Aahwahan Foundation and its exceptional journey of the developmental work it has undertaken over the years
Braja Kishore Pradhan With Aahwahan Foundation
Aahwahan Foundation, an NGO aiming to bring equality in the society through its various measures focused on eradicating poverty, unemployment, women inequality and promoting girl’s education.
The NGO was founded in the year 2009 and ever since it has touched various lives through its developmental work. It has been working in the remotest and the most economically backward regions of the country to promote the welfare and progress of these regions and has undertaken various initiatives to create to improve the socio-economic well-being of the people. The NGO primarily focuses its efforts on bringing growth and progress of rural India while uplifting all the sections of the region.
The man behind the Foundation’s successful journey
Braja Kishore Pradhan, the founder and the man behind the success of Aahwahan Foundation proudly holds the title of being one of the most renowned philanthropists. All his development work is inspired by his father’s deeds that always encouraged him to give back to society and walk on the path of righteousness. His love for the underprivileged and this idea of giving comes from his childhood experienced when he witnessed their plight and felt the urge to uplift their living through any possible means. The foundation idea of Aahwahan was reinforced a long ago during his childhood when he started saving up to help the needy. Taking this further, his entire college life he was engrossed with fundraisers, community service and social work. With his excellent grit and determination, he carved a successful career path for himself and become a capable man who could now realize his dreams of social work. Soon he launched the Aahwahan foundation which in no time became the voice of rural India. Its successful initiatives benefitted thousands in society and inspired others to do their part in the same. As the driving force behind Aahwahan Foundation, he launched various programs that advocate the protection of human rights, rural education & healthcare, restoration of human dignity, empowerment of women, revenue generation through integrated farming, expansion of opportunities for personnel in rural areas and their participation in socio-economic development. Pledging to the same, he has dedicated his life for the betterment of the society and would continue to inspire more and more people to provide selfless service to the community.
A remarkable achievement for the Foundation as it receives accolades from Dr. K. Sivan, director of ISRO; the director of ISRO Dr. K Sivan for the developmental work that it has undertaken over the years recently acknowledged the NGO.
In his acknowledgment speech, Dr. K. Sivan said, “He is impressed by the kind of work that the NGO has undertaken for the growth and development of the society as a whole. He points out how remarkable and notable the NGO’s efforts are and wishes the team for their excellent work.”
This critical acclamation comes at a time when the foundation has been recognized nationally for its major developmental work. In a recent Press release published by The Indian Express, the NGO was rightfully acknowledged for their remarkable efforts to help the affected people of the region.
The volunteers of Aahwahan Foundation, under their relief operation, provided food and water to the disaster victims. The team provided cooked meals to more than 500 victims of the Cyclone and even arranged donations for packaged drinking water and food. The relief operations greatly benefitted the millions of victims who had been displaced and had no access to clean food or water. Their collective efforts saved lives and rescued people in that critical hour.
The Foundation’s holistic developmental approach which constitutes environment protection as its top priority
Aahwahan commitments are not just to benefit the people from its initiatives but also play an equally important role in protecting and preserving nature. To honor their commitment, the NGO has undertaken various plantation drives across remote geographical locations of the country. Their brilliant effort and vision of ‘One Tree at a Time’ have eventually become a major success.
To mark a decade of its foundation, the NGO launched the Go Green Campaign under which it planted 1.5 million trees. This is an incredibly proud moment for the team who’s collective and sincere efforts have made a difference in bringing down the carbon footprint levels and create a positive impact on the environment.
Aahwahan Foundation takes a deep interest in creating a clean and pollution-free environment. For that, it has a dedicated team of volunteers who solely dedicate their efforts in beach cleaning drives. They gather volunteers from all around and run cleanliness campaigns where all sorts of plastic trash like plastic bags, cans, containers, medical waste, needles & surgical instruments are removed from the beach.
Aahwahan has organized various such cleanliness drives, which have garnered huge support and recognition from all sections of the society. The recent one was on 12th August 2018, wherein the Volunteers worked tirelessly to remove the waste and make a visible difference to the cleanliness of the beach. The foundation has been a pioneer in the beach cleaning space and has been acknowledged nationwide for its thoughtful work. In a recent survey, the NGO was awarded as one of the best NGOs for its environmental and beach cleaning initiatives which managed to make a remarkable difference. There are several other campaigns lined up in collaboration with various stakeholders concerned with conservation in Udaipur beach. These collective efforts will not only keep the beaches clean but promote local growth in terms of tourism.
In one of its recent programs, the NGO started the Lake restoration facilities in which the entire area surrounding the lake would be restored by the NGO. Space will be cleaned and employment opportunities will be offered in and around the area and the Lakes will be restored.
