KOCHI: What does one need to set in motion the process of change? That’s right — a SPARK! And while many of us get stuck in a rut unable to convert our dreams into reality, Nisha John, a businesswoman, was successful in bringing hers to fruition.
She founded SPARK (Sisterhood Promoting Ambition Resilience Kindness), a women’s collective that today has flourished to become a dynamic team of 30 volunteers. Nisha, who has a thriving aromatherapy business, embraces peer-to-peer lending platforms.
Her vision is to empower unbanked communities and to aid rural entrepreneurship so that they can kickstart, sustain and flourish in their journeys. “At SPARK, we believe in the extraordinary power of sisterhood to drive positive change and inspire a kinder, more resilient world,” says Nisha. Rooted in its principles, SPARK stands as a beacon of hope for rural entrepreneurs.
“The organisation has doctors, teachers, motivational speakers, and entrepreneurs,” she explains. Since its inception in January 2023, SPARK has transformed the lives of 173 rural entrepreneurs across the country.
Speaking about a service project that SPARK aims to run in 2024, Nisha, says, “The first, known as the ‘Adolescent Health Education Workshops’, is scheduled with three schools and orphanages across Kochi. The project is designed to deliver guidance around adolescent health education on concepts like sexual health, puberty and emotional well-being.”
Vandana Vinod, a member of SPARK and the founder of the House of Vandy, a platform for sustainable lifestyle brands, shares the importance of such workshops. “These workshops that educate and complement adolescents’ knowledge should become a common practice. It is through these workshops that the young minds open up and clear genuine doubts,” she says.
The workshops incorporate special initiatives as an attempt to aid the varied participants. Hand-drawn bullet journals for girls, geometry boxes for children, English-to-Malayalam dictionaries and atlases are some of the aforementioned drives. The organisation also enlists Hindi-speaking volunteers and translates lesson plans into Hindi, ensuring effective communication and inclusivity in places in North India. “In the feedback obtained from the students, they highlighted how such topics are often avoided in the schools,” says Nisha.
According to Jomesh, a teacher at the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Kadamakkudy, the students felt comfortable in the company of teen volunteers.
“They could ask questions freely and learnt scientific concepts often avoided by parents and teachers.”
Speaking about the programme, Sr Jenny, headmistress of the St Joseph School, Karinthala, says, “We appreciate the class provided by SPARK. The workshop helped students, from 4th to 7th grade, comprehend the physical and mental changes they are experiencing. The teachers were friendly, and all gained an understanding of their developmental changes.”
From empowering to illuminating, it walks as a torchbearer through the labyrinth of change in the journey of adolescents. “Dispelling myths and facilitating open dialogue about sexual health, the organisation acts more than a mere educator. It aims to equip youth with wisdom and compassion,” says Nisha.