Young girls traversing the road less travelled

The meaning of social entrepreneurs, as explained by Ashoka India, is an organisation which is working to promote new and innovative ideas of social development by investing in such ideas is “Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change”.

In the last few years, there has been an increase in interest of young students in social change. With a number of volunteering and internship options by organisations like ‘Make a Difference’ and ‘Shades of Happiness’ and several fellowships offered by government and NGO’s has helped the students to learn more about social entrepreneurship.

Ankita Babbar from Delhi and Yomphy Lollen from Arunachal Pradesh are two young girls in their early twenties who are working on a project named ‘Hearty Hands’. “ They sell herbal, handmade products which are made by young women who are good at crafts, health, beauty and natural products but work as maids or daily barters. “Our idea is come up with business models led by women providing entrepreneurial skills, training and financial independence”, says Yomphy.
When asked about the reason of choosing social entrepreneurship over a secure job, Ankita said “i come from a business background and want to take risks and nurture my own idea”.

Another Delhi girl, Ravi Tondakk, who is passionate about the issues relating to growing crimes in Delhi has started a website called ‘CrimeinDelhi’. “Crimeindelhi.com is initiative of awareness and prepare-

Members of Chehel with their students

dness for crime which is constantly increasing day by day towards the society. We also have a ‘Report A Crime’ section where visitors can report a crime for other visitors to be aware of. If desired by the reporter, the same can be forwarded to the concerned Police Station. We also organise events for creating mass awareness on prevention of Crime”, said Ravi.
Vrinda Loiwal was a student of Lady Shri Ram college of D.U when she started a project called ‘Chehel’. They started teaching three kids of nearby Zamrudpur Basti in the year 2010 and the number grew to 25 in just three weeks. “I wanted to do domething for street children who used to beg and I thought that they should be studying”. Chehel is now in its fourth year and they have a fixed curriculum designed for the students. Their students have performed twice in Kamani auditorium of Delhi. Vrinda is currently designing a curriculum of resilience building for students of Basti schools in Jaipur and she wants to pursue her masters in positive psychology or counselling.

“I think that whatever calls out to you, just jump into it and take action rather than just talking. Doing this makes me feel big and that I can make a difference”, she said.

The spirit and determination of these young girls serves as an inspiration and motivation for all of us. With more such initiatives, we can together fight all the problems prevailing in society.