Vatavaran has been a well-established Non Government , Non Profit Organization for 25 years. 5 firsts of Vatavaran are :
Organization by the volunteers-
Vatavaran’s volunteers have worked for our environment earnestly & passionately . Volunteers have been are like a stream, never permanent but have kept coming for all these years.
Vatavaran Primate Procession –
A path we followed by means of a series of cross media interventions and events and designed a monkey sanctuary.
Canine companions-
Innovated stray dog management system which is replicable , practical , low cost and involves community.
Zero Garbage zones-
Created decentralized municipal solid waste management model for urban residential colonies of various economic starta , educational institutes , rural and urban villages .
Source Treatment System-
Innovated hospital waste management system in which any chance of pilfiring hospital waste – the biggest problem gets eliminated . Its also economical and more environmentally friendly than any other system.
Our campaigns led to DelhiRidge –its only natural forest declared a reserve forest, use of plastic carry bags banned, blood banks upgraded, slaughter house shifted out, greening of non-green golf courses, zoos improved, ‘in vitro’experiments replaced ‘in vivo’ , popularized hand-made recycled paper and its products and through our barter system exchanged non-compostable waste for saplings of indigenous trees thus encouraging greening and starting colony forests.
We have now decided to expand the influence through forming links with other organisations. Together we are now a rhizome growing horizontally with lateral shoots . They are our shoots and we theirs. We understand each other’s vision and mission and agree to it . We are reaching out to the sections of society which we could not with so much efficiency earlier.
The five organizations (representing the five elements of nature – Earth , Water , Air , Sun, Space )have been selected after a year of intense mental and physical activity . With all five Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed . The certificates given to the participants of the institutions for their respective programs will have Vatavaran and that organization’s name and logo.
Arpan
Known for its work with multiple handicapped individuals (http://arpan.org.in /) is based in Vadodara. Its vision is to have a world free of Child Sexual Abuse and its mission is to empower individuals, families, communities and society with prevention and intervention skills to reduce the occurrence of child sexual abuse and heal its psychological, social, sexual and physical consequences. Joint program is to create awareness on clean and green environment through their programs making a wider and deeper impact on society.
ASHI
Association for Social Health in India (www.ashiindia.org) is known for its work on social issues. The joint program is to convert one of their bases Anna Nagar, a J.J. Colony in the capital to a clean and green settlement. All construction and other waste will be cleared and every bit of wasteland will be greened by indigenous trees. Additional benefit would be a replicable model for converting public squalors to clean green settlements.
Blue Bells International
A school in the capital (www.bluebellsinternational.com) whose outlook epitomizes Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of humanity as one family and its philosophy is ‘One Planet the Earth, One family Mankind’. Its endeavor is to groom children to be true catalyst of sustainable change. The link is to popularize the use of handmade recycled paper along with making students entrepreneurs of tomorrow. The school has a handmade paper recycling unit but Vatavaran would help in upgrading it, capacity building and greater involvement of the students, allowing them to innovate both at the paper making and product making level thus boosting their creativity.
People’s Theatre Group
Promotes performing arts and education through art (http://www.peoplestheatre.in/)art beyond man-made boundaries with songs, stories and plays for social causes. The program carved out for this link is to make Durga Puja (the most celebrated yet polluting festival) a green one across the globe and also incorporate environs awareness through the art and various digital media platforms.
Kailash Foundation
Working on education (http://:kailashafoundation.org) will be responsible with the aegis of Vatavaran, to give fellowships for vocational education to the children of waste collectors. Along with this, they have also vowed to provide these children with placements with employers who agree to pay salaries in compliance with State regulations.
Deductions-
Being a rhizome, the links are forever.
May this goodwill spread beyond formal organisations into individual endeavours.
The accountability of these organisations lays in the fact that they too occupy a space in the environment and its resources and express responsibility towards it, so in their recognition of these responsibilities they also accept self-accountability.
Vatavaran 