City youth adopt Dena to turn it into a model village

VADODARA: A motley bunch of around 80 youngsters from the city have adopted Dena village on the outskirts of city to turn it into a model village. The group have been educating nearly 400 children from the village.
"We started with education and have moved on to introduce various initiatives for the villagers. We are working with the civic authorities and have demanded better roads, street light and water supply for Dena.It is a long-term plan and we are expecting the changes in the next 10 years," said Sachin Solanki, who started the project along with friends through his NGO Pratibha Foundation.
Solanki added that the main objective of adopting Dena is to set a benchmark for other villages in Gujarat to follow.
The village has about 550 houses and according to Solanki more than 50 per cent of them don't have toilets. "We have acquired the material required to build toilets from the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan office in Narmada Bhavan. We will be installing them at 150 homes soon," added Solanki.
The members of Pratibha Foundation have also started Self Welfare Women Association (SWWA) initiative to teach women various life skills. Apart from empowering women and educating children, the group will be working with the authorities to develop amenities in the village.
"Women in this village do not work. We are introducing skills like beautician and sewing to make them employable. Most men here take up manual jobs in industries so we will be imparting skills that will be certified. All skills will be certified under the government scheme - Jan Sikshan Sansthan," said Sakshi Banduni, a volunteer.
At present the young volunteers comprise o0f budding engineers, artists, accountants and even scientists from the city has come forward for the cause. "We want this village to be the most educated, clean and equipped with best standards of living. Just like Dena village, we also have plans to develop Bajwa village," said mechanical engineer Jay Pandya, who has been working with the group.