unit. Equipped with all necessary modern facilities, the mobile medical unit is always kept ready to rush to any spot when urgent medical care is required. Apart from all of this, the Sansthan is also involved in promoting values of Indian culture as enshrined in some of the epics and scriptures. The Sansthan has been organizing expositions on Ramayana, Puranas etc. with the purpose of spreading the message of humanity.

Narayan Seva Sansthan has been creating success stories and looking after a section of the society that most often gets overlooked.
To know more about the organization visit: http://www.narayanseva.org/

This article has been contributed by Chandrika Maheshwari. Chandrika is a student in her 3rd year of engineering in BITS, Pilani and holds a vision to do something for the country and contribute in its development. Her interests include social entrepreneurship, traveling, reading and writing.

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Zameen: Bringing an Agricultural Revolution

Rahul Anand — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:00:05 +0000

We have all read and heard about farmer suicides, pesticides in food and issues of child labour. Here is an organization that is working towards the eradication of all of these – Zameen.

Zameen is a unique farmer owned organic cotton trading company working to improve market access for marginalized farmers in India through certification, supply chain partnerships and organizational development.
Cotton farmers in India do not receive a fair price for their produce which leads them to usurious money lenders. Huge debt and inability to support their families leaves suicide as the only dignified option. In the Amravati district of Maharashtra, 5000 farmers commit suicide every year and that is an alarming statistic.

Zameen believes in the ‘trade, not aid’ approach to rural development. Farmers invest their own capital in Zameen and are completely engaged in the process. Zameen has a tie up with AOFG (Agriculture and Organic Farming Group), a non-profit organization, to facilitate the development of independent, legally registered farmer cluster associations that are self managed and are able to sell organic cotton as per strict international standards.

Infamously referred to as ‘dirty cotton’, the commodity accounts for 16% of global insecticide use which is far more than any other crop. Agro-chemicals contaminate local water supplies, degrade soil quality and harm wildlife. Farming communities also face an increased risk of various diseases like cancer. Zameen trains farmers in organic farming which has resulted in drastic improvement in soil fertility and farmers’ health.

As a Fairtrade certified organisation, Zameen farmers are no longer subjected to widespread speculation and fluctuation in market prices. Fairtrade guarantees a minimum price which covers sustainable farming and living conditions. Additionally, a social premium is earned by the farmer community and that premium is democratically invested in community development projects. So far, Zameen’s farmers have invested in wells, their children’s education and ofcourse into their own businesses.

Fairtrade prohibits child labour and encourages movement towards gender equality. Zameen farmers have access to international markets and being organized into an association gives them a stronger collection voice.

Know more about Zameen and their activities.
Website: http://www.zameen.org/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hyderabad-India/Zameen-Organic/130739011014/

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Ecosphere Spiti: Social Innovation at the Foothills of Himalayas

Rahul Anand — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:02:54 +0000

Spiti, a tranquil valley in Himachal Pradesh at an average altitude of 3600 meters is home to around 10,000 Buddhists. Spiti Ecosphere is a social enterprise formed by the collaborative effort of the local community and professionals from diverse backgrounds with the aim of creating sustainable livelihoods linked to nature and culture conservation.

Spiti Ecosphere is focussing on the economic empowerment, development and conservation of the region through their range of products and services. These include the following:

