Aarohi
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Mission Statement
Aarohi’s mission is to create development opportunities for rural Himalayan communities through quality healthcare and education, enterprise promotion, women’s empowerment, sustainable natural resource use, and revival of traditional culture.
About This Cause
Aarohi is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992, with a vision to create a more equitable society and our mission is to create development opportunities and to respond to the needs of the rural communities in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. The word ‘Aarohi’ means ascendance or growth - the growth of thought, creativity, and harmony. Nestled in the picturesque village of Satoli, our current efforts are focused on sustainable livelihood opportunities, quality health care, education services, and natural resource management. Women and children are at the heart of our integrated development work. Aarohi touches the lives of over 1,60,000 people annually from 360 villages through its different verticals and employs around 130 full-time staff, the majority of whom are residents of nearby villages. Health Initiatives Aarohi’s Health Programme is committed to providing quality primary health care that is equitable, accessible, and affordable, with an emphasis on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Children, and Adolescent Health, and essential surgical care. Aarohi’s health program has been one of the major healthcare interventions in the rural mountain communities, keeping an integrated approach to healthcare service delivery, social determinants, and empowerment of the frontline workers. Aarohi Arogya Kendra (AAK) is the only Primary Healthcare Centre which is providing 24*7 healthcare services for 30 villages around Satoli. Aarohi started basic clinical services in 1992 to meet the desperate health-related needs of the people, in a remote village in Nainital District in Uttarakhand. What started as a small clinic, is a modern hospital today, with outpatient, inpatient, pathological laboratory, dental units, and advanced diagnostic services, like, X-ray, E.C.G., R.V.G., and Ultrasound. Surgical services are considered to be a prerequisite for the full achievement of local and global health goals. Aarohi Hospital boasts a state-of-the-art operation theater to provide essential surgical care services. Our surgical work which started in 2013 with the support of the Association of Rural Surgeons of India (ARSI), has benefitted marginalized communities in the mountains to get high-quality healthcare services at very low cost. For patients belonging to very financially weak families, the surgery costs are waived. The Aarohi Arogya Kendra (AAK) has completed more than 85 surgical camps, benefitting more than 500 people in the last 10 years. Surgeries are performed by expert surgeons and specialists from different parts of the country and around the world. Through its Mobile Medical Unit and its hospital, Aarohi provides necessary medical aid to approximately 60,000 people in approximately 130 villages. Our Chairperson, Dr. (Col.) Chandra Shekhar Pant, VSM, pioneered the launching of a Mobile Medical Unit in India, equipped with ultrasound and X-ray machines, in 2002. This MMU was inaugurated by the then-President of India, the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who lauded it twice by saying - “to reach Medicare to the unreached”, in his Presidential addresses to the nation in August 2006 and January 2007. It is only a mobile unit, equipped with an ultrasound machine. Before Aarohi’s MMU started providing its medical services to remote and often inaccessible areas of the Kumaon region, the rural people often traveled 5 to 6 hours in the difficult mountainous terrain, to avail themselves of basic health care. The MMU services offer Gynaecological, Ultrasound and E.C.G., pathological laboratory, and pharmacy services, for eight (8) days every month. Enhancing the health and wellbeing of the remote, rural population is the prime goal of our Community Health Programme which we initiated a decade before. To make basic health services and health information accessible to the rural women of the remote villages of Uttarakhand, leading to timely and appropriate health interventions, Aarohi started its first Women’s Health Resource Centre (WHRC) in 2019. WHRC covers a population of 16,435 in sixty-five (65) hard-to-reach villages of the Okhalkanda. Local Anganwadi and ASHA workers’ capacities have also been strengthened by regular training. Aarohi is creating a safe birthing place, ‘Mrs. Saral Tandon Memorial Centre’ costing INR 1.5 crore, is in a remote rural area of the Nainital district. The model will be run in the Gram Panchayat Bhawan, jointly, with the local community and will benefit a population of 45,000 people, from 55 villages in three districts. Initiatives in Education Aarohi Bal Sansar (ABS), a middle-level school managed by Aarohi, was founded in 1994 to bring quality education to children