CHEs

Our experiences during the COVID pandemic prompted us to look for ways to address primary healthcare support in remote communities using our fellowship model. Bahaar Foundation and Portea offered us the opportunity to this forward and we came together to launch the Community health Entrepreneurs (CHE) program.

A CHE is a dedicated entrepreneurial rural woman who wishes to improve the health facilities in her neighbourhood.  She will be the first point of contact for basic medical diagnostics. The first batch of 21 women in 3 locations commenced work in April 2022. They were trained in using a handheld medical device to provide immediate results of 11 basic diagnostic tests. The pilot batch has demonstrated the potential of the program and we are keen to expand this further. Click here to read more.

Samvaad Micro funding Platform

We continued our effort to build the ecosystem for grassroots change making with the piloting of Samvaad, a curated platform for engagement between grassroots change makers and potential donors, based on our research (link). It is a bridge for small NGOs or Changemakers (with annual budgets of less than 20 lakhs). It supports a culture of trust and the intention is to connect and commit. A Curator acts as a confidante for Donors and Changemakers. The Samvaad pilot in March 2022, helped to mobilise INR 2.6 lakhs for 6 Changemaker organisations working in the areas of Education, Health, and Livelihood. We are now ready to go forward with the next round. Click here to read more.

Social Capital Credit (SOCC)

Changemakers begin their journey early and we are trying to reach girls and boys as well as local youth to encourage their interest in community wellbeing. With our recent partnership with Asia Initiatives, we have been able to engage with children and youth through the concept of Social Capital credit. We have adopted their Social Capital Credit (SOCC) methodology to restore rapidly dwindling social capital in the villages. The project is spearheaded by our Anchor Nageshwar Panchal at Nagda, Madhya Pradesh. In this program, mentors and children’s parents earn SoCCs by tutoring children, to create a supportive environment for learning through activities. Mentors can redeem the credits for leadership training programs, and parents can redeem them for educational materials for the children. Click here to read more.

KGBV – Riseup/Empower

Plustrust recently won the Riseup and EMpower’s awards to set up maker spaces in govt residential schools for disadvantaged girls. The project will be spearhead by Ashwani Tiwari, Plustrust Anchor Udaipur. The maker spaces will be set up in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. The program will help 300 girls to improve their understanding and academic performance in STEM subjects and help them continue their schooling and progress from one grade to next. Girls will hold dialogue with relevant stakeholders, to improve STEM education for girls and replicate maker’s lab in other schools. Eventually we hope to integrate this in residential government schools for girls across the state. Click here to read more.

Teacher leadership program

Parashuram Public School, Amravati PPS in Amaravati (Mh) is striving to offer good quality education in a backward region and the Plustrust team is supporting teacher development in the institution. Girish Mahale, Advisor Plustrust will mentor the teachers on developing an enabling mindset in education. One teacher from Parshuram School will be joining a Teacher-facilitator programme, under the guidance to spread novel mindsets and pedagogical understanding from September, 2022. Plustrust has offered scholarships for deserving students in the school from just For Humanity, a Charity focused on education based in New York.