Archive for January, 2010

Over the weekend, a friend and I went on the Dharavi slum tour in Mumbai.  Dharavi is said to be the largest slum in Asia, providing livelihood and shelter to anywhere from 300,000 to over 1 million people (numbers vary widely).

For the last 10 years, Dharavi has been the point of much discussion, and a crucible of slum redevelopment.  Why?  Redeveloping Dharavi is not just about displacing poor people.  It’s also about shutting down industries (there are over 20,000 there), and schools, and hospitals.  And, of course, it’s also about incredible economic opportunity; Dharavi is located in the heart of the city, and hence, is prime real estate. Many people—including rich developers and real estate moguls—stand to gain from its transformation.

What matters more? Protecting the rights of slum dwellers? Or creating economic development?

» Continue reading “What to do about Dharavi?”

We have recently entered into a partnership with The Better India. A great resource for those optimists out there, The Better India is devoted to highlighting the happy stories, unsung heroes and heroines, and small good deeds of the subcontinent. By showcasing these stories, The Better India, much like Beyond Profit, hopes to inspire us all to do something that leaves an impact. Small or large. But an impact.

The following is the second post in this partnership. Vikas S from PATH Sure Start reports:

Every seven minutes, a woman in India dies due to pregnancy-related complications. Over a million babies born in the country die within their first month of life. India has the unfortunate distinction of claiming more than a quarter of the total newborn deaths in the world. The majority of these deaths occur in rural areas where poverty and lack of knowledge about proper maternal and child health care are the real cause of these fatalities.

The Indian government has come up with schemes such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the soon-to-be-launched National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) to address this dire situation. Both schemes give high priority to the issue of maternal and newborn health for marginalized communities, and seek to improve the availability of and access to quality health care for those at the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder. Additionally, government programs such as the Janani Suraksha Yojana incentivize delivery in hospitals by encouraging mothers to opt for institutional deliveries.

Effective development communication programs can play a pivotal role in bridging these knowledge gaps by identifying barriers to behavior change, analyzing these barriers, and developing original techniques to overcome them.

AKHA

For instance, in Assam, a collaboration between the Indian government, UNICEF, and local bodies is using a boat called Akha to reach underprivileged indigenous tribes that inhabit geographically isolated sandbars and islands called chaporis. The chapori residents, who live near the lifeline of Assam—the Brahmaputra river, are often cut off from accessing health care facilities due to floods and other natural hazards. What’s more, awareness about maternal and child health care is all but drowned out by the other concerns for survival that face this group.

The Akha, which comes equipped with medical staff and communications materials, makes visits to these isolated regions with the mission to regularly provide facilities for maternal and child health as well as promote awareness about health-seeking behaviors. Findings suggest that the service delivery undertaken by the boat, which has been continually expanding over the last few years, has dramatically improved thousands of lives. 71 percent of the chapori mothers sought some form of antenatal care during their last pregnancy; of these, 42 percent sought care from the Akha. » Continue reading “Neonatal Care in India: Raising a generation by raising awareness”

Monday, January 4, 2010 – Friday, January 8, 2010

One of the four basic elements of our planet, the power of wind, is often underestimated. In this first edition of our “Social Enterprise of the Day” for the year and for the decade, we have chosen organizations that are working towards harnessing wind energy for use as not an “alternative” source of energy, but as a “main” source of energy in our daily lives. This decade will be the one where the world will have no choice but to accept the power of such inexhaustible and clean sources of energy and to implement their use in an innovative manner.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – Windspire

Standing only 30 feet tall and 4 feet wide, the Windspire is an affordable, attractive, and ultra quiet wind turbine manufactured by Mariah Power. Currently powering homes, small businesses, schools, museums, parks, and much more, the Windspire, a 1.2 kilowatt turbine, includes a high-efficiency generator, integrated inverter, hinged monopole, and wireless performance monitor.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – Suzlon

Born in India, operating in 21 countries and specializing in providing total solutions in Wind Power Generation with cohesive integration of consultancy, design, manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance services, Suzlon is today a leading power company with manufacturing facilities and sophisticated R&D facilities and operations across Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas. Set up by Tulsi Tanti in 1995, Suzlon is today the world’s most powerful wind management company in terms of net worth and is the third largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world, Suzlon has helped set up prestigious wind farms like Hallet Wind Farms in Australia, John Deere in the USA, Penamacor in Portugal, and Weihai in China.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – World Wind Energy Association

The World Wind Energy Association, WWEA , is a non-profit organization that works for the promotion and worldwide deployment of wind energy technology. Providing a platform for the communication of all wind energy actors worldwide, WWEA advises and influences national governments and international organizations and provides international technology transfer.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – Fortis Wind Energy

“Great in Small Turbines” – As their tagline goes, Fortis Wind Energy is a leading manufacturer of high performance stand alone and grid connected wind turbines in the range from 1400 watt up to 10 kilowatt. With a reputation built on twenty-five years of experience in providing innovative solutions for the use of wind energy, Fortis has installed over 6000 turbines worldwide!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Social Enterprise of the Day – Windaid

WindAid is a non-profit organization based in Trujillo, Peru that provides communities with much needed electricity. Volunteers who join their Volunteer WindAid placement program build and install a wind turbine in just five weeks. It is the financial contribution and work of the volunteers during the Volunteer WindAid program that covers the cost of the wind turbine and installation such that the completed wind turbine is presented to the recipient community for free. This approach makes Volunteer WindAid a self-sustaining organization. The number of wind turbines presented to communities in Peru and the number of people who stand to benefit is a direct result of how many volunteers join WindAid.