Small steps often pave the path for the proverbial big leap. And that’s exactly what has happened in the case of these bright children from the city.
Thanks to their out-of-the-box thinking, students of Chirec Public School, Oakridge International School and FIITJEE have been invited to present their innovative ideas at the Future Leaders Programme to be held at the United Nations from December 1 to 4. The I Million and I Billion (IMIB) Future Leaders is a programme for discovering and nurturing the world’s most promising youth leaders.
Five teams from these city schools have been shortlisted for the programme that is designed to help students develop their leadership and 4th industrial revolution skills by helping them find their passion and purpose.
Innovative solutions
Their ideas are not big innovations, but big solutions to some simple problems of society that include providing safe drinking water, creating channels for farmers to sell their products, connecting rural weavers to big businesses, providing life skills to poor children and de-addicting children from modern gadgets.
Nainika Reddy and Meeraa Ramakrishnan from Chirec International have helped children in orphanages to access clean drinking water through eco-friendly methods apart from creating awareness on hygiene. The girls also raised funds to build water connections and install water filters. Over 20 children and 20 women have been trained by them.
Vegesna Rishi Varma from Oakridge International School created a platform for the farmers and women in his ancestral village Kallakuru in coastal Andhra Pradesh to sell local sweets to the world. His ‘Swayam Krushi’ project was able to create a stable livelihood for 15 farmers generating ₹1 lakh in 100 days by shipping 80 boxes of sweets.
Similarly innovative were the projects of Pranay Satya (FITJEE), who established water shops in villages around Narsapur and trained locals to manage the filtration units, and Anwisha Reddy (Oakridge) who helped revive the dying art of handloom lace. Later, she created an online platform to sell products made by 18 women directly to large businesses and designers in big cities.
Addressing the growing problem of children being heavily dependent on screens (phones, tablets, computers) for entertainment, Arnav Das and Rohan Gadamsetty of Chirec International focussed on spreading awareness on children’s addiction to gadgets and offering alternatives to parents to wean them away from electronic gadgets.
The other team selected is of Ankitha Vontela and Rhea Thakkal, also from Chirec International, which initiated a good health and well being campaign for children from under-served schools and inculcating life skills in them.
