Nurturing nature and education
The Rotaract Club of Basaveshwaranagar, RID 3192, along with RC Bangalore Basaveshwaranagar and its Inner Wheel club of Bangalore Basaveshwaranagar, organised a seed ball making event at the Cadambi Composite PU College. The activity had 150 students, along with Rotaractors, Rotarians and Inner Wheel members, making 17,000 seed balls of various plant species.
Following this event, the Rotaractors went on a tour to Sirsi to participate in a local festival. “On our way there, we dispersed seed balls across open fields,” says project coordinator Megha. Along with members of the Inner Wheel Club of Mahlaxmipura and the Smile Foundation, the Rotaractors planted over 100 samplings in various locations in the town. Around 7,000 seed balls were later donated to Sampige Foundation, an NGO dedicated to environmental conservation; around 3,000 seed balls were given to Eat Raja, an eco-friendly juice outlet in Bengaluru. “Every year the shop owner keeps a bag full of seed balls outside his shop and interested customers gather them to be sown at various places.” This is a flagship project of the club since its charter six years ago. “Every year we make and disperse 15,000–20,000 seed balls,” says club president K N Manjunatha.
In another endeavour aimed at environmental conservation, the club hosts an annual wildlife awareness event for school/college students. This year, under the theme Gajadwani, the focus was on elephant conservation, covering topics such as poaching for ivory, habitat protection and maintaining elephant corridors. “The event was a special tribute to two elephants — Bogeshwara, the legendary tusker from Kabini, which recently passed away at 60, and Arjuna, the majestic Dussehra procession elephant that died 10 months ago. This annual event deepened our understanding of these gentle giants, emphasising the importance of peaceful coexistence.” Various contests including painting, essay writing and photography were held for students. “The proceeds were donated to support the education of the mahouts’children,” he says. An interactive session Voice of the Elephant had the elephant Arjuna’s mahout sharing his experiences with the pachyderm.
Vidya Sankalpa is another signature project of the club being executed for the past four years. Under this initiative, the club renovates government schools and provides sponsorships to children from less privileged families. “We have renovated six government schools in these four years,” says the club president. This year, the club, with financial backing from the IT giant Yahoo, renovated a government polytechnic, benefitting 200 students. The project’s second phase focuses on providing annual scholarships to 20–30 government school students. The funds are collected through crowdfunding and social media campaigns. “This year, our support has led to an increase in student enrolment from 25 to 65 in a government school at Dodaballapur. We have promised them that with every significant increase in students, we will also increase the number of sponsorships,” says Manjunath.
