The 2nd Foundation Maker workshop conducted for school children in Amrita Vidyalayam Thalassery by our team of researchers from AMMACHI labs was such a momentous success with the final project being, kids building a boat out of waste plastic water bott…
Community Organizer and #SHG group members conducting #health and #hygiene awareness sessions in Kalinagar primary school in West Bengal.https://www.facebook.com/1809035702453946
At Kalinagar village West Bengal, it was a day filled with #sbm related meetings. We have a good news to share, our Kalinagar village has an #ODF status now. As per block office 85% of the community has toilets now. Our sanitation committee reported th…
During our last visit we had noticed Alcoholism as a major problem in the Kalinagar village at West Bengal (many were making liquor, as a source of living too). However, this time we got to know that many of the illicit liquor suppliers were forced to stop & liquor consumption reduced by 95%. This was due to frequent inspection by an excise inspector Mr Biswajit. So we met this SI to applaud his efforts who is doing this service in this locality for past 3 months. He said he is honestly implementing the “zero illicit liquor” rule. We could see his sincerity as, for 7 youth of this village whose liquor shops were closed he provided gainful employment in near by private companies. He is doing the same in near by villages too. He showed us bonds and video clips obtained from the illegal suppliers and family members of them confessing never to indulge again.
AMMACHI Labs deployment team suggested that it would be great if his team conducts an awareness session on the ill effects of alcoholism as a sustainable effort to curb this social issue. To our pleasant surprise he was happy with the idea & immediately agreed to do it in March.
Certificate distribution to first and second batch students from AMMACHI Labs computer training center in Karanji village, Chattisgarh. Our #Cvet programs aims at providing quality education to the women and youth in rural villages in India.https://www…
In bringing social transformation at Kalinagar village West Bengal, through community engagement, we conducted a mass awareness program yesterday with 50 women in attendance. They were mostly #SHG members & change agents, they were initially apprised of their role as change models. Later on, our team shared success stories of women from other villages.
After initial inspiration, next we showed them a video with social message and then the floor was open for anyone to come and speak about it. We could see women leaders emerging.Having thus created a fertile ground for interactions, we asked them to name 4-5 most pressing problems. They were grouped into 4 groups and each group had to choose one problem and suggest any solutions they could possibly imagine.What followed was a good presentation, we formed 4 task groups (with a leader and a second in command with 8 to 10 members), for solving drinking water problem, road building, perusing for 100% ODF, pension issue. These groups will now work with our Community Organizer in putting efforts to solve issues they took up, thus building community ownership.
#sanichampion #womenempowerment, #ODFree
#WECSDP #GenCen
Life Enrichment Education classes were organised by our Community Organiser for the high school girl’s at their hostel in Malgaon village, Chhattisgarh.https://www.facebook.com/1809036632453853
February 17, 2018
It was a special day for the women’s groups and the entire community at Kanti village #Haryana because Jeffrey Sachs & the #UNSDSN team made an exclusive visit hosted by AMMACHI Labs and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs is an American economist and director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is well known as one of the world’s leading experts on economic development and the fight against poverty.
He toured the village and learned about our skill development programs which have trained more than 50 women in toilet building, tailoring, computer & #lifeskills in Kanti. He also saw an overview of the wider #MAMath programs from Amrita SeRVe and AmritaCreate.
Around 2500 residents live in Kanti village and many did not have access to clean water, proper sanitation and decent roads until the #MAMath began development work in 2015. Jeff Sachs was pleased to hear about some of the sucesses due to Amrita’s many interventions and those specifically carried out by AMMACHI Labs such as:
-Women trained in Rural Toilet Building and life skills through computerized training
-Women taking part in other skill programs on economic empowerment and income generation by training on soap making courses, computers skills and tailoring skills.
-Concerted community-wide action towards achieving open defecation free #ODF status through awareness, behavioral change and toilet building.
-Community-wide cleaning, waste management & hygiene promotion activities and events specific to sanitation, women’s health, education for girl children, legal rights, anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco awareness and campaigns.
-Self Help Group (#SHG) formation and microfinance initiatives and skill training.
-Establishment of programs & structures that promote women’s leadership and gender equality such as women stepping into the role of community organizer #CO, women becoming change agents, women becoming Mahila Police Volunteers under the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development, thus promoting women’s safety, subject matter experts #SMEs and more.
-Water testing & installation of reverse osmosis filtration #RO
-Sustainability through a “Green revolution” of community-wide tree planting & participating in creating Amrita gardens, with organic, locally grown vegetables.
-Empowering women to build capacities and effectively liaise with Government and external agencies
Jeffrey Sachs also participated in several meetings with the SHG members, listening to their success stories and how they have been able to overcome personal, family, and community development challenges. One was an interactive discussion with the women’s groups, toilet building team and health workers where he spent time learning about the specific issues and understanding the impact of the project. Another meeting was with with tailoring students, and school age children and students who attend tuition classes and the school. This team presented their observations and findings from the Ideal Village exercise and their plan for next five years. He also leaned about our games for community development and participated in a demo.
