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Hope Floats: Assam’s Boat Clinics Help Women Plan Families

February 19, 2013 No Comment

A unique concept – boat clinics – are offering crucial medical assistance, advice on family planning, and most importantly, hope to the millions living in the many small, flood-prone islands in Assam where hospitals and dedicated medical centres are unheard of, and at many times in the year, inaccessible.

Van Panchayats – Keeping Forests Healthy And People Happy!

January 24, 2013 No Comment

Collecting fodder and firewood to keep the household running would once take four hours of Sunita Arya’s time in Almora district of Uttarakhand every day. Today, she spend just half-an-hour on the same chores. What brought about this almost magical turnaround? The systematic protection of the village forest, thanks to an effective ‘van panchayat’ (forest governance unit).

The Honeycomb Effect: Small Causes, Small Changes – Big Impact [Part 2]

January 15, 2013 1 Comment

Continuing our changemakers series, here we present to you a very diverse bunch of people – an apartment owner who composts her kitchen waste, village women who stitch washable sanitary napkins and a traditional honey hunter in the Nilgiris. What can they have in common? They are all social and ecological entrepreneurs, and this is how they are making a difference.

TBI Inspirations: Sonali Mukherjee Rises From The Ashes, Fights Violence Against Women

December 21, 2012 No Comment

Sonali Mukherjee is a victim of a brutal acid attack that happened nine years ago. She and her family have had to suffer many hardships since then, with very little governmental and institutional support. In spite of this, the gritty youngster fought the system and demanded her rights, and is now an active voice for [...]

Step Up for Disaster Risk Reduction: Appreciate, Encourage and Empower the Female Voice

December 19, 2012 No Comment

The social role assigned to women as caregivers and nurturers naturally extend to disaster risk management, to secure life and the continuity of livelihoods, and to maintain the life support systems, in times of disasters. It would therefore be imprudent to understate the role women play in tackling emergency situations and in building resilience within [...]

TBI Specials: Kolar’s Community Heroes – Leaders From The Countryside

December 17, 2012 No Comment

The town of Kolar in Karnataka might have lost its golden sheen, but its marginalised communities, including bonded labourers, illiterate Dalits and women are rising in unprecedented ways and improving the living and working conditions of not only their immediate families but of their community at large. Despite legislations that have outlawed bonded labour in [...]

TBI Heroes: Binalakshmi Nepram – Helping Gun Widows In Manipur Remake Their Lives

November 29, 2012 No Comment

It is the sad truth that women are widowed in Manipur on a regular basis due to ongoing violence. With no one left to support them financially, these women often find themselves unable to feed their families. Things are changing however, and due to the untiring efforts of one woman, there is now a support [...]

TBI Social Enterprise: Art that Empowers – Pioneering Change through Partnerships

November 12, 2012 1 Comment

Grannies making hand-knitted and crocheted baby garments, female artisans weaving dreams out of lovely threads, rural artists shaping their future with hand-crafted pottery and home accessories – these are just some examples of urban, educated youth partnering with rural and marginalised groups to create sustainable social enterprises that empower and enrich their lives. How many [...]

TBI Heroes: Protecting Daughters In Patriarchy’s Heartland

November 5, 2012 No Comment

Amid all the depressing news we have been receiving of late on the state of the girl child in India, especially from the northern patriarchal states like Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, here are a few stories that give us hope. These are women, and also some men, who have adopted and cared for abandoned little girls despite their own dire conditions, and many times against the wishes of their family. This is courage and compassion in its purest form.

TBI Heroes: Pankajani Delivers Good Health And Hope

October 3, 2012 No Comment

An accredited social health activist (ASHA) in her remote, often flood-ravaged village in Odisha, Pankajani not only saves lives on a daily basis but goes way beyond her call of duty to be available to her wards at all times spreading awareness, dispensing advice and curing ills. Her dedication is plainly visible as she recalls painful memories of last year’s floods in Odisha and the steps she took to ensure that the situation in her village remained under control.