On March 27, we welcomed OneProsper Board Member, Shailendra Gupta.

OneProsper International is working to empower girls in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India to break the cycle of poverty. Our holistic solution brings clean water, education and better nutrition to underprivileged girls living in the Thar Desert. 

In September 2017, OneProsper International began construction of rainwater harvesting tanks for 30 families in the Thar Desert which will impact 60 girls. The tanks were completed in January 2018 and the girls started attending school February 2018.

Grade 6 Social Studies students are studying the Eastern Hemisphere and the issue of water scarcity in countries like South Sudan and India. As part of their learning experience they are focusing on the struggle of women in the northern Thar Desert where resources are scarce, forcing girls to forgo school in order to walk long distances to get water for their families. Last year we partnered with the nonprofit OneProsper in order to help girls attend school.

This year in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), Grade 6 students raised money through a bake sale for OneProsper. Salesforce visited with students and introduced them to their Trailhead technology to create an app to improve bake sale results. There are four more bake sales scheduled.

Mr. Gupta spoke about the importance of OneProsper’s work, outlining the following challenges and solutions:

Challenges:

-Clean Water
-Lack of access to clean water results in water borne disease (diarrhea)
-Lack of education for girls
-Girls wake up at 4-5 am and walk several hours to collect water from a pond
-Low crop yields results in poor nutrition and low incomes

Solution: Clean Water

-OneProsper selects families with two (2) girls per household and builds a taanka (rainwater harvesting tank) with bio sand filter for each family.
-The taanka is underground (20,000 L) with a surface catchment area.
-The taanka captures water during the summer monsoon.
-A full taanka can meet a family’s needs for 8 months.  Afterwards, it can be refilled from pond water.
-Before the taanka, women and girls would have to make 7 trips per day to collect water.

Solution: Girls’ Education

-Each girl receives a bicycle, school supplies and tuition for 1 year.
-In April 2018, OneProsper will also provide girls with a tablet bundled with a learning app and solar lamp.
-The learning app will enable girls to learn foundational concepts in Hindi which will improve learning outcomes
-Internet connectivity is not required
-Tablets can be recharged by the solar lamp

Solution: Food and Income

-OneProsper provides each family with seeds and training to plant a garden using the Khadin method.
-The Khadin method is a 500-year old desert farming method that involves building an earthen wall across a field to contain rainwater during the monsoon.
-The water percolates into the soil and crops are planted in the wet zone.
-A Khadin typically results in a doubling of crop yields

OneProsper has supported 60 girls as of March 2018, including two that were sponsored by last year’s Grade 6 Hamlin students.

After Mr. Gupta’s presentation, Hamlin students asked several thoughtful questions on topics related to the structure of rural Indian schools, and the sustainability of global nonprofit outreach.

To learn more about OneProsper, please visit: https://www.oneprosper.org/