Overall, he enjoyed interacting with the #sanitation champions and change makers who are working hard to transform the village. Because of all these initiatives, several success stories have emerged of women stepping into their power and making a change. Prof. Sachs commented positively about AMMACHI Labs’ pioneering work. In 2016, he was a plenary speaker at the RAHA 2016 conference at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. We sure hope to have Jeffrey Sachs and team back at Amrita very soon!
Visit our website: www.ammachilabs.orghttps://www.facebook.com/1814359098588273
Yesterday, AMMACHI Labs’ deployment team members visited almost 24 houses in Naglapurvia village in Vrindavan and called up an another community meeting for selecting a Community Organizer and Facilitator. Kumari Pooja seems very enthusiastic to take o…
AMMACHI Labs’ deployment team members are in Naglapuria village in Vrindavan. They conducted a community outreach program at the village and a large number of women attended the event. Our team is looking forward to select a new community organizer and…
AMMACHI Labs’ trained Community Organizer in Naniborwai village, Gujarat led the anti tobacco(Gudka) campaign and cancer prevention awareness session on the occasion of #worldcancerday.https://www.facebook.com/1809033902454126
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Celebrations took place in several villages. Shown here are events in Kalinagar, West Bengal and Guptapada, Orissa. Women #COs organized motivational talks and posters on women leaders in the fiel…
Our community organizer Meenal (Gujarat) is giving awareness on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, a small deposit scheme of the Government of India meant exclusively for a girl child and is launched as a part of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign. She is also h…
Kanti village Harayana conducts the “Ideal Village Exercise” In our sanitation interventions in 21 states across India, we have worked closely with villagers, especially women, to discover what is most important to them. In this exercise they envison w…
Community cleaning and awareness rally in Kalinagar, Westbengal led by the community organizer #CO #sanichampion #womenempowerment, #ODFree
#WECSDP #GenCenhttps://www.facebook.com/1800797419944441
Apart from our existing village Junakatthiwada in Madhya Pradesh, we also visited three newly adopted villages Muljipura , Haveli Kheda and Golamba to get a look and feel about the village and the community as a whole, in order to prepare for upcoming meetings with state officials.
Almost all the villagers have access to community toilets in these villages that are being used. The community is vibrant and there is a lot of potential for growth irrespective of their educational background and cultural diversity.
Education for their children, especially girls is perceived as very important. The women in community are capable and independent in decision making. The community at all these villages are welcoming & there is a lot of scope to implement successful development programs here. #sanichampion #womenempowerment, #ODFree
#WECSDP #GenCen
Some members from the field team are presently in Juna Kathiawada, village in Madhya Pradesh. Through #NRLM several tailoring students procured a large order to make non-woven bags. The Subject Matter Expert relayed that the students are very skilled i…
AMMACHI Labs deployment team members were at Jharkhand village last week. Team organised community meetings particularly with the direct beneficiaries of mould toilets.We are involving them as volunteers to make sure that there is an increased awareness & they understand the importance of getting one. They are also participating in government funded toilet building happening in parallel at Dewgain village.
Through our tailoring project, we are exploring to get some lasting employment for the pass outs by connecting them to relevant business units. In this connection we spoke to Niraj Kumar, CSR head of Arvind Mills. They are branching out to many places to fund/induct rural talents & sounded positive on our way of skilling. He was introduced to us by Mr Halder, a senior from Jharkhand state food commission & quite familiar of our work in villages.
Meeting with Mission Manager, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana in Delhi. DDUGKY is a Government of India youth employment scheme.https://www.facebook.com/1800776583279858
In Pandori village, Jammu and Kashmir with support from AMMACHI Labs zonal coordinator, our #SHG women have opened six Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts in Post Office. Our team has been encouraging the women to enroll in these saving schemes, securing funds…
Tailoring session with Glorka, a California fashion designer, in Malgaon Village, Chhattisgarh.https://www.facebook.com/1801646819859501
Ravi Kalantre, zonal lead from AMMACHI Labs had some key meetings with ministers, government officials and villagers in North East India.
In Assam, he visited Hazaarikapara village, Mandakata Tea Estate village and also met with Block Development Offic…
The Robotics for Education #R4E team has completed two days of the creative robotics workshop in Saraswati Vidyapeetham, Kattappana, #Idukki. Swami Jnanamritananda Puri was a special guest for the formal kickoff ceremony. The students were very eager t…
AMMACHI Labs was delighted to host Prof. Miriam Reiner, head of the Virtual Reality and NeuroCognition lab at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. הטכניון. Her recent visit to Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham aimed to promote inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. She met with key members at Amrita and had group dissucions with the AMMACHI Labs Technologies Group at the Makerspace. She gave a talk titled “Enhancing human performance- Integrating virtual and augmented reality with physiological measures to study cognitive-affective responses.”
