Tag: coca-cola

Lets Join Hands and Support My School

Posted on by Aziz Ampanwala

Education system in India is still in the developing stages, we might be aware that Education in the rural parts of India has not reached its potential, there are many struggles and reaching out to them in the remote areas is a task that Government is taking up steadily, however the pace is slow and not effective considering the infrastructure, teaching quality and hygiene is concern. Thou there are many NGO’s working on this system to be more effective so that the rural parts get their share of fair Education and infrastructure, but even they are tied up when it comes to getting the necessary funds required to furnish these basic needs, as per Article 21-A of the Constitution of India and its consequent legislation, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 became operative in the country on 1st April 2010 and this has lead to promising future for Education in the rural parts of India.

If we look at the ASER (ANNUAL STATUS OF EDUCATION REPORT) report of 2014, there are statistics which shows that only 75% of schools have provision for drinking water, however how clean the water is for consumption is a broad question, some other interesting finding from the report states that usable toilets for boys are only 65% for boys and 55.7% for girls. If we talk about playground in these schools, you would be surprised to know that only 65.3% of them have space for playgrounds, which clearly shows that there is a definite need for improvement in these grey areas of schooling for kids in the rural areas.

** Note (The data of ASER ( ANNUAL STATUS OF EDUCATION REPORT) report of 2014 was conducted all around India from 577 rural districts – 30 randomly selected villages in each district -20 randomly selected households per village – All children age 3 to 16 in the household.

The other major concern due to lack of basic amenities like clean water, hygiene, proper toilets for girl child specially is the drop outs rates are accelerating  significantly and there are less enrollments in these Govt run schools, as the stats shows a dip from 6.95% (2013-14) to 14.77% (2014-15)

Talking about the need for some action to be taken for revamp of schools in rural India, Support my School a programme run by Coca-Cola India & NDTV in association with the UN-Habitat, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) aims to revitalize 1,000 schools in the country, the program undertakes the following core activities:

  • Provision of improved access to water
  • Appropriate sanitation facility for girls and boys
  • Improvement in the overall school infrastructure and environment
  • Provision for sports and recreation facilities and
  • Recharging groundwater through rainwater harvesting

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With such necessary amenities in place, schools are able to provide a cleaner and healthier environment more conducive to learning.

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Support My School is a WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) initiative that aims to improve basic amenities in government schools like separate toilets for boys and girls and access to water. The Campaign is also committed to developing the overall infrastructure like playground and a clean environment to encourage a holistic learning environment. The Schools revitalized under the campaign have served as model schools in several districts and have led to enhanced community engagement and higher emphasis on attendance and enrollment.

You can also join hands and support in this cause along with NDTV MISSION 1000.

Importance of hydration, water and sanitation initiated by Coca-Cola , TERI University and USAID

Posted on by Aziz Ampanwala

Water, as soon as we spell it we feel life, vitality, eternity, sanctity and all positive vibes following around us. Life without water is very much unimaginable, water works wonder and proves magical only when it is in its purest forms – the form in which the creator created it, in the sense as pure as the water from a mountain spring or as water flowing down deep the oceans, that form of water is the one which bears all properties of pure water, but sadly the same water can work as the breeding ground for thousand of germs and viruses when it gets contaminated and polluted, thus shattering growth, hindering life and causing infinite diseases.

Some important pointer towards why water hydration and sanitation is important for families and society:

1) Will decrease the chances of diseases which develop in and under water
2) Proper Sanitation and disposal of waste will ensure a healthy and eco friendly society to live in.
3) Globally, an estimated 2,000 children under the age of five die every day from diarrhoeal diseases and of these some 1,800 deaths are linked to water, sanitation and hygiene as per Unicef reports, which is an alarming signal thou if proper sanitation is maintained in society this can be avoid or removed completed.
4) Educating children about the importance of water hydration and sanitation from early age in schools and social gathering will only lead forward towards a healthy living environment as they are the future torch bearing of the learning and understanding towards the same.

At this stage it is very much necessary to bring this water to its very original and pure form using whatever ways of filtration and hydration possible so as the society can remain healthy, revitalized and rejuvenated by the benefits of water and in this campaign TERI University and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in association with Coca-Cola and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)  conducted  the ‘Strengthening Water and Sanitation in Urban Settings” initiative in Kolkata. The WASH programmes (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) aim to reach 50,000 beneficiaries in low-income settlements and over 300 professionals through WASH governance studies. It will also reach out to 2,500 students through 20 municipal schools across India, this is one of a kind association which has never been done before that will lead to the healthy development of low income settlements in the area.

Collaboration for Wash Programmes in association with Coca-Cola, TERI University and USAID Collaboration for Wash Programmes in association with Coca-Cola, TERI University and USAID 2

The goal is to help achieve the Government of India’s sanitation targets by conducting a WASH risk analysis in slums of Kolkata and Chennai. As first steps, two urban neighbourhoods – Kannagi Nagar and Nedunchelliyan Nagar in Chennai, and areas in KMC wards 57 and 58 (Khayari basti, Arupota and Dhapa) in Kolkata – have been chosen for household surveys.

 The project will assist in developing participatory intervention strategies in urban areas, and in building the capacity of faculty and students through a model sanitation curriculum.

To understand more about the initiative please visit their page “Strengthening Water and Sanitation in Urban Settings”.

Happiness Costs nothing

Posted on by Aziz Ampanwala

We are living in the 21st century and everything is cutting edge, high tech and it is just getting better day by day, this is making life simpler but in a sense more complicated for us, thou we are working our self’s towards future but a time has come when we can just manage everything all by our self’s, we don’t want a company and all we require is our mobiles, tablets, e-books, laptops to just fulfill our wishes in a click of a button and be our best company.
Well, so what does one do to be happy these days is really a very materialistic approach towards looking at things, and i think this is not the optimum happiness or satisfaction we always have urged for in the recent past centuries.
For me happiness has always been something which is lot to do in seeing someone happy and to be in that moment with the person, let me share a experience which really made me my day:
It was evening time and i was returning back from work to home, very tired and a bit dull, as it was late night around 10.30pm, i was struggling to find a taxi, from a few distance away from me was a lady who was also battling to find a taxi, in the meanwhile i manage to get the cab and sat and offered the lady if i could drop here somewhere, she was a bit unsure about it first, but after i urged that its late night and there wont be any cabs coming soon, she agreed to sit. To break the ice i started the conversation and asked her about where she exactly wanted to go so that i could first drop her, after having a brief conversation i asked her about what she does and where she works, it worked out that she was my friends friend and she was pleasantly surprised and contained to know that, it brought happiness to her face which really made my day in the sense that its such a small world and how people just connect, these deeds of helping someone in the time of need is really something that people in this world have forgotten, thou we live for our self’s, but these small gestures of kindness can also play a significant help in other peoples life.
Happiness is contagious and the more we spread it the more we make this world a better place to live, life is tough and days are challenging to what we are looking up-to, just a thought of happiness in this struggle also will lead to a smooth journey in this bumpy ride of life, where love and happiness battles  all odds and scores a WIN.