Deaf are not Dumb

As I have said, time and again, there is so much that people are doing in the world for other people that it has started to dawn upon me about my responsibilities towards the world and our fellow beings. I haven't really done much for the people so here's my chance to at least popularise the ones who have so that their initiative becomes a success. 

My last TEDxTalks were concerned with providing mental health for all by task sharing, harnessing passive human energy and easy accessibility of water in desert rural areas. Both of these were brought about by TEDxgateway event which was held in Mumbai in December 2012 partnered by the Franklin Templeton Investments. This post will deal about the deaf people and the problems faced by them.

Ruma Roka

Ruma Roka is a just a common person like all of us who look at the disabled people and empathize, however, there was one difference. She took it upon her to help the deaf people and bring them out from their dark world. Everybody believes that deaf are also dumb but she wanted to change this - provide them with opportunities, train them to face the world. Today, she is the Founder of the Noida Deaf Society, which uses specialized vocational programs to help the deaf achieve gainful employment and more fully integrate into their communities.

She started out as a small organisation who helps the deaf people and teach them to train for the value additions. As she mentions, they are better workers than the so-called normal people as there is nothing to disturb them. It happens with almost all of us, when we are working and suddenly people on next seat start gossiping, or listening to music, or chatting on their phone on a loud voice- we lose our focus. Well, they don't - they cant hear them so can't be disturbed by them. They give their full concentration to their work and are more efficient. Makes sense to me!

So here lies the cache- if they can't hear you, how will you train them for the work? Complicated problem but a bit simpler solution - you can get to their level. Learn sign language and then you can communicate with them - be able to teach them what you already know, understand their problems and work on the solution together. That's exactly what Ruma Roka did. 

Today, she has 1500 students being trained in her supervision and 580 of her students recruited in large firms! I think this calls for an applause! :D

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012. (video)

It's my turn to do my bit for the humanity. :)

This post is a part of The Idea Caravan contest organised by Franklin Templeton Investments and IndiBlogger.

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Mental health for all, by all

From my past few posts, you may be aware by now of my obsession with the TEDxtalks. :D There is so much that people are doing in the world for other people that it has started to dawn upon me about my responsibilities towards the world and our fellow beings. I haven't really done much for the people so here's my chance to at least popularise the ones who have so that their initiative becomes a success. 

My last TEDxTalks were concerned with harnessing passive human energy and easy accessibility of water in desert rural areas. Both of these were brought about by TEDxgateway event which was held in Mumbai in December 2012 partnered by the Franklin Templeton Investments. This post will deal about mental health issues.

The problem:

According to Vikram Patel, the co-founder of Sangath, a local NGO dedicated to mental health and family well being  about 50 million people in India suffer from a mental or neurological illness. As we know in America, there are a lot of psychiatrists for the increasing amount of depression and anxiety cases due  to the stressful lifestyle of people. In India, if we have started living a similar lifestyle but if follow the same model, we would need 1.5 lakh psychiatrists for a population of 1.2 billion. However, the actual number available are 3500 which is pretty miniscule. 

The problem is we do not have so many psychiatrists and as a matter of fact, not everybody in India can afford a psychiatrist! The common people who are striving to make both ends meet with rise in prices of essential commodities everyday, cannot afford to get treated for problems like depression or anxiety by paying huge fee to the psychiatrists. 

The solution:

So Vikram Patel has started a new concept - task-sharing. So what if we cannot afford the expensive psychiatrists? He has started training the people in the rural areas itself - one among their own- to treat mental illness, to counsel people. He started this exercise with his NGO as a randomized controlled trial, The MANAS trial, in which one group is given the aid and the other isn't.

They observed 70% recovery rate in aided people as opposed to 50% in the control group. The suicidal behaviour reduced from 20% to 9% which is more than 50% reduction. Then they conducted similar trials on people with dementia and other neurological disorders. He has given the concept of SUNDAR for such task sharing activities:

Simplify the message

UNpack the treatment (break down in their terms)

Deliver where they are

Affordable and available human resources

Reallocation of specialists to train and supervise

I know that most of us believe that the treatment of "dangerous" medical diseases is more important and these mental disorders can be dealt later on. But trust me, they are as dangerous and life-taking as the other medical problems. A lot of people are suffering from depression and stressful life but either they are unaware as of whom to approach or too shy to actually discuss their problems with anyone. We should take upon ourselves this task of helping as much people as we know. This year the Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxgateway event in December 2012 which showcased all these initiatives with people. I just feel sad that I couldn't be a part of it but we must definitely be a part of the initiatives in even as little way as is possible for us.

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012. (video)

It's my turn to do my bit for the humanity. :)

This post is a part of The Idea Caravan contest organised by Franklin Templeton Investments and IndiBlogger.