Earlier this year, Prof. Bhavani met with Prof. Reiner and Dr. Uri Leron at the Vr.NeuroCog Labs at Technion in Israel.
Last week, the Robotics for Education #R4E team conducted a study called ”Examining factors associated with intrinsic motivation in young people for learning simulation based robotics: a qualitative approach” with 6 students. The study focused on competitive robotics and was lead by Prof. Gayathri Manikutty and Kavin Prasad S and Vishnu Somasekhar. The children participated in an 11 hour training in the Lego Digital Designer simulation software for Lego robotics and a Virtual Robotics Toolkit during their December Winter holidays. After the training, the children were given a mini, 3 week challenge using the Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit. They had a 4-hour per week time limit to use the physical robotics kit but had unlimited time to work with the simulation software. After the competition, the students were interviewed to get their perspectives about the competition which was very positive! Here’s a short video of the first few rounds of the mini robotics competition. #robotics
India adopted the constitution on November 26, 1949, which came into force on January 26, 1950, marking the country’s first Republic Day. Today the whole country celebrated its 69th Republic Day. AMMACHI Labs’ community organizers led the celebrations …
May #Dharma be victorious in every country
#RepublicDay Wishes
The Dharma Chakra of the #IndianFlag has 24 spokes.
12 represents the following causal links. These in reverse reprsents the other 12.
Avidyā: ignorance
Sanskāra: conditioning of mind unknowingly
Vijñāna: consciousness
Nāmarūpa: name and form (constituent elements of mental and physical existence)
Ṣaḍāyatana: six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, and mind)
Sparśa: contact
Vedanā: sensation
Tṛṣṇā: thirst
Upādāna: grasping
Bhava: coming to be
Jāti: being born
Jarāmaraṇa: old age and death
Courtesy: Amrita School of Biotechnology
“Education is our birthright!”
On this #NationalGirlChildDay we celebrate all those girls out there who are braving the odds for equality.
#SHG women from Malgaon village, Chhattisgarh are now learning and practicing flat hemstitch with help from the tablet. Hemstitch is a decorative drawn thread work for embellishing the hem of clothing or household linens.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Cvet
The 4th International Dharma-Dhamma Conference on “State & Social Order in Dharma Dhamma Traditions” at Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar (Jan 11-13) was an important platform that fostered harmony and dialogue through the shared values of dharmic traditions from various spiritual heritages. Sooraj Subrahmanyan from AMMACHI Labs presented his paper is titled: “Pluralism and Coexistence in Dharma Tradition” at the conference which was organized by Nalanda University in collaboration with the Centre for Study of Religion and Society, India Foundation, and the Ministry of External Affairs. The President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the three-day conference which had delegates from 11 countries.
#DharmaDhammaConference
National Rural Livelihood Mission is a poverty alleviation project implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Here in Madgoan, Goa, women artisans from the Malakpan Malkarne Self Help Group (#SHG) display their products at a #NR…
AMMACHI Labs’ content team members are now in Hardwar for conducting 10 days training sessions on Optical Fibre Splicing course for the Village Level Entrepreneurs from Haridwar.
VLEs work under the Common Services Centers (CSC) scheme, one of the miss…
Teams from AMMACHI Labs & the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality hit ground running with their Annual Meeting on New Year’s Day. Several guests from other departments of the University and the Ashram attended the meeting. Teams presented their past achievements, updates and plans for the new year. Prof. Bhavani, Director of both the lab and the Center, gave inspiring words in the vision of Chancellor Amma’s dream for research and academics for social good. Teams also shared funny videos and stories of the past year and geared up for another exciting and fun year at the best little labs and center ever. #OneTeamOneDream #womensempowerment #gencen #newyear2018
Enjoy this video from the team at AMMACHI Labs. Happy New Year!https://www.facebook.com/1765964613427722
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Do something that makes you feel good!
https://youtu.be/kcRGeiPI9hshttps://www.facebook.com/1765095370181313
In Kodur Village, Sangareddy district of Telangana state, AMMACHI Labs has been actively involved in engaging the community in skill training and community cleanliness. Ongoing tailoring training sessions via tablet conducted by local SME tailors, Community Organizers & facilitators has proved to be successful. Recently, assessments for the 4th and 5th batch of tailoring students, showed great results and promise for these women as they continue to improve quality and fine tune their skills. The group is eager to continue attending classes and practice what they have learned.
