03-03-2016 - 03-03-2016

On the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day’ being observed on Tuesday 08 March 2016, 11 Rotary Clubs in Pune (Airport, Downtown, Heritage, Inspira, Katraj, Mayur, Nigdi, Pashan, Shivajinagar, Westside and Wisdom), all led by woman Presidents, joined hands for this very topical “Save Water” Synergy Project of R.I. District 3131. About 30 lady Rotarians including the Presidents were present for the event. Our club was represented by President Supriya Banerjea, Club Secretary Aruna Rathi, Pres-Elect Pallavi Sable, and R’anns Poroochi Batliwala, Priti Gupta & Meena Latey. The expected target audience was about 200 women from various slums: Janata Nagar and Annabhau Sathe bastees from Parvati area and from a Bachat Gat (= Savings Group) in Sudumbre village near Dehu Road. Of the expected number about 130 ladies attended. All those attending were provided with soft drink, packed lunch and 1 kg onions as a gift. Rtn PP Sumedha Bhosale of RC Pune Kothrud and Pres Sonia Shikarpur of RC Pune Shivaji Nagar conducted the proceedings which began exactly at 12 noon. The guest speakers were Ms Mukta Manohar, Ms Sanjeevani Joglekar, Rtn Adv Ms Nehaa Satalkar of RC Pune Sarasbag and Rtn PP Makarand Tilloo of RC Pune Prime City. They were introduced by Pres Sonia Shikarpur. Mukta Manohar is a well-known social worker and trade unionist. She spoke about ‘woman power’ and exhorted women to get out of the traditional mindset of doing domestic chores to become professionals working in offices. Rtn Makarand Tillu is a well-known professional comedian; he is following his father’s foot- steps and now his daughter is also doing comedy shows! Through his club (RC Pune Prime City) he has undertaken free repair of leaking faucets with a target of 10 million water taps. This project is going on in 38 villages. His team has given training on saving water at many ‘Amrit-tulya’ tea stalls to both, owners with staff and customers. In his talk he promoted rain water harvesting and gave many practical tips on saving water (wash car with water in a small bucket; keep a water jug and glasses on table; fill only half the glass with water, etc.) Rtn Nehaa Satalkar spoke about domestic violence, legal rights and other problems faced by women. Sanjeevani Joglekar is social worker leading the organization “Saheli” and has a ladies group at Sudumbre. She described their activities. Lastly, Rtn Pradnya Thakur, Director of ‘Shashwat’ Eco Solution Foundation who chairs the Community Service activities of RCP Inspira presented a slide show on water conservation. The participating women were also provided with a medical (dental, haemoglobin, eye and general) check-up by doctor-volunteers from nearby hospitals. All in all it was a good, educative programme, appreciated by all.

Project Details

Start Date 03-03-2016
End Date 03-03-2016
Project Cost 3600
Rotary Volunteer Hours 0
No of direct Beneficiaries 200
Partner Clubs
Non Rotary Partners
Project Category Others