Written By Sahithi Divi as told by Pooja Agarwal
Non Profit Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact Leader, Volunteer Influencer, Ted x speaker
Pooja is a young social impact leader in her early twenties who is unlocking the creativity of hundreds of children from low income schools. She has founded an NGO called AIKAARTH with strong vision of providing art education of all forms ( painting, sports, culinary skills etc. ) to children from under resourced schools having a bottom line impact on their abilities. She has curated a platform to resource skilled volunteers in various art fields to train the children under a planned curriculum which is now expanding into a measurable offering with continued support networks.
As a child she indulged in patriotism that left her curiosity and passion looking for something beyond the boundaries of social walls. She recognised empathy as a child. She looks back to the time when people’s trouble challenged her peace of mind as a kid. She enjoyed that anxiety and allowed it to grow by providing her thoughts a direction. Direction does not occur phenomenally, it happens like a movement. Overall development of a girl child is untapped and overlooked. That is why as a woman it is hard to contemplate for choices while fighting social discrimination. Her dream was to be socially useful.
Exploring of one’s overall personality and providing diverse conditions is an important resource for a teenage girl especially whose emotional environment is partially allowed to expose to human rights on power with that of boys. Although the pressure narrative is widely different for men, a women’s is still prone to the risk of a man’s internal acceptance of spending on her growth. Moving to undergrad education was a tremendous compromise to her interest in journalism.
Unaffected of the setbacks she paramount feedback from life as learnings and bounced back with a project of 121 children receiving distinct workshops followed by her experience as a teach India fellow. This widened her vision into sectors and moved her towards a more focus centric approach. Evolution of demand with experience of empathy interviews or volunteering projects are solely the moments of impact which help us in deciding the next step while partnerships help in shaping up the timelines.
Taking the first step and continuing to fight back is the best thing I have done for myself , she says.
Her vision grew larger, when she started to think about how many people has she really inspired. When her project kicked off , she began to see the ripple effects of doing social good in a structured way. Her dream now is to create leaders who can lead the vast forefront. She also speaks about the importance of receiving support from family is vital for the best output. Although there might be a resistance from family due to social stigma yet always begin the change from inside. Her parents who once protected her from cultural atrocities are now advocating for girl education actively.
She defines Democracy as not yet the best, Women as yet to be empowered and Equality as does not exist. Through her work she is promoting Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education, Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth and Goal 17- Partnerships for the goals.
Pooja resides her story with charisma of rough rides that did more good than evil to her. Through her strong love towards her cause , she remains a glorious example for millennials to set a course of direction into social impact leadership.
Written By Sahithi Divi as told by Pooja Agarwal ( source : http://www.impactscientist.com )