Eco Travel which takes us close and personal with the mighty Himalayas and the nature & culture of Spiti. It is an initiative to promote eco-tourism in the region. Eco Travel offers various options to the discerning traveler ranging from a Spiritual Sojourn of the monasteries to the Pugmarks where one gets to track the elusive snow leopard and the Himalayan wolf in the midst of this treasure trove of biological diversity.
Organics – Spiti’s unique ecosystem is richly endowed with various indigenous species. Ecosphere has streamlined the process for extracting and sourcing these rare Himalayan herbs including SeaBuckthorn popularly known as the “Wonder Berry”
Conservation – Mountain ecosystem and economics share a symbiotic relationship, and maintaining the balance with the environment is critical to the sustainability of livelihoods. Muse, Spiti SeaBuckthorn Society and Spiti Trans-Himalyan Action Group have been working in the region on the issues of climate change, promoting renewable energy, waste management and the Dhangkar initiative. Dhangkar, originally called Dhakkar meaning ‘citadel on a cliff’, was the erstwhile capital of Spiti . The Dhangkar Monastery is one of the five major monastic centres in Spiti and belongs to the Gelug–pa sect of Vajrayana Buddhism. It is a heritage conservation site in a state of despair listed in the ‘World’s Hundred Most Endangered Sites’ by the World Monuments Watch Program. Check out www.dhangkar.com to know more about Dhangkar

In the near future, Ecosphere plans to come up with some very innovative projects. One of them includes “Environment education in schools”, the belief being that awareness about the environment should start early by educating children in schools. They are also planning to come up with a short documentary showcasing the Spiti way of living and at the same time sensitising travelers and communities on how to ensure that it remains preserved.

To know more about Spiti Ecosphere and the wonderful work they are carrying out in this beautiful valley of the Himalayas, visit their website at http://www.spitiecosphere.com/

You can also connect with them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55566667952

For volunteering and other opportunities, mail them at info[at]spitiecosphere[dot]com

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Interview: Ruma of Noida Deaf Society

Dhimant Parekh — Tue, 18 May 2010 07:10:50 +0000

Meet Anil kumar who has a hearing disability. He used to work in a papad factory earning Rs.1500 a month for a daily workload of 10 hours. Then he came to know about Noida Deaf Society and enrolled for their English course in the year 2007. Eventually he got placed in Leela Kempinski Hotels, Gurgaon much to his joy and satisfaction. “I have learnt to commit to my job from NDS, and the value of having a good job and a regular salary,” says Anil.

Noida Deaf Society was started in the year 2005 single-handedly by Ruma Roka and now this organization is impacting over 300 students through its various courses. Here is an interview of Ruma on NDS, her inspiration and the impact she is creating:

How did Noida Deaf Society start? What was the inspiration behind it?

Ruma: I always wanted to do something for the less privileged in our society. In 2004 I learnt the Indian Sign Language. This got me in touch with the deaf community and I started researching about the deaf, their issues and the needs. The more time I spent with the deaf, the more I realized the need to do something. There was no looking back from that point. I realized that there were complex issues facing the deaf in the country including lack of education facilities, lack of resources especially designed keeping the needs of the deaf in mind, no avenues for holistic development and so on. Most importantly there is no access to quality training leading to sustainable livelihood.

I found that in India deaf education was in a bad condition. Deaf students are often forced to speak and use of sign language is discouraged. I also found that since schools are not really preparing the deaf for a responsible and independent life, the deaf end up in menial jobs and get deeply frustrated.

To address some of these issues and to bring about a positive change in this marginalized community, I started an organization called Noida Deaf Society (NDS) in 2005. I started from a small two bed room flat belonging to my husband. I just had five students and I was the only trainer. Through word of mouth the organization started growing. We started teaching English using sign language – since we believe that if the deaf picked up English, they could communicate in the workplace with the written word and hence be employable in multiple professions. Thereafter we started training in basics of IT and subsequently expanded trainings to include Life Skills, Grooming, Desktop publishing and graphics and work ethics. When I started, I was the only trainer but today we are a strong team of 15 which includes 12 deaf trainers and support staff.

What are the projects NDS adopts? How does it go about executing them?
Ruma: Our goal is to enable the complete integration of the deaf into the mainstream through education and specialized vocational programs leading to gainful employment. At Noida Deaf Society we understand the constraints of the Deaf and focus on their abilities to bring out the best in them. We have used the visual medium of IT to enable learning. Training programs are conducted by Deaf trainers as we feel that they best understand the needs of the Deaf and also act as role models for the community. Training is conducted in Indian Sign Language using visual aids and multimedia based material. Our trainings have been developed based on market research and are job oriented in nature.

