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FREEDOM & EMPOWERMENT
During her Bapujinagra intervention, Archana found that migrant individuals and transgender people were struggling to get voter IDs and aadhar cards. Some people were not able to gather the fees required for these processes. To reduce this burden and increase awareness, she trained 4 young people on how to register for voter ID, pension schemes and Eshram cards. Because of Archana and these four volunteers, in Bapujinagar there are now more than 600+ people who feel free after officially registering with the government. Several young people also learned to utilize govt facilities.
AWARENESS FOR DIGNITY
A girl from Rural Karnataka spoke to Archana about the importance to having a toilet building at the house and how it's affecting women's dignity during the session. Archana talked her through the schemes in panchayat to get household toilets. The young girl wrote a letter to the panchayat and got a toilet built for her house. She also empowered her community members to utilize this opportunity provided by the panchayat. Following her example, many villagers benefited from this awareness.
CLOTH PAD REVOLUTION
5 years ago, after Archana's menstrual hygiene session, a girl from a marginalized community understood the importance of menstrual hygiene management and sustainability. During the session she explained the importance of sustainable pads, how it affects the environment, health, and finances. So, she was convinced to make the switch to cloth pads. She even started stitching her own cloth pads and motivated her family and community to use sustainable pads. With an entrepreneurial spirit, she sold stitched cloth pads to her family and her neighbors.
A NEW TOILET IN SCHOOL
We engaged 30 students and 5 volunteers in one rural area school to present the data about unhygienic and bad infrastructure and vandalized public toilets to the school authorities. When that did not work, they reported the problem to Makkala Gram Sabha (Children’s Gram Sabha) and followed up. After a few months of this (almost at the end of the school year), the school finally got a new toilet facility.
IMPACT STORIES
We call our changemakers Leading Lights, as they pave the way for a cleaner, more equitable future for themselves and those around them. Here are a few stories we collected while working with communities. Their will to make a difference inspires us all.
