Critical thinking skills are much valued in the current world and often enables the new generation to question the relevance of the practices in society. This proves to be refreshing in bringing open mindedness and different outlooks on any situation. These skills will further empower students to actively participate and contribute to the world by connecting with the scientific temperament. DEF has been actively engaged in focussing on STEM education through its well monitored programs.

Samarth SoochnaPreneur program, where rural people who are differently abled are trained to be digital entrepreneurs, has become successful on every front. It has been able to provide digital services and awareness to the unconnected society whose welfare depends on it and at the same time empowered the lives of those who were disempowered by the norms, limitations and standards set by the society.

A privileged few to whom information is available at the tip of their fingers take access to information for granted and it becomes hard to fully grasp what the consequences of lack of such access to information are. Nearly half of India’s rural and semi-urban women and adolescent girls face various health related issues due to lack of adequate knowledge about menstrual hygiene.

With changing times, Chanderi is now better recognized for the popular fabric that the town has been weaving for years, while originally it was the other way around. With the rising sun that reflects its warm rays on at least half a dozen lakes distributed resourcefully across town, one of the numerous signs of prevailed prosperity, the sight of milking of cows that graze the lush hills surrounding Chanderi from which many women procure firewood on a daily basis to provide meals for their families cannot be missed.

Sustainable living is not something that exists only in the urban dictionary. The Digital Didi program has allowed us to look at this way of living in a rural and conservative set up. Social and financial exclusions have been around for quite some time and the efforts to bridge these gaps have also been taken up.

Many SoochnaPreneurs across India have eventually found ways to help their communities grow in bigger ways. The training that skillfully empowers their empathising personality has pushed them to seek better means of bringing further changes on a large scale and here is a testimonial to support this.

STEM has been the talk of many interventions in the education field and here is an excerpt from a DEF Dialogue which explores this aspect along with looking at the very definition of it from a purpose oriented perspective.

SoochnaPreneur program is one of the unique programs launched by DEF which always brings surprising elements into the sphere of social work. Most often, the SoochnaPreneurs share their stories of their learnings quite vividly and here is one such anecdote from Tarana Nazmi of Jharkhand.

Homelessness is a worldwide problem and government agencies and civil society organisations have come up with various initiatives to suppress the problem. However, none of the initiatives have been completely successful.

Tea gardens of West Bengal spread mostly over the northern part of the state near sub-Himalayan hills and adjacent terrain. The population in these regions majorly belongs to scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, thus limiting their access to various necessities in life.