Community cleanliness and waste management programs are part of AMMACHI Labs’ village outreach awareness training. Community Organizers and facilitators conducted a cleanup drive and around 30 people of all ages eagerly participated. The village was full of trash as the group started with the entrance of the village and made their way through. At the end, the village was transformed into a spotless beautiful place. This drive taught the community about waste management and environmental cleanliness and opened new possibilities towards maintaining a clean village. Check out the amazing before and after pics!
#swachhbharat #MakeIndiaClean #sanichampion #womenempowerment, #ODFree
#WECSDP #GenCen #championsofchange
United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF)
UNESCO Chairholder on Technology, Internationalization and Education, Dr. Rafi Nachmias and Dean of the School of Education, Dr. David Mioduser from Tel Aviv University | אוניברסיטת תל-אביב visited Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to initiate research projects and collaboration opportunities with Amrita.
The guests participated in many team discussions about teaching and learning, making, robotics, the 2nd Foundation, women’s empowerment projects and technologies for skill development. A tour of the Amrita Makerspace was followed by hands on demos of our simulators for skill development.
The professors also gave a wonderful presentation about their research and work at the Knowledge Technology Lab and current research projects in technology, cognition and learning. It was a wonderful visit with Dr. Nachmias and Dr. Mioduser and we hope they come back soon!
AMMACHI Labs hosted a special guest lecture and film screening with filmmaker, producer and influencer, Andrew Garton. Prof. Garton is an adjunct Industry Fellow, Media and Communication at the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. He has a background in community access video and broadcasting and is very committed to documenting social issues by capturing real people’s stories through film. His documentary, “Ocean In a Drop” about the impact of broadband internet in rural India resonated with many at AMMACHI Labs. Our team shared experiences in the villages with ICT and technology. Prof. Garton also visited Sadivayal village and was touched by the experience and spent time getting to know the various women’s empowerment projects through Zonal lead Sivaprasad. Prof. Garton was in India screening his film at the Australian High Commission and the #ChennaiFilmFestival
#TECH2017https://www.facebook.com/10155330024428719
A year ago, some of the brightest minds in the field of robotics and automation from India and all over the world assembled at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham for the world’s first International Conference on Robotics and Automation for Humanitarian Applications. With more than 385 participants and 18 speakers from 12 countries, the event paved the way for a blueprint in the applications of robotics and automation to bring about true societal changes. #Robotics4Good
Earlier this year, a Second Foundation train-the-trainer workshop series took place for for five #AmritaVidyalayam school teachers on #robotics with #LegoMindstorms. One teacher in particular, Mr. Ramakrishna Harish from Amrita Vidyalayam New Delhi, became passionate about teaching robotics for school children and participated further in an immersive training at AMMACHI Labs. Upon returning to Delhi, he worked with team members Kavin, Vishnu and Vennila remotely over video-conference to discuss strategies and solutions for preparing children for competitive robotics. Mr. Harish is now teaching the latest and most updated curriculum in competitive robotics with Lego Mindstorms for Amrita Vidyalayam students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.
This training has prepared the students for the World Robotics Olympiad (#WRO2017) and several other inter-school competitions earlier this year. Recently, a student team took part in Robocup Junior 2017-18 and bagged 1st Place in the Delhi NCR region as well as the best overall performance award. The team has now progressed to the nationals.
This collaborative effort between Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Amrita Vidyalayam schools signifies amazing future prospects for students in robotics.
We are proud of our student teams and wish them all the very best for the nationals! #Robocup #Robotics #SecondFoundation #robotics4good
AMMACHI Labs’ zonal coordinator and community organizer met with Shri. Rajiv Khajuria, Assistant Commissioner, Developments, Department of Rural Development, Jammu and Kashmir. #CO gave a brief introduction about Women Empowerment: Community Sanitation through Democratic Participation (WE:CSDP) Project and its presence in J&K. After listening to the successful stories of rural toilet building programe and sanitation awareness campaigns by AMMACHI Labs, the officer has promised to look into availability of funds to start toilet building activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #RTI #legalempowerment
Dr. Donald Wertlieb, Professor emeritus from from the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University, Massachusetts visited Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri Campus. He led engaging discussions on research language, vulnerability and resilience with team members from AMMACHI Labs and the Center for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality. He was very impressed by the projects of AMMACHI Labs with regards to women’s empowerment and skill development and enjoyed Prof. Bhavani’s informative presentation.
