VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

While,  a volunteer is defined as ‘a person who freely offers to take part in an organization or undertake a task’ or ‘a person who works for an organization without monetary benefits’, we instantly relate the word “Volunteer” to someone with the potential to offer selflessly. Volunteers working for Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are most important for the society as they ensure the well-being of those in need.A volunteer provides service willingly, without expecting anything in return for his or her actions. They consciously work for a cause that they believe in, to do good for the society.

Lakshyam was established as an NGO in the year 2012 by a Founded by Ms.RaashiAnand, and group of people who shared the commonvision of working for economic, political and socially marginalized communities for their holistic advancement and implementing specific, customized, cost effective, scalable and replicable models for community development. The main objectives of this organization are simple, but require patience, diligence and perseverance to achieve. One of the aims is to enable children from underprivileged backgrounds to develop not just academically, but also holistically. It provides children with a conductive and nurturing environment which provides them with the freedom to foster creativity and curiosity. Another objective focuses on Women Empowerment- to help rural women learn vocational skill in order to be self-sufficient, and to make women financially independent. Lakshyam also works to bridge the gap between urban and rural India.

Volunteer Programs

Lakshyam offers a variety of volunteer programs across 5 different locations in India- 3 in Delhi and NCR, Ujjain and Ranchi. The work offered can be done by skilled and unskilled candidates. The diverse range of the best Volunteer programs in India which includes-Performing Arts where volunteers can take workshops of art & craft, music, dance forms, drama, calligraphy etc.;Media & Communications where volunteers create posters, draft online content, and do graphic designing, film making, creative and content writing;Academics-volunteers teach languages like English and Hindi and assist them with homework and exams. teach spoken English and train them with computer operations and Indoors and Outdoors Sports.Other volunteer programs include Social Entrepreneurship-Lakshyam is extremely supportive of creative innovations that may lead to social benefit for all, Administrative Work & Business Development-assist in book keeping, cash management, and donor receipts and help strengthen the operations’ department, Data Management and Research-data management, research and documentation and program assessment and Building and Construction- help renovate old houses and make new habitable constructions for the poor. Volunteers can also work for sponsorships and fundraising.

Lakshyam displays  human rights values like integrity, respect and compassion for all. It represents the ideal goal of achieving equality in the society through empowered of the underprivileged and thrives to achieve all its goals.

Child welfare organizations in India

Children are the future of the nation and every child deserves a chance to create their own future, dream big and have access to resources for doing the same. Inequality and loss of opportunities for children is a great loss for the society. Child Welfare is the area of selfless service, where each one of us has a role to play. Supporting universal education through innovative methods, generating curiosity, and providing healthy learning environment for children are the foundations of welfare of children. Child welfare includes health management, education, equal opportunities in every field of study and other activities, and access to safe and healthy environments at home and elsewhere. Many government and non-government organizations have come up in order to ensure the our future changemakers get the opportunity to realize their dreams in a conducive and supportive environment to realize their dreams. Welfare programs for children span a broad range of activities. Lakshyam, a Delhi based NGO has been doing exemplary work in the field of Child Welfare through various creative and innovative programs.

Child Welfare Ortanizations in India

Lakshyam has started an initiative called the Toy library program. Toys and books are extremely essential parts of our childhood and help us interact positively and creatively with the world. All of us have fond memories of our childhood toys which may includesbarbie dolls, racing cars and such, but kids in rural areas and those from underprivileged backgrounds are deprived of this experience altogether. Lakshyam’s Toy Libraries are established for the above purpose. The entire chain of action begins from procuring toys and books from volunteers and then distributing these all over India. Toys are a source of joy and connectivity for these children. Books are a broader aspect of learning and encompass wider avenues than school curriculums. Thus, the work that Lakshyam does in bringing diverse experiences to the children is compassionate and extremely commendable.

Child welfare also consists of acting against child marriage, child trafficking and abuse and provision of free spaces for communication and dialogue. The Butterfly Child education and welfare program was established by Lakshyam for protecting basic human rights for education and welfare of children. It helps in building strong communities by providing comprehensive educational assistance to the children. Impoverished and underprivileged children are provided resources for textual and practical learning as well as personality development. This is a way of ensuring freedom for these children from clutches of inequality and child labour and trafficking.