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Science Fact - 11

In Death Valley, California the rocks move along a valley floor without any human or animal intervention.

Sailing stones, sliding rocks, and moving rocks refer to a geological phenomenon in which rocks move from one place to another leaving long trails without any human or animal intervention. The trails (or tracks) may be linear or nonlinear and even two rocks which start from same position may end in totally different directions. 

Tracks from these sliding rocks have been observed in various locations, including Little Bonnie Claire Playa in Nevada, and most notably Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California where the number and length of tracks are notable. 

It has been postulated that the movement is caused due to strong winds or ice-formation on the surface of rocks  which reduces the frictional forces, however, it is difficult to find the actual reason behind the movement as the rocks move once in three-four years and the duration of movement lasts up to ten seconds.

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Wello Waterwheel: Wheel Reinvented with a Watery Twist

In my last post, AIRE Concept: Converting Passive Human Energy to Electricity!, I mentioned about the innovations in technology to solve the basic problems of the world brought about by TEDxgateway event which was held in Mumbai in December 2012 partnered by the Franklin Templeton Investments. The last post was concerned with the production of electricity from passive human energy which was brilliant according to me!

This year the Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxgateway event in December 2012. As I mentioned in my last post, I was hugely inspired by the ideas presented by the speakers that I couldn't resist telling the world about it through my blog and doing my bit in spreading the young innovations that we need now. So here's another such innovation to provide clean water to people.

The problem:

One billion people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water. They have to travel large distances carrying a huge amount of water on their heads. This can be observed even in villages of Rajasthan and nearby desert areas. The problems in this process are as follows:

1. Time-consuming. On an average, women have to be spend a quarter of a day in travelling these large distances. 
2. Too Heavy. A person needs 5 gallons of water per day which weighs 20 kg. Now, a family of five will need 25 gallons which will weigh 100 kg! 
3. Large number of trips. As, in India, this work of bringing water is done only by women, the mother and daughter have to together carry 100 kgs for which they will have to undertake a large number of trips or manage with lesser amount of water.
4. Missing out on other opportunities. The girls tend to drop out school at an early age so that they can help their mother in this very necessary daily chore. At the age when they can get educated and a find a job to bring themselves out of poverty and hence, this misery, they lose the opportunities and thus remain entangled in this cycle of poverty-trap.
5. Health problems. Carrying so much weight everyday for almost their entire life, the women suffer from chronic back problems in the spinal cord, become weak and thus, lead a very disturbing life health-wise.

The solution:

Cynthiya Koenig has taken into consideration the problems of these people and worked upon them She reinvented the wheel and created Wello Waterwheel (in the right picture). This water wheel solves almost all the problems of carrying water safely. 

It provides the people with the following features:

1. Convenient. With this, women can carry 50 L water at once - which means more water in less time.
2. Hygienic. It is closed form the top and thus prevents any sort of contamination on the way back.
3. Easy to transport. The waterwheel just have to be pushed and not carried on the head which means no more back problems.
4. Saves time. It requires lesser time and energy and thus the children are not required in the process anymore. They can go back to studying and making a career for themselves and their family. 
5. Affordable and long lasting. By local manufacturing and CSR partnerships, the estimated cost will be between Rs 750- Rs 1000.

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012. (video)

It's our turn to do my bit for the environment. :)

This post is a part of The Idea Caravan contest organised by Franklin Templeton Investments and IndiBlogger.

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AIRE Concept: Converting Passive Human Energy to Electricity!

I recently came across the TEDxgateway event which was held in Mumbai in December 2012 partnered by the Franklin Templeton Investments. For those of you unfamiliar with TED, let me introduce you to TED. TED is a nonprofit organisation devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Basically it provides a platform to the young generation to present their innovative ideas in making the world a better place to live in.

Some of you might be familiar with the TED Talks video site which shows the award winning innovations by young researchers - some of the researches are so simple yet so brilliantly effective! You'll end up wondering why didn't I think of this before! There is also a TED annual prize for the most innovative research of the year.

So, back to where I started - This year the Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxgateway event in December 2012. I was just watching the videos of the speakers in the event and was hugely inspired by their ideas that I couldn't resist telling the world about it through my blog and doing my bit in spreading the young innovations that we need now.

João Lammoglia, 27, provided a brilliant concept about human energy. We all are living in a techno-savy world where 90% of our work is dependent upon gadgets - be it your laptop, tab, or smart phone! recently, our smart phones have replaced the need of any other gadgets as they provide us with almost all the facilities and features we require and keeps us in touch with millions at once by the help of super-fast internet. However, here lies the catch - it runs on electricity. 