Children are the best change agents at home and in the community. In many of our community awareness programs, children actively particpate along with our women #SHG groups. AMMACHI Labs community organizers and facilitators have undertaken many initiatives in collaboration with the village schools to promote #hygiene and #cleanliness. Last week, we organized a one day life enrichment education session for hundreds of school children in Pandori village, Jammu and kashmir. Through this class now they have more awareness about the importance cleanliness and also attended a practical session on ‘7 steps of handwashing’.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #RTI #legalempowerment
AMMACHI Labs deployment team facilitated free legal seminars and a session on right to information act as part of the legal awareness training program for the #SHG women in Pandori village, Jammu and Kashmir. Our new community organizer Barkha Rani called a meeting of SHG members, to discuss about the existing government initiatives for self help groups and women in the village. As per the study of our team, there are 9 widows in the village who never heard about widow pension scheme. Barkha invited their attention to Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and promised to assist eligible applicants to apply for pension.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #RTI #legalempowerment
#RTB trainees in Maira village, Punjab successfully completed 5 mold based toilet walls and one foundation (total 10 foundations) with our deployment team. The mold-based toilet construction technique makes constructing toilets easier, efficient and economically viable for rural women. AMMACHI Labs’ rural toilet building program also ensure involvement of beneficiaries in the toilet construction process. Community participation is considered as key to sustainability of the project outcome.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs’ community organizers Surekha and Renu arranged a medical health camp and awareness program for community people in Malakpan village, Goa. This program was focused towards educating the rural people and make them aware about how to take proper care of their #health. Leading doctors addressed issues like personal health care, #hygiene, #sanitation, illness prevention etc.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Member of Legislative Assembly and other government officials visited our training center in Goa. A one day exhibition of jute bags made by Women #SHG from Malakpan village was organised on the occasion of official visit. MLA has assured everyone that he will look into the funding possibilities for the training center and encouraged the women to keep up the good work.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Akshay Nagarajan attended the 36 hour Fablearn Makeathon organized by MindCET Yerucham where participants developed an app idea for children to document their maker projects in to a digital storytelling experience. “Makergram” allows for self reflection and sharing one’s lessons and insights gained in the making process. He also attended the #Fablearn2017 conference in Jerusalem where discussions took place on teaching and learning through making and discussed ways to teach science and education in innovative and engaging ways through making. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham #maker Mindcet – EdTech Innovation Center
AMMACHI Labs #SHG women, community organizer, rural toilet building students and computer trainees got an opportunity to interact with Shri. Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs, Government of India. Team members expressed gratitude for the support and the active intervention by the minister, on the infrastructure work in Dr. Khera village, Uttar Pradesh. As representatives of their community, our team submitted request for three more submersible pumps, improved drainage system besides expanding road construction to the entire village.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Our team members and #SHG women are experimenting with
#neemoil at AMMACHI Labs’ training center at Guptapada village, Odisha. Neem oil is extracted from the seeds and fruits of the neem tree and is a natural cure for dandruff and dry scalp. It also increase the hair growth and helps to remove head lice. Women’s group successfully extracted oil from the seeds of neem tree and applied it on hair to test. Inspired by the results, now they are looking forward to make products like neem oil, soap etc as an #incomegeneration activity for the village self help group.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Yoga can benefit children significantly, researches have shown higher levels of self-esteem and overall emotional balance in children who practice yoga. In Juan Kaathiwada village, kids are learning yoga lessons from AMMACHI Labs’ community organiser and here are the pictures from the yoga class.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#SHG members and #CO Urmila visited the village school in Guptapada, Odisha with a special purpose. Team spent time with school children, distributed handkerchief and taught them how to prevent spread of infection from respiratory illnesses and runny noses.Women group trained the children to follow routine healthy practices to lead a healthy and well balanced life.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs’ deployment team members met with Shri. Prasad Gaonkar, MLA, Malakpan, Goa. MLA has assured to look into the fund request for the construction of training centre and purchase of jute bag materials for the training sessions. Also, the proposal submitted by our team was forwarded to the state director of District Rural Development Authority for further review
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#CO and deployment team conducted Life Enrichment Education classes for our tailoring students in Guptapada village, Odisha. AMMACHI Labs’ Life Enrichment Education program directly addresses the social issues that plague the very communities we are working with and it benefits both children and women. Issues such as cleanliness, sanitation, disaster preparedness, human trafficking etc are discussed and addressed during these sessions. Trained facilitators and community organizers lead these classes in every AMMACHI Labs training centers.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Following the footsteps of AMMACHI Labs’ #championsofchange, a group of children in Dewgain village have assumed the responsibility for spreading awareness on #sanitation. Recently a meeting of village children was organised with support from our deployment team and a school student led a session on hand washing techniques to teach the importance of #hygiene and #sanitation.
#CO, #SHG members and AMMACHI Labs deployment team members led #amalabharatham campaign in the village with an overwhelming support from villagers. With the locally available bamboo, community people designed new dustbins for the village streets and took a pledge to remain committed towards ‘Swachchhata’ (cleanliness).
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
From November 16 to 21, representatives from the United Nations Development Program (head of UN operations in India, and on the behalf of the UNDEF) visited five of the twenty-one villages where the Women Empowerment: Community Sanitation through Democratic Participation (WE:CSDP) project is active.
WE:CSDP is a two year, pan-India initiative jointly funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund. In line with the Government of India’s commitment to improving sanitation and rural development, as well as the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the project aims to empower at least 5,000 women in rural communities across India to champion sanitation and community development.
