THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Aunique exhibition is set to be held in the city, one solely dedicated to social change makers. Come December and the ‘Social Enterprise Exhibition 2018’ will have non-government organisations (NGO) and non-profit organistations (NPO) in the state introducing their work to the city residents.
The event is being organised by city-based non-profit ‘Dviti Foundation’. The one-day programme is envisaged as a platform which will help bring together the various social change makers in the state.
“We have never had an exclusive exhibition for social enterprises and change makers. There are several NGOs and NPOs but we are not aware of them. The idea is to bring them all under one roof and introduce their activities to the public. Apart from this, it will also create networking opportunities. No matter how different our fields are, we fall into the same ideology of creating a change in the society. With this, we get to help each other as well,” says Kalyani Nandakumar, co-founder, Dviti Foundation.
It was the ignorance about the NGOs and their line of work amongst the public that prompted social entrepreneurs at Dviti Foundation to chart out a programme solely dedicated to introducing NGOs and their activities and also the career opportunities in the field.
“In the many schools that we contacted as part of our organisation’s work, a large majority didn’t know the difference between NGOs and NPOs or the activities they are pioneering to bring solutions to the various issues in the society. Most importantly, the youngsters are not aware of the social change opportunities,” says Kalyani.
The idea is to reach out to the community which wishes to do its bit to the society.“We saw how the youngsters and students in the city came together in the time of the floods and their spirit of volunteering. Our main target is the students, parents and teachers. They are the messengers,” says Kalyani who believes the expo will give the much-needed perspective about social change opportunities to the student community.
The event will be held at YMCA Hall on December 2. Seven organisations have registered so far including Childline, HelpAge India, Inspire, and Thanal. Registration is free and is through google form or one can contact the members of Dviti Foundation.