Children are our future and they have to be prepared for all the challenges they might face in the future. “Child welfare organizations in India” is the way of ensuring children have a chance at a better life than the one their parents could provide us. We all need to do all we can to make sure there are equal opportunities for every child to shine and have a shot a success and happiness in life.

Women Entrepreneurs in India

In a historically patriarchal society like India, women have always had a secondary place in the house and in the outside world. Treating women as equals has never been the practice in the Indian society. Most women in India live dependent, oppressed, and unequal lives and those always in relation to their male relatives. The individuality of a woman, her ambitions, needs and skills have never been realized to their potential. Every mechanism of the social and governmental organizations has been reared to prevent a woman from reaching out from under the weeds of systemic oppression of her voice and talent. But, some women have strived to work their way up from within this structure which does not even consider the fact that women can create a system of progress, empathy, and growth. Women entrepreneurs like Indra Nooyi and others have inspired an entire generation of women to stand up, fight for their rights and create institutions of equality and egalitarianism.

Women Entrepreneurs in India

One such woman who has inspired all of us immensely is Ms. Raashi Anand who established an NGO Lakshyam which has continued to do exemplary work in the field of child welfare, women empowerment, women entrepreneurs in India, health services and development since 2012. She has managed to create an organization that values empathy and strives towards upliftment of the most unprivileged and give them a shot at a new and better life. She has developed and designed several programs through the understanding of the ground realities in Delhi-NCR region. As of now, Lakshyam has a strong foothold of volunteers and workers in 17 states who work tirelessly on the first steps that Ms. Raashi took when Lakshyam was founded. She believes that empowering children and women through education and empowerment is the basic need of the society. In her words “You should never limit yourself and create boundaries of your work area, always explore and expand as a human being. Take opportunities, life is offering you to do something better for the people.”

She is an active social entrepreneur who has been awarded the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award by Entrepreneur India Summit 2013 and “Bharat Jyoti Award” by India International Friendship Society for work in social sector. Her work spans a broad spectrum of areas all converging on the aspect of selfless service through innovation and creativity and empathy. She is an active member of multiple organizations for social change including being a member of Anti Sexual harassment committee.

Women have been oppressed systemically in all fields of life since a long time. Even though many women are taking up a career in entrepreneurship today, it has always been dominated by men. The society needs to understand that when you empower a woman, you empower an entire household. The impetus towards independence, financial and emotional, is the stepping stonefor emancipation of women on all frontiers and to achievesuccess.

NGOs in India for children education

Education is a fundamental right for all citizens of India. Education is not simply the way towards a stable income and success, but also the way towards creating responsible, dutiful, and well-informed citizens of the nation. Primary education for all children is a basic right and the duty of the government to provide for. However, many children in remote areas and children with underprivileged backgrounds are unable to access quality education due to multiple reasons. For ensuring education to all, multiple Non-governmental organizations work at the grassroots level to ensure quality education for underprivileged children. India is a huge country with varied demographic and geographic divide in different states and regions. Hence, NGOs play a huge role in bringing people together for the cause of social change and upliftment. NGOs working in India for Children education like Lakshyam play a crucial role in supporting and facilitating the vulnerable children to access their Right to Education through creative ideas such as forming student groups, child tracking systems, toy libraries and many more.

NGOs in India for Children Education

It is extremely important to insure that children’s rights are not ignored. NGOs in India help in conducting awareness programs for parents to ensure that they can send their children to schools and facilitate proper management of the schools. Many NGOs contribute in rehabilitation of children who have experienced abuse, physical or emotional. They achieve this through prevention, direct intervention and legal action at times. NGOs help such children reintegrate in society by providing psychological help through counselling as well. NGOs strive constantly to ensure development of skills and knowledge to help in personality development of the children. Non-governmental organizations are crucial in ensuring stringent governmental laws against child abuse and child labor are implemented and enforced strictly.