The villages were: Devgain, Jharkhand; Ratanpur and Hadiabad, Bihar; Guptapada, Odisha; and Kanti, Haryana. These are the same villages where AMMACHI Labs, Amrita SeRVe and other MA Math activities are ongoing. The UNDP representatives were enthusiastic about the progress of the project and the strength and accomplishments of the women in the community. The UN team spent considerable time speaking with Community Organizers #COs, project participants, and other members of the community to understand what their experience has been. They also toured the village and made note of all the improvements and development efforts accomplished under the WE:CSDP project and the other activities of the MA Math. Overall feedback was extremely positive especially in the empowerment demonstrated by the women. The UN team encouraged us to continue with our efforts and were impressed by the dedication of staff in the field. United Nations Development Programme – UNDP United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) #sanichampion #womenempowerment, #ODFree
#WECSDP #GenCen #championsofchange Amrita SeRVe
A team of consultants from the World Bank in Delhi, visited our Sarai Noorudinpur #ODF village recently while conducting sanitation assessments. This village is in the spotlight due to the transformations happening in bettering sanitation and hygiene. The consultants met with all members of our diverse team including the Community Organizer #CO, facilitators, youth groups, #RTB women masons and other field workers. A formal report is likely to follow. AMMACHI Labs had previously formed a 21 member sanitation committee that was nominated to attend the Government’s five day, rigorous training program on community-led total sanitation. #CLTS
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#SHG members(Guptapada, Odisha) are now more inspired to make soaps, after a successful sales of Neem and Tulsi soaps, at the recent Bhubaneswar program. This time women are making Hibiscus flower soaps!
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#CO, #SHG members and AMMACHI Labs team during Rural Toilet Building program in Pandori village , Jammu and Kashmir.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs’ deployment team members with the newly created students wing, Amrita Ujwal Manav conducted an awareness program in Hadiyabad village Temple(Bihar). They presented Nukkad natak about #GenderEquality, #Education and #Sanitation.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#CO, Facilitator and #SHG members in Bihar attending IT training session by AMMACHI Labs Deployment team members. Women are learning how to use Tablet,Gmail and WhatsApp.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#Aserve village product sales stall during Amma’s Birthday celebration – Indira Gandhi Park, Bhubaneshwar. #SHG women sold Thulsi and Neem soaps. Swamiji Puri Maharaja from Ramakrishna Math was the chief guest at program.https://www.facebook.com/172548…
From November 16 to 21, representatives from the United Nations Development Program (head of UN operations in India, and on …
Wall painting by the #liveinlabs student in our new renovated centre in Dewgain village in Jharkhand. Gaspadin, student from France did a marvelous job, he is truly a blessed artist. Even the village women asked if he can teach them to draw with such great expression.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs team met with Shri. Prasad Goankar, MLA, Goa. MLA will be visiting our training centre and the Jute Bag training classes soon.Later on, #CO and #SHG members met with Deputy Sarpanch, #NRLM District Project Director and District Coordinator. Meeting agenda was to discuss about starting Phenol, Jute Bag and Masala&Chilli powder manufacturing by our SHGs. NRLM has selected three SHGs for three products.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Gram Pradhan, #SHG members, #CO, Facilitator and college students from village from Hadiabad village, Bihar visited an ATM in nearby Gahrni market, to learn how to use ATM for withdrawing money and checking balance. AMMACHI Labs’ Deployment team member taught the women more about the basic transactions using ATM card.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
World Toilet Day celebration at Karanji village, Chattisgarh: #CO SarIta and Computer students performed drama on need for toilet and problems of Open Defecation. Sarpanch inaugurated the function and many of the villagers attended the program.
#WorldToiletDay turned out to be a significant day for Dr. Khera village (Lucknow, UP) as Nagar Nigam (Municipal) started building toilet.
Children are the new “sanitation campaigners’ at Sarai Noorudinpur village,UP. Alongwith our #CO & Facilitator, these kids are raising awareness on good hygiene habits, education.
In Kalinagar , West Bengal our team conducted rally and an awareness session was led by Dr.Sunil and almost 70 people took pledge for #ODF.
In Kanti village in Haryana, #CO led #AmalaBharatham campaign to spread awareness on #Sanitation
#WTD #UNWater #WorldToiletDay2017 #wastewater #empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
We celebrate #WorldToiletDay by celebrating the women who have championed the basic human rights of sanitation and hygiene. By 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals aim to reach everyone with sanitation and cut the the proportion of untreated wastewa…
National Education Day is an annual observance in India to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,the first education minister of independent India.