Another inspiring initiative taken by the foundation was ‘Organic Village’ under which Aahwahan adopted a village and made it a point to help it grow and develop in an organic way. This includes providing organic farming training to farmers along with various required tools and technology. The motto of this initiative was to build and grow this village community in a purely organic way. By promoting organic farming, organic milk production, production of organic products by the local village community to minimize detrimental effects to the environment. Aahwahan Foundation’s dream is to create an Organic village that would become a role model for sustainable farming across villages in India.
Paving way for Economic growth and progress of the society through various developmental schemes for Education
Another area where the team has been dedicatedly working is promoting growth and welfare through education. Being on the top of its priority list, the NGO has been engaging in various works to create Education awareness among different sets of the society. From dedicated camps to pamphlets distribution, awareness about the benefits and significance of education to bridge the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged. Along with that, the team is taking care of 37 kids and their complete educational needs.
The team’s latest project, Computer Institute on Wheels is a major success. In this era of digitization, the team stepped out of the conventional and did something extraordinary like bringing computer education to the underprivileged under this scheme, a team of volunteers qualified in computer technologies go on wheels to villages for free computer education of an hour. This revolution has brought a remarkable change and many people especially girls have directly benefitted from the program. The objective of our initiative “Computer Institution Wheels” is to give access to rural students, especially female students to enhance their technological skills. By doing so, we improve their chances of employability and help them stand on their feet and become independent.
Taking another leap in the direction, the NGO even adopted one school from Bangalore and donated all the requisites and essentials to the students there. From books, school bags to T-shirts and track pants, the NGO takes care of all the needs of the students and tries to provide them with the best.
The NGO come up with another smart and innovative measure which is called the Student Soldier. Under this scheme, students from all International and Private schools donate their bit to help one underprivileged student educate. They can donate school bags, text books, stationery, pens, water bottle, tiffin box and uniform to one student. This way they will do their part in helping that underprivileged student learn and get educated.
Identifying and promoting a child’s hidden talent and potential through this amazing program called “Aahwahan Patrika”
Then there is this great, one of its kind initiative called Aahwahan Patrika which is focused on helping a child grow to the best of its potential. This includes giving them a platform to realize their talent in whichever field it lies, be it art, music, painting, dancing, sports or drama. For that, they conduct Aahwahan Patrika sessions in collaboration with multiple schools where students get to participate and explore their talents.
This is a great step that helps in supporting a child to explore and values its competencies. Not just this but the platforms also help children to grow and enhance their skill set leading to holistic growth and integrated growth. This has created a wonderful opportunity for children to express and unleash their talent and live their dreams.
The NGO gives special attention to the education of girl’s education and has conducted various counseling sessions to aware people of the cause. They have conducted multiple educational and informative sessions on physical and mental health and especially girl’s hygiene and well-being.
Taking care of the Health and well-being of the underprivileged sections of the society
Aahwahan Foundation has been sincerely and dedicatedly working to improve the health and the well-being of the underprivileged sections of the society. Considering that it has launched various medical initiatives to provide medical support to the poor. Since then, the programmer has been able to benefit over 1 lakh people. These remarkable efforts in the field of health have been rightfully recognized by the United Nations and various other International Organizations.
Embarking upon the same path, Aahwahan Foundation has been taking persistent strides in the same by promoting ethical and evidence-based treatment, delivering technical assistance, organizing funds. The foundation has organized various Blood Donation and health camps which have garnered excellent recognition and support.
Another inspiring step that the foundation is taking to bridge the gap between the acute shortage of medical care and services in rural areas is by providing remote medical care services. For that, they have a mobile van which comprises of a driver, a nurse, a doctor, and medical care and equipment. This mobile van goes from village to village every day and provides Outpatient Physical Therapy to patients in inaccessible rural areas. The schedule would be shared in advance with the villagers for better coordination and many have been benefited from this scheme already. These areas include Tribal Areas, Conflict-Affected Areas (Insurgency, Left Wing Extremism), Hilly and Desert Areas, Islands, areas affected with flood. Using this model, mobile healthcare services can cover four to five villages in a single day. The clinics are staffed by a doctor, nurse, radiologist, lab technician, pharmacist, and driver. They aim to provide medical check-ups, investigation facilities, awareness programs, post-natal services, electrocardiography, and medication.
Aahwahan’s and its dedication towards women empowerment
Another deeply rooted ideology of Aahwahan follows the path of women’s empowerment and its significance for society as a whole. It has taken various progressive and exceptional measures to bring women equality and promote the balanced growth of the society. For that Aahwahan organizes these counseling sessions and seminars which are purely designed to promote women empowerment. They follow a holistic, integrated and strategic approach to address significant issues like; Discouraging discriminatory practices and violence against women. They also focus on organizing funds for promoting women’s potential through education, skill development, and employment. Aahwahan Foundation aims to promote various cottage and small scale industries in rural and tribal areas that will help uplift the living standard of women by providing them a source of earning their livelihood. For that the foundation has launched various schemes to promote: Stitching units, Soft toy manufacturing units, Sanitary napkin units, Agarbati making units, enriching traditional occupation of the communities, pickle, jam production units which would provide women a source of earning their livelihood and the accompanying freedom.
