The Problem

Untouchability and Discrimination on the basis of Caste and Class, that results in a high school dropout ration.

The Solution

The thought process is to mobilize children and youth voices to deal with the issue. imagined taking advantage of the concept of a local feast, common in our village, and proposed that everyone eats together at the feast. The aim was to call upon every caste and creed of my village to be part of the feast. 

The Venture

The project mobilizes children and youth voices to deal with the issue. Lalita imagined to take advantage of the concept of the local feast, common in her village and proposed everyone to eat together at a feast. The aim was to call upon every caste and creed of her village to be part of the feast and unite them.

The Problem

There are many stigmas and prejudice around the people with HIV especially the youngest, which leads to low self-esteem, and a lack of inclusion in society resulting in very fewer job opportunities furthermore leading to financial crisis and psychological troubles.

The Solution

FightRed has released a range of handmade products like candles, bags, greeting cards to name a few. Earning their own money generates a sense of accomplishment within these children boosting their confidence. They are also trying to tie up with few educational institutions in Jaipur where they can enable these children to have a one on one conversation with the other students of these institutions. FightRed has also started conducting few workshops among people of diverse fields to spread awareness and holding sessions for these children to talk to professionals in particular fields.

The Venture

FightRed works for the capacity building of HIV positive people. The project has released a range of handmade products like candles, bags, greeting cards to name a few that are made by the HIV positive people, which helped them earn the money generated, gain a sense of accomplishment and boost their self-esteem. FightRed also ties up with few educational institutions in Jaipur where they can enable these children to have a one on one conversation with the students in these institutions. In addition, FightRed conducts few workshops among people from diverse backgrounds and fields in order to spread awareness about the HIV topic.

The Problem

Bharti is from Bhelatupi Bihar, a small village where there is a lack of employment for rural youth, and because of social pressures, it is especially difficult for women to work. Growing up, we are told to get government jobs, to be teachers, doctors or engineers - but these jobs are still far fetched for us. It is uncommon to imagine working for our own selves, instead of following employment where it is available.

The Solution

With the jewellery enterprise, she will be working especially with the female tea labourers of Bhelatupi, Bihar, where she is a Swayam Seekhi at Project Potential, to create employment, build confidence through creativity and give social entrepreneurship training for the women to start their own projects. It is important to provide additional income because tea plucking only occurs during the “on seasons”, leaving the labourers struggling for work in the dry months. By employing these women she will be, both, providing jobs and showing them that their understanding of plants can translate into other avenues like craft-making.

The Venture

Manavi (meaning “natural” and “feminine energy”), is a jewellery enterprise that is aiming to engage female tea labourers of Bhelatupi, Bihar. Not only Manavai is creating employment but also helps them gain confidence through creativity.  By giving social entrepreneurship training for the women she encourages them to start their own projects. Trough the trainings they learn to make additional income because tea plucking only occurs during specific seasons, leaving the labourers struggling for work in the dry months. Manavi has a multilayered approach, as it pursues both providing jobs and coaching them to translate their skills into other avenues like craft making. The jewellery made for Manavi uses only local, natural materials like bamboo, jute, rocks and seeds. These materials are chosen because they are naturally beautiful and biodegradable, thus creating little waste and because they are readily available. In Bihar, bamboo and jute are traditionally used for farming purposes, but I have developed techniques to mold them into beautiful jewellery. This encourages a culture of waste management, out of the box thinking and environmental preservation - both for the trainees and customers. This project helps me provide for my community, the environment and myself.

The Problem

In today’s world, negative news dominates all media, creating a sensation all around. This results in a sense of fear and doubt prevail in society, people are afraid of trusting others, citizens are losing confidence in themselves, the system and the society. If today’s youth grows and lives in fear, they can never contribute positively to society and the country.

The Solution

By providing people with positive news and everything that can create optimism. The aim is to show that there is more good happening in the world than bad, so citizens can regain their trust and confidence.

The Venture

The Optimist Citizen is an online and print media newspaper that focuses on presenting positive news ranging from inspiring stories, to stories of unsung heroes, to good governance, acts of courage, and everything that can create optimism and bring back hope in society. The newspaper seeks to publish positive news, demonstrating the best of humankind, even in difficult situations. This is an initiative to revive the essence of news and journalism, i.e., to create awareness, generate hope, publish the truth and bring about change. We aim to stimulate positive actions by presenting positive stories to our readers.