Electricity is one of our most treasured resources. Imagine living even a day -24 hours- without electricity and I can assure you it will be worst than a nightmare. When internet isn't working due to some technical problems, I can't even decide what to do with my laptop! :O But this electricity doesn't come cheap! The electricity sector in India had an installed capacity of 225.133 GW as of May 2013, the world's fifth largest. Captive power plants generate an additional 34.444 GW. Non Renewable Power Plants constitute 87.55% of the installed capacity and 12.45% of Renewable Capacity (Link). 

It is unsustainable to be using the non-renewable sources forever and besides, they are too harmful for the environment.The major contributor of non-renewable energy are coal based power plants and the extraction of coal from buried fossil fuels is literally catastrophic for the surroundings. We can always shift to renewable power like solar energy ad wind energy, but the problem is India doesn't have the strong solar efficiency or wind potential. 

We need a different solution - for which we have immense potential and which provides large amount of energy. 

Joao Lammoglia provided us with one such innovative idea - AIRE concept. AIRE is a mask that converts wind energy (provided by the wearer’s breath) into electricity for the recharging of small electronic devices by the use of small wind turbines. It uses the passive energy of the human power. We've seen several charging devices emerge in recent years that harness kinetic energy to power mobile devices, but this is the first we've come across that actually uses human respiration to power a gadget. Designer João Paulo Lammoglia won a Best of 2011 RedDot Design Award for the AIRE mask. The mask can be used while sleeping, reading or exercising, according to the description.

Mobile phones are small devices, but they can have a pretty significant environmental impact, creating as much as 1 metric ton of CO2 per year – so anything you can do to curb your energy use is of course a good thing. “Besides saving energy (and contributing to environmental preservation), it also encourages the practice of physical exercise,” writes Lammoglia in the product description. “Its energy is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012. (video)

I think using human power is a very innovative idea - my mental energy can be used to charge a gadget - already in love with the idea! :D It's my turn to do my bit for the environment. :)

This post is a part of The Idea Caravan contest organised by Franklin Templeton Investments and IndiBlogger.

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Wood Batteries: A Green Substitute to Lithium batteries

Sodium-ion batteries are a type of reusable battery that uses sodium-ions as a way to store power in a compact system. This type of battery is still in a developmental phase but is forecasted to be a cheaper, more durable way to store energy than commonly used lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are common in consumer electronics as they are one of the most popular types of rechargeable battery for portable electronics, with one of the best energy densities, no memory effect, and only a slow loss of charge when not in use.

Currently lithium-ion batteries are the preferred portable battery as after approximately 50 cycles most sodium-ion batteries tend to store only about 50% of original capacity. However, lithium batteries maintain their capacity. As lithium is in short supply, whereas sodium is much more abundant and also environment-friendly, it would greatly lower the price of the product if the modern day batteries were switched over to a sodium-ion cell.

Scientists at University of Maryland have designed a ‘green’ battery using a sliver of wood covered with tin. The various parts in the battery are a thousand times slimmer than a paper piece. They used wood fibers, which are apt for storing liquid electrolytes, allow the sodium-ion battery to keep going for more than 400 charging cycles.

It is being said that the wood fibers, which are soft and mesoporous, can be set up as a new platform for a budget sodium ion battery.

The study was published in journal Nano Letters.

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Environment's Mania!

Like every year, your FaceBook news-feed would be flooded with Happy Environment day's messages - cool status from everyone showing how caring they are for the environment, how they wore green today, special senti messages about the environment. They are good to cause awareness, but, in reality, how much do we actually do for our environment -NOTHING!

 

 

 

There isn't much of work if you really try to do something -your little bit - for the planet. There are simple things which don't even interfere with your comfort. I have given a short list of 10 points only to help you get ideas:

1. Don't waste water in your home - like while shaving, brushing , turn the tap off when you don't need water.
2. In office and colleges, use both sides of paper when taking a printout. In case of official used papers which are printed only on one side, you can use the back side for some rough work.
3. Start taking your own mug with you for tea, coffee.
4. Disconnect your phone charger when not using it. If it seems more convenient to let it be plugged in, then at least switch off the plug.The same goes for appliances like microwave oven, hair straightener, etc.
5. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
6. Try to use recyclable materials rather than disposables as much as possible.
7. If not a tree, then may be a few plants at home would be a great idea for decor as well as the pollution control.
8. Carry a cloth bag/jute bag for grocery shopping instead of getting things in a plastic bag or paper bag! (Paper bag is as harmful as plastic ones as for making paper bags you still need to cut tress, and after one use it becomes crumbled or torn)
9. Installing CFLs instead of tube lights saves on energy as well as reduce your electricity bill.
10. Check energy rating when buying new appliances.

The best policy as one of my professors taught me is , "3 'R's - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse".

 

Here's a list of 50 ways to help the planet in simple ways - http://www.50waystohelp.com/

 

Leaving you with an CNN-IBN initiative to save the Western Ghats!

 

 

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