COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY VISION

 

At Light of Life Trust, India (LOLT), our vision is to build an engaged, aware and resilient community that feels ownership and pride in its continued success.  Our approach is multi-pronged. We enable community members to be confident leaders and provide a platform for them to connect and problem solve. We focus on the health of the people and conservation of the environment.  Many of our graduates return to serve their community with their skills, time and passion. This enables our success and strengthens the sustainability of our program.

Our

  Community

      Mission

 At Light of Life Trust, India (LOLT), our vision is to build an engaged, aware and resilient community that feels ownership and pride in its continued success.  Our approach is multi-pronged. We enable community members to be confident leaders and provide a platform for them to connect and problem solve. We focus on the health of the people and conservation of the environment.  Many of our graduates return to serve their community with their skills, time and passion. This enables our success and strengthens the sustainability of our program.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

 

Historically Indian communities have been divided into classes, each  with a designated purpose and job in life. For generations people have followed their parents’ path, not questioning their socio- economic status in society. For those who dreamt of a better life they never saw a path to a better future, and soon gave up on their dream in their daily struggles to feed their family.

With Light of Life Trust’s community empowerment program we seek to not only help them see a better future but believe in themselves and their ability to achieve their dreams. We provide them with education, support, tools, and systems to work together in achieving them.

 

 SUCCESS STORIES 

Community Activism Leads To New Bus Route

After multiple fatalities at an unsafe railway crossing, the community came together and realized that the lack of public transport from their village forced many people to take the short and dangerous route. They approached the local Transport Corporation and now a public bus route connecting Mangaon to Goregaon!

Mom Inspired To Become A Rickshaw Driver

Nisha Gupta, a parent from Karjat was inspired by the changes in the lives of children going through the LOLT progam. She took to heart the focus on the “can” instead of the “can’t”. She chose to become the first female Rickshaw driver in her village, breaking all gender stereotypes!

Young Entrepreneurs

During the summer break, LOLT conducts many enrichment programs. In one such camp, the students learned to make paper shopping bags. The children then approached local stores to get size specifications, and started to make and sell paper bags to the retailers

RESOURCE CONSERVATION

 

Most of LOLT’s communities are in poor farming villages of India. The environment and conservation is key to helping these communities. Some of these regions have seen huge numbers of  farmers commit suicide due to drought, lack of funds to purchase seeds, and their inability to pay unreasonably high interest rate loans by predatory lenders.

At LOLT, we have programs to increase awareness and access to bank loans and subsidies through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.  We have a concerted effort to counter the risk of drought and corresponding failure of climate sensitive and water needy annual crops. At our farming school we worked with the community to identify drought tolerant plants and resilient crops. We also identified sustainable long term crop of fruit trees which help offset the failure of annual crops. 

 Farmers receive hands-on education in high density farming, efficient use of fertilizers, and making and using cost effective organic fertilizers like compost and vermiculture. These greatly increase yield per acre and thus their income. 

 SUCCESS STORIES 

Water Rollers Conserve Time And Avoid Injuries

Many of the homes in the LOLT villages do not have running water.  Everyday women and young girls would spend a significant amount of time walking miles to the water source and then carrying heavy pots of water on their head. This meant reduced time for school and higher risk to spine and neck injuries. 

Water rollers were distributed to~1000 families, thanks to the support of Rotary Club of Hanging Garden and Manav Seva Sansthan. This efficient and injury free system of transporting water allows women and young girls to get more water and move faster, thus freeing up time for education.

SUSTAINABILITY

 

Sustainability of a program is key to its long term growth and continued impact. Community empowerment, education and a strong support network create the environment for our members to make the program their own and take ownership and pride in its success.   

We educate and empower through individual conversations, group events and involving families in school programs. This builds an internal support of community members helping each other and  investing in their children’s education. Our program graduates often return to their village to support, educate, and mentor the next generation of learners.

 

 SUCCESS STORIES 

Nursing School Graduate Returns to Work in the MMU

Sarika had a difficult start in life taking care of her widowed mom suffering from mental illness. With Light of LifeTrust’s educational support, she graduated from high school followed by nursing school. Today, she is working as a nurse with Light of Life Trust’s medical mobile unit caring for students and community members in the schools and villages we serve. This level of reinvestment by community members guarantees our continued success.

Engaging Urban Youth

The Young Mentor Program connects rural children with urban children and corporate volunteers bridging the gap between urban and rural India. Both urban and rural youth are provided a platform to explore their own potential – to learn, engage, explore, invent, have fun, make friends, speak out, raise questions, share experiences, and gain knowledge. The programme inspires students to become Change Agents by cementing a sustainable support system between the groups.