Training in Life Skills and Work Ethics is a key focus area towards preparing the youth for employment. Regular exposure to the industry is provided through guest lectures by professionals, industry visits and workshops. We are also actively engaging with the industry to build sensitivity and raise awareness about the Deaf through workshops, mentoring programs, collaborative industrial training, employee volunteering and sign language orientation. We have so far been able to employ over 170 youth in leading organizations in profiles such as Graphic Designing, Backend IT and Data Entry, Retail, Hospitality, Teaching, Export Houses, Production Units and so on.

Could you share with us some of the success stories of NDS?
Rumi: Anil Kumar, whom you have already noted about, is one such story. The other is that of Rattan Kumar. Rattan joined the MS Office course at Noida Deaf Society in January 2009. Opportunity knocked when he was close to finishing his course in the form of a contract data entry job at Mobile Creches. They wanted a part time data entry operator. Rattan worked hard and managed well to switch between his roles of a student and of a data entry operator. After his contract got over he was placed in ITC Maurya in Delhi in August 2009. His performance there has been so good that ITC has asked for more candidates from NDS. He has truly been a role model for the deaf and has made us very proud. Despite of coming from a weak family background (separated parents) he has given the best of himself to society.

We have many such success stories put up on our website too.

What are your future plans with NDS?
Ruma: Our student strength is increasing day by day and it is becoming difficult for us to operate from the current facilities. We would like to build a state of the art vocational training insitute for the Deaf, the only one of its kind in the country where we can offer training in multiple trades and enable the deaf to access employment. A permanent facility will also help us to reach out to the many Deaf in the country and enable them to lead meaningful lives. Introduction of new training programs like computer networking and hardware is also on the cards. Another thing that I would like to see happen in the near future is a digitized teaching & learning material for improving English literacy.

Do you have any volunteer or employment requirements that might interest our readers?
Ruma:Yes we do have a vibrant volunteer program where people from all walks of life especially professionals are contibuting towards skill development of our students. We also have employee volunteering programs with many corporates including NIIT and Mphasis.

However, we first encourage people to learn Sign language as then they will be able to contribute in a more meaningful manner. We essentially need help in employment linkages, fundraising, specialized training in computer networking and hardware.

Here is a photograph of Ruma with the entire NDS family:

To know more about NDS and to go through their work, please visit their website: http://noidadeafsociety.net/

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Okhai: Empowerment of a truly colorful kind

Dhimant Parekh — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:04:15 +0000

The region of Gujarat has been home to many a tribal cultures and has nourished them from the earliest known periods of history. The stark monotony of the arid landscape in this region is relieved by the bright shades of handicrafts made by the tribal women. Specifically, the Okhamandal Taluka is home to more than 200 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of men and women. It is from these communities that the Appliqué handicraft under the “Okhai” brand name has been created with the support and guidance of TCSRD (Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development).

The Self Help Groups in Okhamandal Taluka mainly comprise of the Rabaris, Vagher and Ahirs. The most prominent tribe here, the Rabaris, are a semi-nomadic tribe known for their survival and adaptation in arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan – pursuing a pre-agrarian, pastoral lifestyle – found mainly in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions of Gujarat. The Rabaris today lead a quaint, colourful and rugged life which finds a manifestation in the embroidery and crafts made by them.

The TCSRD centre employs the skills of about 200 Rabari women from the various Okhamanda villages and a team of trained tailors. The various products made in Okhai include apparels, accessories and handicrafts. The handicrafts workforce is guided by a full time designer to translate the traditional products into those that are in consonance with the current fashion trends. These products are sold at retail showrooms in Mithapur and Ahemdabad. The products are an amalgamation of the traditional art form of the Tribal Women and the designs of the designer.

As their website puts its, “The Okhai brand has become a powerful statement by the women of Okhamandal villages over the years. A statement that empowers them, a statement that gives them and the region an identity, a statement that make people notice this beautiful form of art and patronize it.”

