Swades Foundation

In the water & sanitation sector, Its efforts are focused on building rainwater harvesting facilities, toilets and water storage structures in homes and under-resourced schools with the aim of creating open-defecation-free communities and ensuring access to safe drinking water.

In the Health & Nutrition sector, its focus is on detecting and managing anaemia through screening and iron supplements, diagnosis and cure of cataracts through checkups and surgery, reducing malnutrition by encouraging breastfeeding and providing supplementary nutrition and treatment for children with heart disease.

In the education sector, it works with Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) to facilitate early childhood development and provides skill development training, leadership training and scholarships to students. It also conducts principal & teacher training programmes to enable efficient and effective delivery of education.

Its economic development initiative is focused on enabling farmers to achieve sustainable sources of income by creating awareness about government policies and providing access to innovative farming techniques.

The first step is to engage rural communities with NGOs, corporate houses, urban youth and the government. The next step is the execution of developmental programs in collaboration with these entities.

The third step is empowerment which takes place when these communities undertake activities with the view to becoming self-dependent and experiencing sustainable development.

We have three mobile vans which are fully equipped for diagnostic screening of eye defects by ophthalmologists. We conduct screening, identification and advise on necessary treatments for eye diseases in these vans. Those identified with refractive errors are given spectacles free of cost whereas those diagnosed with cataract are accompanied to our partner hospitals Laxmi Charitable Trust and HV Desai Eye Hospital for free surgery.

The programme aims to primarily target the 18 - 35 age group, train them with the right and relevant skills and engage them in a meaningful livelihood or employment helping them earn between INR 80K - INR 120K. The age group is relaxed by about 10 years for self-employment trades such as masonry that help skill individuals enabling them to draw a higher daily wage than being unskilled. The subsidized fee charged from student per course in INR 3,000, further subsidized to INR 500 for POP HH. We also provide accommodation facility for youth who travel from far way and do not have the public transport facility to be a day scholar. the upper limit for accommodation cost is fixed at INR 6,500 per youth (approx for 45 to 60 days). This is being executed in partnership with Learnet Skills that has setup a training center and relevant labs to ensure best quality deliverable. The training is imparted through 2 models - (1) Youth being trained at the training center; (2) Youth being trained in their villages where the trainer travels to the community