With her palm tightly holding onto the handlebar, one feet on the brake and the other on the clutch, 18-year-old Tania takes off on her brother’s motor-bike to buy some stuff for home. She may be on her monthly period,…
Education – the road to a better life
Khushboo stands at the doorway of a 50-year-old mud house built by her grandfather, her hands full of medals and trophies she has collected over the years. The three-room house is dimly lit with no windows and the only place…
True freedom is freely answering nature’s call
“Those days, we ate only once”, exclaimed 34-year old Mala, breathing a sigh of relief as she glanced at the toilet placed in the corner of her house. “When my daughter asked me for more food, I would say ‘no’.…
Towards an Open Defecation Free India
Sanitation is one the biggest concerns of our country at present. The World Health Organisation estimates that 1,17,000 Indian children under the age of five died in 2015 from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unimproved sanitation and hygiene. Women and girls…
A Green Intervention
Marking the World Environment Day on June 5, 2017, employees of Thomson Reuters set out to Ballari, the city that has been declared drought-hit by the government of Karnataka. Being a drought-prone area with high temperatures and dry climate, water…
Passing on the Baton of Hygiene
Going to school excited Varsha, but unfortunately fever, diarrhoea, stomach pains plagued her. It wasn’t until the sensitisation programme that Varsha learnt the reason for her frequent bouts of illness. Lack of personal hygiene and particularly unwashed hands made her…
Bio Toilets – First of its kind in humanitarian response
What would you consider a sign of relief? Slouching on the couch with a hot cup of coffee after a long day? A rush of a cold evening wind on a smoldering summer day? Different things come as a sign…