This youth-led NGO aims for a cleaner tomorrow

In a country that is heavily dependent on rain because agriculture is the prime activity, why are we teaching our children poems like ‘rain, rain go away’ — posing such questions and finding sustainable solutions for current issues is what Visai, a city-based NGO, stands for. “It is understandable that during a period when no one received formal education, the British brought in a system, which enriched the locals. However, it is high time we modified the syllabus to suit our future generations’ needs,” says Saravanan S, the founder.

After completing his Masters in Social Work from Loyola College, he started Visai in 2015; the name means ‘potential’. “Our motto is to crush ignorance with knowledge because no issue we try to address will be solved without education reaching the grassroot level,” he explains. Around 20 members are part of the organisation and each one pursues a full-time profession but pitches in for the awareness activities mostly on weekends. The team has formulated three major projects through which they wish to bring about a change and spread awareness to more than 200-odd schools across Tamil Nadu.

Naatupuram: Saravanan elaborates, “Through this project, we encourage the growth and consumption of traditional rice and millet varieties. The urban population has taken a step towards promoting heritage and organic grains but the awareness has not gone beyond the health aspect or to the masses. To counter this, we educate farmers that cultivating millets and traditional rice will consume only 25 per cent of the water that modern day paddy requires.” Visai also targets youngsters and women’s self-help groups to create a demand for such produce through a campaign titled Food Satyagraha. “We set up stalls and sell organic and healthy foods, and speak about the dangers of cooking with refined sugar, flour, oil and rice,” 

he adds.

Kaakkai: Solid waste management is of vital importance today so they educate people about waste segregation, micro plastics and so on. He says, “Everyone knows that plastic has been banned in the state but no one replaces it with eco-friendly material. Our project called Plastic Parithabangal states — based on research — how plastic affects air, water and food. Micro plastics have been found in salt, fish, water stored in plastic bottles and last year, scientists discovered it even in human feces.”

Kasadara karka: “We are fond of spreading knowledge, so we insist through this venture that all children are taught lessons on morals, sex education and environmental consciousness. Kasadara karka means flawless learning and we have been targeting both school and college students for this project,” states Saravanan.  The NGO also conducts frequent food festivals, where they promote traditional foods in a modern fashion, for example cutlets made from millets, and conduct rallies about various social issues. Visit their website visai.org for further information.