How RoundGlass Foundation aims to build a holistic environment for rural Punjab

Born in Colombia, South America in the middle of two civil wars, Dr. Natalia Vega was 9 years old when she fell in love with learning. One day, as she was teaching her three-year-old sister the letters of the alphabet, Natalia was puzzled by the fact that despite being taught, her sister could not remember the letters.

Forty years later, Natalia still gets excited when she watches children learn. Today she is associated with RoundGlass Foundation as the project lead of the project Learn Labs to enable children to become changemakers.

Although Natalia grew up in a male-dominated society, but her parents always taught her that there was nothing one couldn’t achieve if worked hard and gained an education.

In Punjab, where she arrived in 2017, she made it a mission to empower women and teach men how to support them to succeed. “Women in Punjab are brilliant and I have the honour to experience it in my daily life,” says Natlia.

RoundGlass Foundation was started in 2018 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh with the goal of improving the quality of life of people in under-served communities of Punjab by building self-reliance and co-existence while focusing on ecological sustainability.

“This is my 30^th year in the profession and I know that the first 25 years was a preparation for the work in RGF. Learn Punjab is a beautiful challenge. Children in the villages grow up in a loving and caring environment. In a way, they have everything a child needs. However, I am preparing children to solve the big problems of the state and I am ensuring women are empowered to lead the way,” adds Natalia.

Holistic development

Based in Punjab, RoundGlass Foundation set out on a journey of creating a healthier, happier, and more vibrant Punjab by applying the principles of holistic wellbeing. The foundation is committed to improving the lives of children, youth, women, and helping communities and the environment flourish by making significant social, cultural, and economic investments in the state.

In the past years, the RoundGlass Foundation has impacted the lives of more than 10 lakh people in more than 1,000 villages of Punjab through initiatives organised across three pillars: (1) Learn Punjab, which includes education and sports initiatives focused on children and youth; (2) Her Punjab, which includes initiatives directed at women’s empowerment and; (3) Sustain Punjab, which includes several sustainability initiatives such as reforestation, solid waste management, and regenerative farming.

However the journey was not easy, Natalia says. “There are a number of things that we need to work on in order to enable transformation at the grassroots level. We have to inspire people to trust us. There’s a need to change certain mindsets, bring about behavioral changes, and break socio-economic taboos.”

“Despite challenges, Punjab and its people have been very supportive of us and our work. Our social impact initiatives have garnered a lot of love and respect and people truly value us and our mission to build a better, more vibrant Punjab,” she adds.

ALSO READ

How this agarbathi brand has been empowering rural women for seven decades

Helping women and children

Aimed at children between the ages of 6-14, Learn Labs is a learning approach that provides children with the environment and tools they need to learn almost anything on their own- which they term as emotional learning. A medium that allows them to answer life's "big questions" and interact with educators and experts from all over the world with the click of a button.

Through the established computer labs, Learn Labs promotes open discussions, critique-led inquiry, and peer learning, which aids in the development of confidence, critical thinking, teamwork, and global awareness in children.

The foundation has also set up sports centers for underprivileged, rural children get the backing to rise up and play at levels they would not be able to access on their own through quality training, and competition experience.

Additionally to help improve the health standard of the rural women in Punjab, the foundation offers comprehensive solutions that span from health checkups to awareness workshops to creating self-sufficiency among the local group that in-turn helps and caters to all women and girls across communities.

ALSO READ

How this mushroom agritech business is empowering women and farmers in Nagaland

Impacting households

Today, RoundGlass Learn Labs claims to have engaged more than 8,560 children in 85+ villages and 1 city across 90 schools.

Explaining about the impact created so far, Vishal Chowla, Leader, RoundGlass Foundation says,

“Our Digital Community Centres have more than 1,500 children from 54 villages, which include four slums. Our Sports Centers have enrolled 6,764 children in football in 255 villages.”

Under Sustain Punjab, over 5,75,000 saplings have been planted in more than 710 villages, waste management projects have been implemented in 107 villages impacting more than 17,000 households and organic farming has been implemented in 6 villages by 12 farmers.

“Under Her Punjab, we are focussing on women’s health in 53 villages reaching out to 2,779 girls. Our Self Help Groups for women are operational in 8 villages and impact 50 women. Craft Revival project is operational in 1 village and impacts 11 women.” says Vishal.

The foundation now looks forward to building 100 model villages across the state by building partnerships with various stakeholders.