What we’ve found particularly interesting is the impact that these self-help groups are creating on the community members. Do read the following tales of empowerment at the Okhai website:
Laxmi Bhara – Chief designer. She has been associated with the project for over 8 years and now is a proud owner of a home.
Rami Dula Nangesh – Empowerment personified. Her day with Okhai starts at 5 in the morning and she has been instrumental in bringing about innovative changes to the various products.

More about Okhai here: http://www.okhai.org/
To read about Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD) click here: http://www.tcsrd.org/

PS: Remember to participate in our logo contest! Click here

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Travel Another India

Dhimant Parekh — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:25:58 +0000

Discover your heart in another India, an India that is not in any tourist guide, that is rich and vibrant, that possesses an ancient soul, full of contrasts and diversity. Taste another India, discover another way of living, doing and being.

In this maddening hustle bustle of the modern day, most of us dream of a vacation , set in some tranquil abode of nature, a unique experience that enriches the body , mind and soul , full of contrasts and diversity. Something that can’t really be located in a guide book.

Well, if you are looking for all of that and want to contribute to Responsible Tourism in the country Travel another India is the answer.

As traditional sources of income erode , Travel another India aims to provide an alternate means of livelihood to many rural farm and forest fringe communities , artisans and craft persons who are willing to play host.

Travel another India won the Sankalp award for emerging companies in Rural Innovations for 2009.

Here’s an interview with Ms. Gouthami, Co-Founder of Travel another India.

How did you guys get the idea of TravelanotherIndia?

Gouthami: TAI was set up by Vinay Raj and myself. We had both worked with agencies that fund NGOs for several years. And travelled across India visiting some of its most beautiful villages. We felt that responsible tourism could be a viable alternative livelihood option. However, it was only when I was working with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan in between 2005 and 2007, that I was part of the team that implemented the UNDP and Ministry of Tourism’s Rural Tourism Project in Hodka village, that I saw how it could really work. Hodka was the inspiration behind TAI.

What was your background before starting TravelanotherIndia ?

Gouthami: I had 18 years of work experience with international and national development agencies such as ActionAid, Concern Worldwide, Christian Aid, and Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KVMS). At KMVS, I was a part of the team that set up the Shaam-e-Sarhad Rural Resort in Hodka village, Kutch. I was also a consultant with the UNDP for their Endogenous Tourism Project implemented with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (www.exploreruralindia.org), providing support to two of their endogenous tourism projects in Kerala and one in Karnataka.

Mr Vinay Raj is an ardent and intrepid traveller, having served for over two decades in the development, humanitarian and corporate sectors, spanning Asia and East Africa managing large teams, fostering innovations and partnerships. He is passionate about supporting livelihoods of endogenous communities, conscious of their cultural roots and ethos.

How does Travel another India choose the locations for guests to experience and generate revenue?

Gouthami: We basically believe that any village in India can be developed into a tourist destination if they meet these four conditions:
1. Is the village accessible to tourists?
2. Is the village safe – natural and human threats?
3. Is there a “host” in the village – an individual or group who are willing to work to ensure that guests enjoy the experience?
4. Do the weather conditions allow sufficient tourist days so that the venture is financially viable?

What has been the overall feedback of the guests?

Gouthami: Guests have in general been happy with the destinations that we are offering them. A common feedback is – “When we were young, we visited our grandparents in the villages and had a great time chasing cows, stealing mangoes and generally running riot. However, now that our parents also live in the cities, our children don’t get that experience. Your destinations allow us to show them Another India.”
I am putting together feedback from several guests to make that statement.

What is the kind of socio-economic impact the organization is generating?

Gouthami: We are too young to be able to measure the impact. However, in Hodka which has been operation for about 5 years now, we see that about 60 families (out of 250) are getting a direct income because of tourism – either directly employed in the resort, doing laundry service, providing transport, providing milk and milk products, doing mud work that covers the resort, etc. One family has even taken a loan and set up a home stay within the village. Another family has sent their sons to study further so that they can come back and work in the resort.