Ground-level Initiatives: Promoting the growth of the Agricultural sector for an all-inclusive development
Aahwahan Foundation has made the growth and development of the Nation synonymous with the growth and development of the agriculture sector. A major focus of the NGO is to bring progress and advancement in the agricultural sector to help the farmers get over their plight. For that, their efforts are aimed at building an effective, feasible and economical infrastructure for the agricultural region so that the farmers can make the best of their efforts. This includes bringing advancement in each stage of production beginning from seed procurement, better irrigation and the overall development lifecycle of the crops.
The initiative will focus on collaborating with various Universities and their talented students to bring in some highly commendable agricultural innovations. The idea is to drive the agricultural sector towards development through brilliant innovations in the field. This is one of a kind campaign that can eventually bring an agricultural revolution in the country.
The NGO takes special efforts to train and educate our farmers on modern techniques of farming, provide them with better irrigation facilities, and make them aware of hybrid yields. Along with that, the NGO organizes funds to provide basic amenities to farmers like health care, drinking water, education, etc.
Community Development is at the heart of the NGO’s efforts
Aahwahan Foundation is also consciously taking steps to meet the seasonal requirements of the needy people. Hence, its remarkable winter soldier drive in which the NGO provides blankets and warm clothes to the needy people out there on the streets. Since its inception, the foundation has made it a point to protect every needy person from the harsh and bitter cold.
Every year, they come up with their blanket donation campaign in Orissa, Delhi NCR and other parts of North India where there are multiple people on the streets who are seeking relief from the extreme temperature. The NGO invites winter soldiers from all across the Nation to raise funds to provide the best quality blankets, dry ration and dignity kits to the destitute. The campaign is organized in the most transparent manner where all the supporters join the cause and lend their helping hand towards the poor.
The mission this year is to extend this help from North India to other parts of the country as well. For that, the NGO has been working day and night to raise funds and garner support for the cause to be able to donate 40000 blankets this year. The mission and vision of the campaign align with that if the NGO and seeks the ultimate joy and satisfaction of giving.
Aahwahan Foundation has taken yet another brilliant measure to provide the needy with the most basic and required facilities. Under their latest, “Food for Hungry People” scheme the NGO aims to feed 200+ hungry people every day. For that, the team raises funds and even teams with various restaurants and food outlets to distribute the leftover food to the deprived. The Initiative aims to increase this number from 200 to 1000 very soon and for that, they have been working hard to invite supporters.
As a part of their remarkable journey, they took another wonderful Initiative to help the neediest and underprivileged sections of the society. In this recent measure, they organized funds and donated 300 laptops to the handicapped people. This initiative received incredible support and funding. The Ngo focuses to launch various similar campaigns and drives to support the cause and help the needy have a better chance at life.
The NGO has been receiving critical acclamation and appreciation for its remarkable work. Taking one step forward in that direction, the NGO conducted a workshop in one of the most prestigious institutes of India which is The IIM, Bangalore. The workshop talked about the journey of the NGO from scrape to what it is now. It had interactive sessions in which the team shared their experiences with the Ngo and how their developmental work has touched the lives of millions of people. Their exceptional and wonderful experiences from this journey received all the due recognition and glory.
Aahwahan Foundation is deeply committed to providing leadership on issues critical to health, maintaining partnerships as appropriate, adhering to the norms and standards set by the government, promoting ethical and evidence-based treatment, organizing funds, and constructing viable institutional capacity. A special focus of their schemes is to promote women’s health through a bracket of schemes like improving sanitation conditions for women and promoting various drives on menstrual awareness.
Covid-19
The Founder of the Aahwahan Foundation, Braja Kishore Pradhan and his team during a visit to a slum in Bengaluru, Noida & Delhi observed that people were not aware of the COVID-19. Our team also found out that those living in the slums were not using masks or hand sanitizers. Realizing the vulnerability of this marginalized section to the disease, Braja Kishore Pradhan from Bengaluru & Nitesh Kumar From Delhi NCR team quickly mobilized resources. He set up an internal team that was responsible for distributing masks, hand sanitizers among the slum dwellers along with educating them on the seriousness of the health issue. We are providing Cooked food, grocery to needy people.
At this critical period, civil society must come forward and support the vulnerable communities — adults, refugees, migrants, workers, individuals affected by homelessness, etc. Your donations to the fund would assist long-term relief for vulnerable communities. Individuals can also make non-monetary contributions — milk, bread, biscuits, rice, wheat, hand sanitizers, masks, etc.
Regards
Aahwahan Foundation
https://www.facebook.com/AAHWAHANFOUNDATION/
Address:-
Building No-40, 4th Floor, 9th Block Jaya Nagar, Bangalore-69
9113018004 / 7795065657
info@aahwahan.com
No Comments