Five engineers set up NGO to build ‘smart villages’

Enliven began back 31st December 2016 by a group of 5 engineers who wanted to channel their energy towards the reformation of the society and its people. Their first project was the adoption of a village Manakwada near Pachmarhi. Manakwada is one of the most remote villages in Madhya Pradesh. Upon surveying the village, they got a sense of how abysmal the condition was with the lack of even basic amenities. The trip to Manakwada arose out of a need for labourers by President Mohammed Sabir for developing an Orchid.

By the time I reached and turned off my car lights, I discovered it was pitch black. I couldn’t even determine which direction I was walking in.  I somehow managed with my mobile flash light. After returning that to my place that night, I realized how hard their life is, and they have no access to basic necessities. I then made a promise to myself to do something”, said Mohammed. After that, he made frequent visits to Manakwada, spoke to the locals, trying to understand their lifestyle, problems, working model. The more deeper he delved into the matter, the more motivation he got.

Few months later, Mohammed thought of starting an NGO with the idea of the adoption of Manakwada, because he wanted to see wanted an overall growth of the village, encompassing electrification, education, sanitation, women empowerment and  financial stability of farmers. Words of encouragement from family and friends gave him the push he needed, and thus began Enliven Welfare Society.

Enliven has distributed a total of 46 portable solar lamps to housewives, children, farmers, with a battery backup of upto 10 hours. They have also donated to some farmers, 100 plants of hybrid lemons, in order to encourage them to develop orchid so that they will see a more stable financial status in the years to come.  They are collecting data from the farmers as well, like number of bank accounts, their usage, the farming equipments they possess, Aadhar Card, voter ids, and other identity card holders. Enliven is also trying to figure out and encourage their individual talents.

The future for Enliven is indeed a bright one. Since the farmers are now acquainted with the solar system, we are planning to setup a 500 Watt solar grid in each house and upgrade it to 1KW in coming years. They are also in the process of installing of 10 solar street lights in front of houses, and Graffiti work on the village houses in order to spread awareness regarding education and cleanliness. Their plan to empower the village in three ways – through electrification, education and healthcare facilities. They not only want to elevate their standards of living but also want to indoctrinate their thoughts which are still stuck in the stereotypes and superstitions.

To Mohammed, making a difference is priority over spreading awareness. He believes awareness will be to get the basic need of their life which is every person’s right. “It’s like when child is 3 yrs old you don’t make him/her aware about education or school just by reciting to him/her stories about school. You send them directly to school, and the child becomes aware of education, and school by attending every day. I guess work done is directly proportional to the awareness. So for rest of the world, the more work we do, the more awareness we create”, he says.