Of the income of Rs.21 lakhs that the resort generated last year, 40% was spent in the village itself.
In Banavasi, the fact that the “room boy” needs to clean toilets as well as serve guests meant that only one social group could be considered for the job. And now that job has greatly added to that family’s income and we hope in future to their status as well.

How do you plan to take it forward ?

Gouthami: We hope to be able to reach out 50 villages in 3 years time.
In the long term, we hope that those who are guests begin to understand what rural India is all about. Many of these urban guests will be or go on to becoming bureaucrats, politicians, doctors, lawyers, industrialists, policy makers, etc. We hope that this glimpse into another way of life will help them when they form policy or influence policy at the national and global levels to think beyond their immediate reality. We hope that change happens both ways – in the host community, but also in the guests, their families and friends.

Contact Details

Please visit http://travelanotherindia.com to know more
Blog: http://travelanotherindia.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Travel-Another-India/120624356334

This article has been written by Rahul Anand, an IT consultant , entrepreneur and social activist living in Delhi. He has been associated with Udayan care as a volunteer since the last two years; has started a program with cafindia (charity aid foundation) by the name of 100ruppeeclub. Also, his venture www.simplypoet.com is the world’s first multi lingual poetry portal.

Read Rahul’s previous article here.

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Rose Computer Academy

Unnati Narang — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:47:10 +0000

Amit Kataria comes from a humble background. Brought up in Choma village, Gurgaon, Haryana by his father, a farmer and mother, a housewife, he always dreamt of making a change in the society. Never having let his walking disability come in the way of his dreams, today he has successfully transformed the lives of many in his village by imparting computer literacy and in the process, setting a precedence worth following.

Amit’s journey began in 2007, “I completed my primary education in Choma but beyond that level of education, there was no opportunity there so I decided to study at a school in West Patel Nagar and passed my tenth and twelfth class there. In my final year, I came back to my village in 2006. I realized that most villagers owned land and money but they had little or no literacy especially in computing. They were ignorant of the need for computer skills. I found that this was the biggest need of my village and its future generations. That was when I decided to start a computer learning institute in my area.”

Students in Rose Computer Academy

With a vision to spread computer literacy throughout India, especially in rural areas, Amit started his venture ROSE Computer Academy in 2007, when he was only nineteen years of age. Having learnt computers, he realized its potential in making his community independent and in the long run, in contributing to strengthening of the economy and the nation at large. At no point of time did Amit lose heart in the face of difficulties even when finances were few and far between, he persisted. “I still remember September 7, 2005, the day when I had earned my first hundred rupees. When I set out to start my institute, I had twenty-three thousand rupees of savings. My maternal uncle agreed to lend me one lakh rupees and I could start my computer lab.”

Amit’s academy has so far trained 300 students from his village, offering courses such as Basic computing, Java, Graphic Designing, Tally, C++ and many others. His is the only academy in Palam Vihar, Gurgaon which offers different kinds of computer courses under one roof, working 18 hours a day. Some of his students have also gone ahead and opened their own enterprises, while others have taken up jobs. Some start working at the academy itself.

One of the students at ROSE Academy is seventeen year old Ashok Silwal. Born in a small village of Nepal, Ashok came to India in 2007. His father is a bus driver at a school in Gurgaon and had no money to support his education so he went back to Nepal and enrolled for a correspondence course in India. “In Gurgaon, my father met Amit Kataria sir. Sir needed an office boy, so I started working with him at the Academy. I soon developed an interest in learning computers. I completed a Certificate Course in Computer Application and Desk Top Publishing and also completed my schooling here. Then I started teaching at the ROSE Academy and earned salary also. Now I am able to contribute to my family too,” Ashok smiles, gleaming with pride.

