Entries by Calpaq Interactive

Albert Schweitzer Medal awarded to Armene Modi

Albert Schweitzer Medal awarded to Armene Modi for her academic excellence and extensive service in education and literacy. The presentation was made on 18th April 2020 at the World Literacy Summit 2020. “In the firm belief that issues of poverty and illiteracy are not the problems of just the poor and marginalized alone, but universal […]

The Alicon Group

The Alicon Group collaborates with the Bansuri Foundation on various social initiatives. BF endeavours to transform lives in village India, enabling rural women to become economically independent and self-reliant. In an effort to promote sustainable livelihoods in India, we support BF in its partnership with NGO Ashta No Kai and their Dairy Project in Sone […]

A Reality Check on Sanitation at the Grassroots

This paper was presented at the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Institute NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “COST EFFECTIVE SUSTAINABLE SANITATION – AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE” 28th  –  30th June 2010 ABSTRACT: The paper will share the experience of initiating a village sanitation project and offer some solutions on how sustainable sanitation at the grassroots level can be promoted […]

Voices for the Voiceless – Transforming Women’s Lives in Rural India

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”, an ancient proverb states. My journey from Tokyo, Japan, to the remote villages of Shirur County in Pune District was inspired by Gandhi’s oft-quoted message, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. It began in 1997 with the chance reading of […]

Village Development

In many villages in India today, basic health and sanitation are pressing concerns due to lack of infrastructure and education. ANK has trained village level community workers to provide fundamental health care information and services, and generate awareness about personal and environmental hygiene. ANK gives them medical kits with which they can meet the basic […]

Self-Help Groups

In July 1999, ANK began to organize women into the micro-credit model of savings and loan collectives called Self-Help Groups (SHGs). ANK has established over 125 SHGs in its 10 villages, which today, village women successfully run and manage entirely on their own. Individual members in groups that have been in existence for over five […]

School Infrastructure

Ashta No Kai has also worked to improve the quality of education in village schools by providing infrastructure like classrooms and computer centers for high schools, school toilets and Balwadis (kindergartens). School aids like computers, laboratory equipment, textbooks and library books, as well as equipment like water tanks, mats, play centers and games have been […]

Karate Classes

With increasing incidents of violence against women, ANK in 2012, felt that introducing self-defense techniques such as Karate classes for adolescent girls would instill, besides discipline, self-confidence in knowing that they could protect themselves if attacked. Accordingly, a new initiative, the Karate program was introduced to help give rural girls the confidence to fight back […]

Kishori Mandals

Kishori Mandal meetings are held to provide a platform for girls aged 11-16 to build their self-confidence by giving them inputs in life skills and information on topics they would not readily receive at home or in their school curriculum. In addition, camps and workshops are held periodically for the Kishori girls to help them […]

Scholarships

With the increased enrollment of young girls in high schools, ANK has had the opportunity to further assist the campaign for equal education by providing scholarships to approximately 950 girls. Each year, over a 100 girls receive scholarships from ANK to continue their education in high school or college. This is a big jump from […]