The Problem

Several children in the slum areas in MP are exposed to the harmful influences of gutkha (tobacco) and afeem (opium). Moreover, several children are not attending school and lack awareness around personal hygiene. Additionally, young girls in the addressed regions are often mistreated.

The Solution

The team works with parents to convince them to allow their children to attend school, and emphasise the importance of learning over earning at their age. They conduct Sunday classes to teach children about personal hygiene and other ‘good habits’. Summer classes are also given to teach children about good values, the harmful effects of drugs and important things such as differentiating between good touch and bad touch.

The Venture

Nanhi Udaan is a team of 10 members that has collected funding to educate children. So far, they have interacted with 200 children, around 100 of whom are now regularly attending school.

The Changemaker

Madhavi is in her first year at the Prestige Institute of Law and is a national level swimmer. She has also received a bronze medal from the International Award for Young People in the past.

The Problem

Rural areas comprise 70% of India, but still, the rural coverage of media is around 5%. There are various movements, protests and social issues going on in rural areas that are not covered by mainstream media.

The Solution

People from rural communities get rare attention from media. To make their voices heard Guhaar collects reliable information through various independent organizations and provides them on their platform. 

The Venture

Guhaar is an alternative space to give media consultancy to movements, protests and other social issues. The platform has been created to raise their issue and at a wider forum. Thus the impact of the struggles will increase, as the platform built is a bridge between rural and Urban India. The project prepares documentaries related to targeted issues and collects reliable information from local organisations, and then compiles them in the web platform. Also, along with presenting the issue we also try to develop a solution model with the help of local people and then subsequently forward it to various officials, governance through letters at a periodic interval. Guhaar engages local communities and organisations to get authentic data and content rather than building perception. It is always better to show the situation and interviews of the local dwellers and leave the rest to the viewers.

Bangla Initiator merges journalism and activism together, which seems like a pretty dangerous thing for children to do. But to supervise all the activities and help the children, Sabuj is there. There are 15 core members in this venture who provide training to the children, with each person heading a team out of the 15 teams. If any child sees any social problem in his/her society, he/she will let one of the 15 core members know. Then they will try to solve the problem by talking to the police or any influential person.While this initiative seems a risky deal, it has huge benefits for the children as well. The children can be aware about their surroundings, develop curiosity as well as develop interrogative skills. They will come to face reality knowledge and know the importance of their actions and speech, and how it can create a positive impact on others. 

“Bangla Automatic Vehicle Number Plate Recognition” is a software developed by Shahidul Islam which can prosvide mass surveillance with an autonomous system. This software has an existing surveillance camera that can detect local (Bangla) number plate and also save the vehicle colour, model, special marks or symbol of a moving vehicle. All the information will then be stored in a database. This surveillance system will come in handy to the law enforcement team if any unpleasant circumstance arises. The artificial intelligent technology used in this recognition software will give more faster and accurate results than the traditionally used RFID method. This technological venture made by Shahidul will not only benefit the law enforcing people, but also the corporate sector and the people who want to increase the security of their homes. 

In Bangladesh, teenagers do not get much support or guidance during their adolescence. They are often curiosity to know more about health, social relationships, personal development and other social issues, but they feel too shy to share these questions with their seniors and guardians. Additionally, most families are unaware of teenagers’ rights and needs. As a result, many teenagers develop self-harming practices, depression and sometimes even criminal behaviors. Mithela’s organization, Bloom the Flower, organizes sessions for teenagers focusing on general health, menstrual health, gender awareness, positive thinking, self-awareness, relationship building, friend selection, social and cyber security, entertainment and social taboos. Mithela hopes to make teenage development a top priority in her village and to raise public awareness about the importance of youth development.

Tanzeel wants to expose teenagers to the process of changemaking, peacebuilding and teen and youth development work. His venture, the Ogrogahi Foundation, is a youth social organization that empowers deprived teenagers by providing them special facilities and by bringing long-term initiatives to their communities. Some examples of these initiatives are creating a School of Changemakers, creating online and offline platforms for creative minds, promoting digital fundraising for cancer patients and peacebuilding projects. He hopes to inspire teenagers in his village to work on the many social problems in their communities and to bring about positive change.