On 11th November, Hadiabad village in Bihar celebrated National Education Day. AMMACHI Labs Deployment team members in Bihar,conducted a session on #SocialResponsibility for the school children. After the session, 9th class students made one team AUM ( Amrita Ujwal Manav) and they decided that the group will work for changing people’s mentality by conducting the street plays in various subjects. Children also engaged in team building exercise.
Hadiabad village Pradhan Manju Singh , AMMACHI Labs’ Facilitator and #CO visited the government school in Hadiabad and checked the attendance of children and teachers, also the lunch facility in the school. The team discussed about the necessity of a new building for high school students. All villagers are going to sign a petition, for releasing fund for this new high school building. At present, students from 1st standard to 10th standard are studying in 5 classrooms in the school.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Life Enrichment Education session for the new #SHG was organised in Guptapada. A meeting was convened to gather support from villagers for future activities related to #WasteManagement. More than 60 people attended the meeting. AMMACHI Labs team at Guptapada had requested the villagers to use the new dustbins which was installed by the women led by #CO. After the meeting they started collecting garbage from the surrounding, sorted and stored in the dustbins.
Inspired from the awareness session given on keeping the village clean, children of Guptapada took initiative to ensure that their village is clean. A meeting with the village youth was also organised by our team to stop few drunkards in the village who misuse the temple premise for drinking and playing cards during evening hours.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
These are images of the new road construction at our #ODF village Sarai Noorudinpur (UP). Thanks to our able #CO & Facilitator who followed it up with the concerned authorities at Block office.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#CO Urmila had filed #RTI to know the status of Government Toilet construction schemes in her village. After waiting for 30 days for a reply from the panchayat officials, today, she sent a letter to Information Commission , Odisha .
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Drinking water quality test was conducted at five different locations/clusters at Dewgain village by #SHG members led by the #CO. Result of the water tested shows contamination (some 30% e.coli bacteria, as per chart available), this is of one location; the test results of remaining 4 locations shows relatively less traces of contamination.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
On the occation of #ChildrensDay, #CO in Sarai Noorudinpur village invited children from a nearby school and they were shown videos & posters on #Hygiene, #Cleanliness and #CleanDrinkingWater.
Malgaon village, celebrated November 14th with the school children by leading #AmalaBharatham campaign.
In Guptapada village, Odisha, our team organised an essay writing competition on ‘How to protect Environment’ and conducted cultural programs. Later on children went to the nearby temple site and developed the drip irrigation system to create a new garden.
Community Organiser and Facilitator at Himachal Pradesh led a nuked natal with the children and celebrated Children’s day.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Keep the child in you always alive! To the child within you, Happy Children’s Day!
Juna Kathiwada children celebrated #ChildrensDay with special programs and rally organised by AMMACHI Labs’#CO and Facillitator. In Ratanpur and Hadiabad villages (Bihar), school student’s team along with Gram Pradhan, Community Organizer and facilitator visited the nearby primary school and conducted a ‘Nukkad’ about Education and Sanitation. Later on, the group conducted an awareness program on #Sanitation by house visits and requested the community members to stop #OpenDefecation.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Mausam Devi is a trained community organiser, who works among the Mushar community in Ratanpur village, Bihar. In India, this particular community is not lucky enough to enjoy a normal social life with the mainstream society and people especially women are deprived of their rights and socio economic developments.
Our #CO Mausam Devi is determined to improve the status of women from Mushar community in Ratanpur. She is currently engaged in providing Tablet training to the community women.
In two days, Mausam encouraged five kids to take their new learning to next level, by regularly attending the tuition class. She is also encouraging the community women to read and write. Once she generates interest in them, she directs them to the tuition class.
It’s reported, 7 illterate women have learnt to write and expressed happiness in able to write their name when they visit the bank next. Many of them are eager to learn to write everyone’s name in their family!
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
In the streets of Guptapada village, Odisha, you will find garbage bins with a quote in Odia language, “Mathe byabahar karo, Dharoni Mata ku rakhya karo.” It means “Use me and Save Mother Earth.” AMMACHI Labs team and village youth and women in Guptapada is in a mission to spread awareness about #Cleanliness and #Sanitation. They conducted #Amalabharatham campaign by cleaning the village streets, painted garbage bins with inspiring messages. Our team found that many of the women and youngsters are addicted to chewing gutka, this led the campaign members to do an awareness program on ill effects of consuming gutka.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs team at Dewgain village with Life Enrichment Education classes, Water Testing and Amala Bharatham clean up drive!
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
In collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, AMMACHI Labs’ training centre in Goa conducted Jute bag making and Crochet work training sessions. This collaboration is expected to be a great platform for our students to exhibit their skills at all India level.Program was inaugurated by the Sarpanch of Malakpan village and products made by our students are kept there in the training center for exhibition.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
A significant achievement for our Community Organizer Sukmani Kachhap of Dewgain village, Jharkhand. Today she has been selected as ‘Village Coordinator’ under Jharkhand Chief Minister’s Rural Development Scheme. This role will see her responsible for the administration of government schemes. It also gives her authority to directly contact CM on implementation delays etc. (She sits with all smiles in this pic).
