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Image Credits: Sandy Khanda
How This Youth-Led NGO Is Making Difference In Society By Empowering The Underprivileged
India, 3 March 2022 12:12 PM GMT
Editor : Snehadri Sarkar |
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For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
Green Pencil Foundation is a Gurugram-based NGO working on four major parameters, i.e. Mental Health, Child Education, Climate Awareness, and Menstrual Health & Hygiene.
Sandeep Khanda was born in a small village named Khanda in Haryana's Jind district. Since childhood, he has had a great interest in social work. During one of his journeys from his village to a metro city, he noticed social evils still existed in modern society, even in urban areas like the gap between males and females. In addition, he experienced the worst climate conditions, air pollution, poverty in slum areas of Delhi etc. These issues prompted him to become a full-time social activist.
Khanda, then an engineering student, started educating slum kids on a weekend basis organised climate protests, plantation drives, campaigns and drives on mental health across India.
How Green Pencil Foundation Started?
Later, he rejected a job offer from a multinational company to work for the upliftment of society. This led him to establish Green Pencil Foundation- a youth-led NGO working on four major parameters, i.e. Mental Health, Child Education, Climate Awareness, and Menstrual Health & Hygiene. Some of the campaigns are "One Home One Tree", "Periods of Pride", "Festivals Vibe With Needy Tribe", and "Slum To School", etc.
Talking of menstrual health, "Periods of Pride" is a renowned campaign that spread like wildfire and has reached from the south end to the top of the country's north.
Green Pencil Foundation has started "Slum to School" for child education and has enrolled more than 1 lakh children on school and educates them in over ten cities ( Pune, Zirakpur, CHD, Panchkula, Jamshedpur, Madhubani, Delhi, Gurugram and Shahjahanpur.
The next parameter is Climate Awareness, where the NGO has started the "One Home One Tree campaign", which makes people aware and educates them to take care of the tree they have planted.
Mental Health is the next pillar of the foundation where it has conducted many online campaigns and has experts to tackle the obstacles of the masses.
Empowering The Underprivileged
Establishing its roots in 2019 from a countryside area, the organisation is now spreading its roots in every nook and corner of the world. Its primary mission and vision are to empower the underprivileged people who live on the pavements and thatched houses, living a life of hand to mouth.
The NGO dreams to see every person going to school to have the education to become independent and have a better living and brighter future. In addition, Green Pencil Foundation has a team called Dream Team. Khanda has discovered the young ignited minds who have the same sparkling souls, with the same zeal to do something for the betterment of society. The team consists of youngsters with different capabilities and abilities and helps the foundation grow more with every passing day.
It is leading in every city and state along with their respective heads and volunteers, who are successfully organising the plethora of campaigns to uproot some of the major triggering issues of the society.
"I have experienced everything at the ground level and seen what obstacles the masses have faced. Moreover, I have worked with other NGOs too, they have worked in their own way, but I didn't feel that they created much impact. Therefore I decided to start my own NGO and become a changemaker. As it is rightly said that change begins from home," Sandeep, also known as Sandy Khanda, told The Logical Indian.
"Initially, nobody supported. I had to do everything on my own. It was challenging to cross every threshold, but I was determined to do," he said.
Khanda aims at empowerment and not just in donations. He believes in change made by his NGO through various drives and campaigns.
Awards And Appreciations
For his effortless work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Khanda received Appreciation Certificate from the World Book of Records London for his contribution to helping COVID affected families and animal welfare. He has also received a pro planet organisation award by Green Mentors in Bal Bhavan, New Delhi, in 2020 for his outstanding contribution to climate change besides other awards and achievements.
Khanda now plans to makeover one lakh changemakers in the country and overseas too.
"As we educate children in slum and enrol them in school, our target is to make slum-free India," he said.
"The next major obstacle we face is the bad air quality in metro cities, resulting in air pollution. For the same, we have 'One Home One Tree' campaign, where we aim at pollution free metro cities," he said.
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