Lakshyam, a Delhi based NGO has proven to be a trailblazer in the field of children’s education in India. It has also inspired many young volunteers who dream of making a change in their small, but significant ways. Lakshyam considers the dearth of community belonging and responsibility and has always tried to bridge the gap between selfish desire and altruistic emotion and empathy with utmost care and responsibility. The Butterfly Child education and welfare program was established by Lakshyam for protecting basic human rights for education and welfare of children. It makes sure and helps in building strong communities by providing comprehensive assistance to the children. Impoverished and underprivileged children are provided resources for textual and practical learning as well as personality development.

It is imperative to understand that the lack of education curbs an individual from achieving his/her highest goals and reaching their full potential. Children who are unable to go to school miss out on developing their skill sets, and are unable to get dignified jobs to have a chance to improve their living conditions. Lack of education and employment can lead to social unrest and dissatisfaction leading to increase in crimes which can hamper the development of the nation. To end inequality, it is crucial that all children in the country have access to education and better livelihood opportunities. Increasing government spending on education can help improve the government schools; but NGOs play an omnipotent role in shaping the scenario for children education in India.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” – Benjamin Disraeli.

These words are sufficient to cast the fundamental differences between a regular entrepreneur and a social entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs give birth to extraordinary visions, aims, innovation and what not while accounting for various obstacles and risk management. It is well said that entrepreneurs are lifelike mathematicians, they are obsessed with solving problems and then they build their empires on that. A Social Entrepreneur is chiefly someone dedicated to solve problems of the society using their skills of innovation and their persistence. It ranges from identifying the social issues and their fundamental sources to supplying and arranging for resources to mend the same. Such organizations usually follow an unconventional approach, peculiar of their own, while employing approaches of the business world itself.It is considered that the term “social-innovator” is interchangeable with social entrepreneur owing to the wide use of creative and unorthodoxly strategies used by them.

Social Entrepreneurs in India

India has flourished a number of Social entrepreneurs in the recent times. They have pledged to help the under-privileged layers of the society to extend their reach to passable resources which they consider is the “fundamental-right” of all people. Amongst these successful social entrepreneurs comes the name RashiAnand. Ms.Anand founded Lakshyam NGO to renovate the lives of the poor and underprivileged women and children of the society by methods of right guidance, be it education or training. The following year, Ms.Anand was awarded the “Social Entrepreneur of India” award at the Entrepreneur India Summit (2013). “Giving equal opportunities to all” is how Ms.Ananad humbly described what her work.

The NGO works to provide education to children from the streets, with inadequate resources, and also aims to give a platform to grow to those who don’t get one in life. Ms.Anand idolizes the capabilities of these children and women wishes for their talents and potentials to see light eventually. Lakshyam has done considerable work in providing moral and financial support to the children and women in need out there.

Like any other entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur’s toughest challenge is to implement the vision that they have long glorified. Ms.Anand did incorporated her thoughts and vision into commendable work by introducing 3 programs by Lakshyam. First, ‘Butterfly – Child welfare and education’. It targets to deliver education to the children who can’t afford it. The program also specializes in teaching children basic etiquettes, grooming essentials, positive habits, etc. like hygiene and cleanliness. Second, ‘Lakshyam Toy Library’. Ms.Rashi believes that it is of utmost importance for children to live through a cherishing childhood filled with toys and books, otherwise they can be forced into unwanted lives. Hence Lakshyam has started more than 45 toy libraries to boost development with the means of toys and books. Lastly, ‘Rooh – Awakening Women’s Souls’. This program is solely focused on empowering women by helping them grow and develop skills, keeping in mind the suppression the community has suffered for centuries.

RashiAnand has inspired many souls around the globe and uplifted the others. It is a simple message of how this much needed work done with selflessness can drive humanity to a better place. Where issues like capitalism our eating up the world, Iconic Women like Ms.RashiAnand strive to make it a better place by enriching lives.

Volunteer Work in India

The self is not a singular identity. It’s a communitarian identity of many selves linked together. A community consists of people who are privileged and the ones who aren’t. In order to foster a communitarian and a collective process of positivity and change, mutual upliftment is the credo of our lives. Volunteering serves this credo of selfless service, using means of privilege without a self-serving end in mind. In India, the world of volunteer work and service has evolved from just disaster management and conflict resolution to a continuous effort to help the ones in need of love, empathy, and physical and emotional help. Many organizations have taken ground in inculcating a sense of service and empathy in the current generation, and a Delhi-NCR based NGO, Lakshyam stands tall in this world of selfless service and creative methods for upliftment of the society.

