SWETCHA FOUNDATION - Ichapuram Pachadanam

Change begins at home

With a Mission to drive change, we started in Ichapuram, a place that is home to most of us, and also the birth place of Swetcha itself.

Within days of its inception Swetcha transformed from being an idea in the thoughts of few youngsters to the being the talk of the town. We chalked out a plan to plant 2000 trees in a span of 7 days. Having realised that we would need the support of the locals in sustaining the change, we spent significant time in campaigning and building awareness.

Preplanning: We started campaigning in Social Media about the activity almost since a month before the launch. We raised funds from friends and family and approached other organisations for help and support. The group stayed motivated through small undertakings in Bangalore around our neighbourhood and offices.We worked with forest department to gather and accumulate 1750 saplings which they provided free of cost.

Day1: We started on main roads and planted around 30 saplings. The rest of the day was spent in meeting different organisations and communities like, Rotary club, daily labour, Auto union, and we spread awareness for our campaign

Day2: We foraged into the residential streets. Joined hands by Rotary, Raksha and other foundations, we covered all the streets that our homes belonged to. With increased efficiency we planted more than a hundred saplings. We met the municipal commissioner in the evening and apprised him on the status of the project.

Day3: Since it was a labour holiday, we focused our attention on schools starting with Govt. high school. We introduced our Environmental project (Appendix) The response was exhilarating, we distributed 200 saplings on the same evening, to school children who came to our homes to pick the saplings.

Day4: With our new found mantra, we visited two more schools and motivated children to collect and plant saplings. The management were equally cooperative. Many children planted them on the same day and shared photographs. By the end of day 4 we have almost distributed or have planted around 650 saplings

Day5: This is the day we raided Government offices like LIC, police station, mandal Parishad and others with our plant warriors. Equally warmly welcomed the employees and helped us plant around 250 plants on a single day. Also we turned some of the backyards into upcoming orchards.

Day6: Having created enough buzz within the premises of the town we went into the villages that layed in the outskirts, each of us in a different direction. The villagers were helpful and we have planted 1200 saplings by the end of day 6.

Day7: The last day was a hyper-drive, we explored all avenues, knocked on all doors and incited every household into the activity. We turned even garages and playgrounds green. All NGOs joined hands and all schools and colleges followed us in our march (Appendix). We dispensed a whooping 400 and our overall total crossed 1600.

Overall Impact

The primary phase of the drive ended with day 7 but the folks who missed all the action in the last one week came to our houses and collected saplings. The volunteers of Swetcha continued the activities for a few more days and made sure that every single sapling found its roots in the mother Earth. While successfully planting 2000 saplings in a span of 7 days, Swetcha was able to cultivate awareness and responsibility towards the planted saplings as well. For some it meant incentives, and for some it meant a mild reprimand. For some it is sweet talk and for others it i reproach. But surprising is the fact that there is no household which totally disregarded the assigned tree. Volunteers were assigned for every street to periodically mark the status and plan for the healthy growth of the trees that might include pesticides or manure. We have announced rewards as well for the volunteer that would have the most number of trees survive.

Post drive impact: That was not all of it. After this, schools and colleges started calling us asking for saplings and the volunteer groups continued to drive on a smaller scale as well. Around 1000 saplings are shipped again from forest department and were planted in the next two weeks. Process is set in place to monitor and prevent any pests and disease. We hopefully wait with time to judge the impact this activity will have on our environment.

A natural and cultural Paradigm

Though it was started as an Environmental Activity, Ichapuram Pachadanam turned into a cultural activity touching the hearts of the denizens. Songs were sung, dances were done. This activity turned out to be a cultural festival that brought together the kindled green souls of Ichapuram.

Anecdotes

There is no great pitch that does not include anecdotes. Neither this story could be complete if we do not mention the kid that walked 5 Km to collect saplings or the son who distributed and planted fruit bearing trees at his father’s funeral. Another impressive story is that of the grandma who got rid of the weeds in her front yard so that she could make place to plant fruit bearing trees. Every sapling has an anecdote that is worth telling, all it needs is a heart that is willing to listen.