ഉറവ (Project Urava)
Urava means the beginning of a water flow and here we refer it as the starting to our initiative.
Urava is a scholarship project with children. Through this project, we are initiating to unlock the potential within our children. During the project, they are going to explore their connection with nature through arts, camps, and a lot more activities. They are going to reconnect with nature to learn the importance to conserve it. The one year program is designed as a three phase journey refering to the different stages of water flow from stream then river then ends in the sea.
അരുവി(Stream phase)
The first phase is called the stream. Stream phase was a fifteen-day camp with fifteen children. This phase was an introductory phase where the ideas of urava were introduced to children. During the stream phase, we conducted an exposure visit to Gurukula botanical garden. Each day of camp was filled with a lot of learning. Our children were amazing with their knowledge of many wild fruits and medicinal plants. We also conducted a small cleanup drive competiton near their learning centre. The clean up drive helped them in realizing the importance of waste management. We also invited few guest mentors who interacted with our children.
നദി(River phase)
The river phase of urava held from 28th December 2022 to 1st of January 2023. The river phase was a five day camp with the participation of 19 children among which three where from the urban background. Through the river phase we wanted to support the interaction among children from different background which will enhance the sharing of learnings and knowledge about nature. Making herbarium, forest walk, foraging of fruits, clean-up drive where few among the activities held during the camp.
കടല്(Sea phase)
The sea phase of urava held from 20th April 2023 to 21st of May 2023. The sea phase was a twenty day camp with the participation of 16 children . During this phase we included activities such as cycling, swimming, farming, waste management, herbal product making and exposure visits. We had two exposure visits in which one was a residential one held at Thalassery and one to the medicinal plant conservation area protected by forest department.
Project Track the Trash
Trash means something refused and it becomes a trouble when it is not managed properly. Trash can become a threat to the entire ecosystem so it is very important to have sustainable methods to manage the trash. If you want to manage the trash first of all you should be aware of the different categories of trash and how to segregate them.
Through the project track the trash we are planning to work with different communities in Kerala on training them on trash management which includes tracking the trash, segregating, and disposing of it.
Currently, we are working on the first phase of this project which is research to find the challenges in trash management in Kerala where we want to hear from the public, government and other stakeholders related to the trash management sector.