Volunteer Work in India

Lakshyam was founded in 2012 by Ms. Raashi Anand and a group of people with the sole aim of bringing about positive and unwavering change in the Indian society. It has continued to work tirelessly in the field of children’s upliftment, child education, development and women empowerment sin the last 8 years. Lakshyam continues to function through the mechanisms of an extremely capable management and exuberant volunteers who strive towards the goal of positive change in their own idiosyncratic ways. The flagship programs that Lakshyam manages are the Butterfly program, the Rooh program and the Toy Library initiative. Providing children with proper schooling and an opportunity to take fate in their own hands is what keeps the hundreds of volunteers going. Women empowerment and upliftment through the Rooh program is the way towards financial and emotional independence for hundreds of women in India. Since 2012, Lakshyam has continuously worked to provide and support public and private health initiatives for underprivileged women and children. Providing free sanitary products to women, making sure they know about proper hygiene and health care is what has made an impact in the lives of women all around India.

A common dream and a common goal towards empowerment of a community of individuals and identities has led to the foundation and growth of Lakshyam. It has also proven to be an inspiration to many young volunteers who dream of making a change in their small, but significant ways. The common thread that binds all volunteers of Lakshyam and the founders are the Gandhian ideals of social change that guide the actions and activities of the organization and its members. Being the change that you want to see in the world, is the way forward in this world of selfish desire and greed. Lakshyam considers the dearth of community belonging and responsibility and has always tried to bridge the gap between selfish desire and altruistic emotion and empathy with utmost care and responsibility.

Volunteer work in India is gaining momentum with each passing day as the society realizes as a collective, the need to help each other in any way possible. With the coming of the global COVID- 19 pandemic and its horrifying effects, the need of selfless volunteers is more than ever before. It is said that every disaster brings the possibility of mending previous follies. The pandemic and the destruction that accompanies it, has made the community of human beings realize what privilege looks like and why they need to use it precociously to the advantage of the unprivileged for a better society.

Women Entrepreneurs In India

In a nutshell, women entrepreneurs refer to those women who come with a business enterprise with proper planning and initiative, combining and organizing various factors of production, operating and undertaking all the risks of uncertainty involved in running an enterprise.

It is a fact that the development of women entrepreneurship in our country is expectedly low. Most of the population in India believe that they are living in a male-dominated society, with women being weak and dependent on men, especially the age-old traditions and conditions serve as non-conducive conditions for the emergence and development of women entrepreneurship in India. As a result, there is a low literacy rate, low participation rate and low urban population share of women in our country.

From the economic point of view, Providing women with equal access to financial and development opportunities progresses towards gender equality and it is very much likely that it could have a direct positive impact on national and international economic efficiency. Many theories on economic development and gender equality agree that a “simultaneous relationship” exists between economic growth and women’s empowerment i.e. women empowerment and economic growth go hand to hand.

It was said by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher, in his book “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, that a change could only be brought upon the oppressors through a movement led by an oppressor. Similarly, a woman as a representative in any of the governing agencies or an in the top management of relatively big companies would help in coming up with policies and programmes that adopt the notion of women empowerment to a significant depth, with a greater understanding of problems alone faced by women.

Ms. Rashi Aanand, the award winner of “Social Entrepreneur of India” by Entrepreneur India Summit 2013, has been successfully leading the organization of Lakshyam NGO, over the past few years, majorly involving the activities of child education and women empowerment.
Lakshyam has three successful program i.e. Butterfly Program – Child development and education focusing on imparting remedial education classes to kids at its centre, Rooh Awakening Women’s Soul working for women empowerment, and Lakshyam Toy Library which aims at providing toys and books to kids.