ROSE COMPUTER ACADEMY
(Behind Sangam Sweets) H. Block Mkt. P.O.
Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017
Haryana
INDIA
Landline: 91-124-4387843
Mobile: 91-9868573124 / 91-9312605558
Website – http://www.rosecomputeracademy.com/index.aspx

ROSE Academy has provided computer skills and employment opportunity to many like Ashok. Besides computer education, ROSE Academy also provides learning assistance to students in their studies, considerably brining down the examination failure rate. As Amit puts it, “ROSE academy is like the rose flower that spreads its fragrance everywhere.” True to its name, the work and virtues of the Academy are an inspiration by every measure!

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A Barefoot Journey to Tilonia

Dhimant Parekh — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:38:22 +0000

A less traveled track to Tilonia gives one a journey into Indian entrepreneurship and perhaps changes the way our villages are perceived by city dwellers. Tilonia brings you face to face with the real spirit of India. Its misty hopefulness uncovers the nature of the task that is ahead for a social entrepreneur, its uniqueness and challenges.

Tilonia is a small town 25 kms from Kishangarh near Ajmer in Rajasthan. Barefoot College, established in 1972, inspires this town with the conviction that solutions to rural problems lie within the community. These solutions are broadly classified by Barefoot College into solar energy, healthcare, education, water, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women empowerment, income generation, wasteland development, electricity and power as well as social awareness and conservation of ecological systems in rural communities.

Barefoot College was founded by Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy, an Indian social activist and educator. Roy was influenced by the philosophy of Mao Zedong, and modeled his organization after Mao’s Barefoot Doctors. Roy has worked all his life with the Barefoot College.

Spread over more than 8 acres of land, the campus of Barefoot College was built between 1980 and 1986, designed by a team of rural ‘barefoot’ architects, masons, blacksmiths, farmers and members of women groups who sat and struggled through the initial basic designing of the campus. This institution believes in imparting informal, non-structured, on-the-job practical training by identifying the poor, unemployed youth who have been unable to finish their formal education and have returned to their respective villages as dropouts. The five principles which are an integral part of the functioning of the college are equality, collectiveness, self-reliance, decentralization and austerity.

Related news about The Barefoot College
Bunker Roy, founder-director of the much talked-about Barefoot College at Tilonia in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district, has been chosen for 2009’s Robert Hill Award for his contribution to promotion of photo-voltaics (solar energy). He is the first Indian to be recognised by the Global Solar Community which had its 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference in Hamburg, Germany, this weekend.
Click here to read more about this in The Hindu.

The education program focuses on the overall development of rural children, with literacy being just one part of it. It encourages hands-on or learning-by-doing process of gaining knowledge and skills. Lessons are focused on awareness about the environment and socio-economic and political forces that dominate development. The aim is to provide the children with a right balance of education and literacy so that they choose to stay in their village and work for its development. The college has different programs for children and women. There are Balwadis (rural crèches) established for children between the age of 6 months-5 years for the convenience of working mothers. Night schools have been set up for ‘working children’. There are bridge courses, courses for night school children who aspire to join formal day schools. In these night schools, initiatives like the children’s parliament are established which allow them to participate in the management of their schools through a democratic process. Candidates are selected through a proper election process, giving them an idea of the working of a democracy.

There is also a huge emphasis on the holistic development of women by empowering them socially, financially and politically. In the past 38 years, the college has trained more than 15,000 women in jobs ranging from construction work, education, metal craftsmanship, toy making and solar engineering, to mechanical repair and fabrication, health care, water testing, handicrafts, film making and social activism.

Vocational Training at Tilonia

The Barefoot College has setup eight field centers in Rajasthan and a society known as SAMPDA (Society for Activating, Motivating and Promoting Developmental Alternatives) through the collective efforts of which the Barefoot approach is replicated in rural communities across 14 states in India.

The global response received by the organization is worth acknowledging. The institute has witnessed semi-literate middle aged woman traveling from places as diverse as Afghanistan, Cameroon, Gambia, Mali and Sierra Leone to undergo training to become barefoot solar engineers.

To know more about this organization and to read on some of its wonderful initiatives, please visit their website at www.barefootcollege.org.

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