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
#AmalaBharatham campaign led by Community Organizers and women #SHG members in Hadiabad village, Bihar.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Here are the updates from AMMACHI Labs’ Deployment team visiting Jharkhand. Click on the images for the stories!https://www.facebook.com/1710594955631355
“Well constructed peer groups serve as an anchor for learning.”
#Cvet peer to peer learning sessions at AMMACHI Labs’ training centre at Guptapada village in Odisha.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
Water quality checks were done of water from handpumps at Sarai Noorudin village, Uttar Pradesh. Thankfully the results were not very alarming.Later on, #CO led a session on “How to improve the quality of potable water” and many of the community people partcipated in the class.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation
At Kanti village in Haryana, all 12 families have started using the most recently built toilets. Seven women from different families are expressing happiness to be choosen as beneficiaries as part of AMMACHI Labs’ #RTB program.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation #RTB
Behind every successful woman is herself !
AMMACHI Labs’ Women #SHG engaged in rural toilet building program in Goa.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation #RTB
Community Organizer Surekha from Malakpan village in Goa met with the Member of Legislative Assembly today. #CO and AMMACHI Labs deployment team invited the MLA to participate in the community meeting organized on Monday.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation
We are so excited about a new batch of #upcycled embroidered rice sack pouches, made as part of our Women’s Empowerment projects.
It all started with a women’s self-help group in Uttarakhand, organized by Suchita the local tailoring teacher. We worked with Suchita to come up with standardized bag sizes and taught the group how to insert zippers, sew fabric lining, etc. After our training, Suchita took care of organizing the production of the bags.
There is a tradition throughout India of reusing empty rice bags. They can be found covering packages, as makeshift suitcases, and much more. When entering a home in Dunda, Uttarakhand, you may see a table cover or pillow case stitched out of rice bags that are embroidered with brightly colored threads. These pouches are an extension of this tradition. Each pouch is made out of recycled rice bags, hand embroidered with brightly colored scrap yarn. The colorful designs and patterns are particular to the individual artisan, making each pouch unique. #Waste2Wealth #Upcycle #womenempowerment #womenartisans
“Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”
Jharkhand women #SHG lays foundation stone for rural toilet building program.#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation #RTB
Ethics in Action is a series of eight meetings that brings together a select group of experts and activists to identify the values and ethics needed to advance societal challenges. Prof. Bhavani presented “The new role of science and technology in education” in the rural context of women in Indian villages, at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Casina Pio IV, in the Vatican Gardens, October 14-16.
Prof. Bhavani actively participates in these meetings as an invited speaker and expert on education and women’s empowerment and was accompanied by Dr. Sidney Strauss. They had several key meetings around sustainability and women’s empowerment. #EthicsInAction Pontifical Academy of Sciences #UNSDSN
Rahul Es, Research Scholar from the Haptics team, AMMACHI Labs attended the ‘2017 IEEE International Symposium on Haptic Audio-Visual Environments and Games'(HAVE-2017), Abu Dhabi, UAE. On October 23rd, he presented the paper titled”Tweezer Haptic Inte…
Mushroom Cultivation Training in progress at the AMMACHI Labs training center in Uttarakhand.https://www.facebook.com/1694687977222053
AMMACHI Labs’ trained #SHG women in Guptapada village engaged in rural toilet building program!
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation #RTB
Last week, the team from the National Remote Sensing Centre, part of the Indian Space Research Organisation visited Amrita University and conducted engaging workshops with faculty and students. They presented and demonstrated Bhuvan Systems, the India…
Newspaper publications in Bihar highlights story of Manju Singh, Mukhiya of Ichari Panchayat (which has 10 villages including our adopted Hadiabad and Ratanpur villages) receiving appreciation from the President of India. She was one among the AMMACHI …
#CO Meenal and facilitator Pravin organized the morning Yoga class and Kho-Kho lessons for the women and children Nani Borvai village in Gujarat. Later on an awareness session on #Health was conducted which talked about #ChildHealth and #CleanWater.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills #Sanitation
In Kanti village, Haryana,AMMACHI Labs team is training #SHG women as masons for construction of brick toilets and three other villagers for pattern based toilets.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
AMMACHI Labs team and #CO Urmila led the #Sanitation pledge and awareness activities for the Mushar community women in Ratanpur village, Bihar. All of them participated in the Ideal Village exercise and presented their work. Under the supervision of AMMACHI Labs deployment team, the tailoring assessment conducted of students who took our #Cvet course at Hadiabad and Ratanpur villages.
#empowerwomen #womenempowerment, #WECSDP #GenCen #AServe #undef #LifeSkills