The Rooh program, the organization has come up with, mainly aims at strengthening women’s demeanor towards a life with the notion of making women empowered, self-employed and Self-reliant. The program also includes the needs of sanitation and menstrual hygiene for women. Health awareness campaigns for women are organized now and then which range from the importance of iodine in salt to spreading awareness about causes of Breast Cancer as women’s health affects both individual household and national economic welfare due to gender roles. Moreover, women often take care of children and prepare meals. To fulfil these important duties and ensure the well-being of their families, women must be physically well and knowledgeable about health. Broader/Positive changes can occur within communities and regions if societies have improved women’s abilities to make decisions regarding childbearing, childrearing, sexual relations, and the use of contraceptives.

General progress in women’s empowerment correlates well with progress in economic development, and spillover effects from gender-economic equality are positive for both the economy and women’s empowerment. It is widely believed by many scholars and learned men/women that the full participation of both men and women is vital for development. Only acknowledging men’s participation would eventually lessen potential sustainable development. Without the equal inclusion of women in development, women would not be able to benefit or contribute to the development of the country.

NGOs in India for Children’s Education and Children Welfare.

Knowledge is power and power come through education.  Basic education is the right of every human being, but it should be provided at the correct time. So, the planning should start right away when they are born. Now here the problem arises of lack of resources, facilities to get basic education due to poverty or unawareness. So, the kids then unknowingly start getting into the path of misery, suffering, pain, and exploitation i.e. the dark side of life. But there are lots of verticals when it comes to education and one of the main problems the society not aware of is the mental problems, health, intelligence level of the children. Children born in the poor sections of the society are not as healthy, strong as of the other children of the upper section. So, the power of grasping knowledge is not equivalent to others.

So, for the great future of unprivileged children, and bringing them to the bright side and the golden part of life, Lakshyam NGO has taken a great initiative for changing the lives of the children. It was founded in the year 2012 by a young social changemaker, Rashi Anand to uplift the unprivileged children and women through education, empowerment, and pieces of training. And with a strong determination of reaching its aim, Lakshyam now has expanded to 17 states within a span of 7 years and planning to expand more. It is currently operating from its main office in Hauz Khas, New Delhi.

Lakshyam acknowledged all these problems faced by the innocents and formed a strategy to provide them education via different means like fun games, awareness programs or educating them by involving in different activities like plays, dramas to grow them mentally. So, ‘BUTTERFLY – CHILD WELFARE AND EDUCATION’ is one of the programs introduced by Lakshyam which aims to provide holistic education to each and every unprivileged child of the community. Not only providing education to the children but also it provides special attention to the children by developing their soft skills like personality development, personal grooming, and also some crucial components like hygiene, cleanliness, discipline and other positive habits for a better and healthy lifestyle.

Every day new challenges arise and this NGO is solving them at a great pace, till now Lakshyam has reached 17 states and touched more than 30,100 lives. And it has a courageous aim of putting at least 500 street children, dropouts to the formal schooling system by 2020. And in India, there are around 3 million children are living in the streets, 50% of children are not going to school or are school dropouts, many of them also face sexual harassment or are beaten up in schools. And to stop this social issue from growing further, children’s education is necessary with proper training and guidance.

So, to eliminate all these injustices, inequality between poor and rich, Lakshyam is fighting and creating awareness for making this earth a better place for the poor and the needy. Lakshyam with its work towards humanity is also trying to make the world understand the need for children’s education and welfare by empathy.

Volunteer Work In India, Volunteer Programs In India

A volunteer is a person who is willingly to work and gives his time, energy to contribute to the greater good of others. The term ‘Volunteer’ is derived from French word ‘Volontaire’, which means “one who volunteer”. In the earlier times it meant to serve the country willingly in times of war. With the changing times the term has also evolved to mean and volunteer for the society.

Volunteer work, Volunteer programs in India have been going on right from the times of ancient era, and there are evident examples of some famous freedom fighters who at that time worked for women issues like sati practice, widow re-marriage, abolition of child marriage, girls education amongst other issues. The Indian society since independence have undergone tremendous changes and so the domain of volunteer work has also shifted its focus from these issues to issues like child education, empowering women by providing them opportunities to enhance their talent, environment, health and etc.

Lakshyam is an NGO, founded in 2012 by a young social entrepreneur Ms Rashi Aanand, with a motto to provide women empowerment and holistic development of children. Today Lakshyam is spread across seventeen Indian States and has reached three countries and many have been benefitted from its vision. However, all this wouldn’t have been possible without its troops of volunteer who come forward to help and garner Lakshyam vision to reality. Volunteers under Lakshyam can choose to volunteer in its program i.e. Lakshyam Butterfly – Child Education and Welfare program which works toward child development from their education, personal hygiene, to their extra-curricular activities. Volunteers can choose from an array of activity areas like media and communications, performing arts, academics, indoor and outdoor activities, data management and research, administrative work and business development, social entrepreneurship, building and construction. Volunteer under Lakshyam come from different walks of life like from the field of MBA, social work, house makers, architect, and data analysis. So, for this purpose Lakshyam gives a range of activity from which they can choose and work, associate themselves with good deeds. Like for instance, a MBA student can help and contribute toward making of an excellent business strategy or help make improvement in the earlier ones or a teacher can volunteer to teach lakshyam kids at the centre where they can choose from a range of subjects like Hindi, Maths, English, General Studies, Social Studies, Computer.

The requirements to join as a volunteer in Lakshyam are meagre like the minimum age of volunteer should start from 16 or 18 years, since some tasks require volunteers to be minimum 18 years of age. If, 18 years age must possess a authorize government ID, should be able to communicate freely in English as well as Hindi. The conditions Lakshyam works in are really poor so, expects volunteers to possess a tolerance level towards poor, unhealthy conditions and unhealthy slum surroundings. The volunteer must commit for three to four months of volunteer term.

Over the years of Lakshyam existence it has grown and evolved into an organisation and come forward to touch many lives. All this wouldn’t have been possible without the support and contributions of volunteers who turn up to lakshyam and through Lakshyam help the under-privileged and under-resourced community.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA

According to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, “entrepreneurship is about being able to face failures, manage failures and success after failing”

Entrepreneur, as the name suggests is a person who looks for a change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. In simple words, he/she is a person who does new thigs or does things which are already being done in a new way. In a male dominated society like India, today, women entrepreneurs have gained a lot of importance and have challenged the numerous gender norms and stereotypes associated with women. By not heeding to the discouraging comments on how will they manage family or child along with a start-up, these women have taken a step ahead to accomplish their dream.

One such example of an ingenious women entrepreneur is Ms. Raashi Anand, founder of one of the renowned and established non-profit organization, LAKSHYAM.

Ms. Raashi Anand has selflessly worked for the upliftment of child development and women empowerment through her NGO, Lakshyam. Established in 2012, Lakshyam has taken various initiatives to end the violation of human rights of the underprivileged and focus on holistic development of children and women empowerment. It has involved itself in various activities to make the exhausting lifestyle of India’s street children and families easier and better.

Ms. Raashi Anand was highly influenced by her mother, Poonam Anand, another social worker. They both had established an orphanage in Ranchi, mostly for deaf and dumb children. The various visits to the orphanage opened her eyes to the poverty prevalent in the rural areas.

With this mindset, she established her own non-profit organization, Lakshyam which has drastically improved the lives of the street children by preventing them from engaging in anti-social activities like begging, drug trafficking etc and providing them with basic amenities and support. This is one of the major steps keeping in mind the present demographic dividend where the majority of India lies in the age group of 15-64. Not only has she worked towards the underprivileged children, but as a young social activist she has also vowed to prevent the ostracization of women which is prevalent in our society since decades.

Rooh, a programme launched at Lakshyam aims to strengthen a woman’s demeanour towards life itself. It comprises of three components: first, provide remedial education to their children, second, provide exposure along with professional training and lastly providing them with a platform where their skilled products could be bought and sold. They are assisted in generating self-employment and creating a feeling of empowerment amongst them. This programme has benefited more than 500 women in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

She continues to actively work for the betterment of society by using her connections and fundraising skill to arrange funds for her own NGO.  It Is only through Ms. Raashi Anand’s hard work and perseverance that she has fulfilled not only her own dreams but has also encouraged and assisted the underprivileged to realize their dreams and have the courage to fulfil them. Her determination and resilience are an example which emphasizes the fact that everything in possible; it is all about our grit and determination