from remote mountain villages. The school is nestled in the small village of Peora, in the Nainital district. Improving learning outcomes, contextualizing curriculum to rural realities, and integrating education with natural resource management and conservation, has been our endeavor. This year, ABS, completes 29 years of its presence in the region, with 175 students, currently, coming from nearby 19 villages, where admission is granted to all children irrespective of their background, social status, or religion. In these 29 years, the school has created a cadre of well-trained and compassionate local teachers, teaching children from their villages. Apart from teachers, ABS alumni are also working in different sectors of Aarohi’s interventions. ABS has brought quality education to children from marginalized families, making it possible for them to live in their region and not migrate to bigger towns or cities for better education for their children. Salient features of Aarohi Bal Sansar are: “Personality development in a Joyful Environment”- is our school's Mission statement. The teacher-student ratio is 1:10. Equal emphasis is on academic and non-academic syllabi. Concept and skill-based teaching help the students towards holistic learning. Celebration of National and a few International days help to teach the students their importance, like Days Earth, Mathematics, Science, Children’s, Hindi Diwas, etc. A well-equipped library with 5000 books, along with audio-visual aids facilitates the learning and knowledge enhancement of the students and teachers. A well-equipped Science lab facilitates the students to conduct meaningful experiments to gain knowledge. ABS’s Computer lab has 20 computers where students from LKG to grade 8 learn different skills. In the Sports arena, our students regularly participate in district and state-level sports events. Life-skill programs are part of the syllabus where students learn skills to survive in life and make informed choices. Students are also prepared for admission tests of Navodaya Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools, for their senior secondary education. Many scholarship programs are run to support students in need of financial help. This year, 16 students qualified for free and quality education till senior secondary level. 448 students have passed out from ABS so far, and 75 alumni are placed in the organized sectors and supporting their families. This year we are committed to upgrading the school up to 10th class, with English medium affiliation for continuing our services, based on the demand of parents and the local community. The first batch for the 9th class will begin in 2024. Outreach Education Programme is an initiative where Aarohi works with government schools in remote areas, where teachers are limited and the schools’ human resources are stretched to capacity. Our trained para-teachers, fill the gap in primary-level education, by teaching through different modes in 15 schools. Sustainable Livelihood and Natural Resource Management Aarohi’s Livelihood Programme comprises a small-scale rural enterprise producing pure, handmade body care products and healthy, culinary herbs and tea infusions, which are famous for their quality, locally-sourced raw materials, being preservative-free, cruelty-free, sulfate, and paraben-free. This program had its genesis in creating supplementary means of income for communities and curbing urban migration of local youth. Through its agriculture-based livelihood endeavors, Aarohi is committed to creating awareness amongst the farming community on the benefits of sustainable livelihood, the latest farming techniques, organic farming practices, and supply chains. An Organised Community-Based Approach is another initiative taken through this program, to create behavior change among the communities. We are working with more than 40 Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) represented by 670 farmers with 58% representation of women, and 1750 households are directly involved in raw material supply and value-addition of products. A homestay program initiated by Aarohi in 2014 has brought a positive change in the lives of more than 70 families in three villages, by developing a cluster of homestays. Currently, 76 rooms are operational with more than 100 days of occupancy, in a year. All these homestays are registered with the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB). Developing the inherent skills and abilities of the local youth is being undertaken through our ‘Youth Wing’ program. This initiative works towards developing the skills of youth in diverse sectors like, sports, physical training selection in the Indian army, skill training to become technicians, masons, etc. Currently, 350 youths from 18 villages are involved in this program. Climate Community Biodiversity Program (CCBA): AAROHI has been engaged with communities and Van Panchayats (Community Forests/VPs) in Uttarakhand towards conservation and management practices in the past. To cope with climate change, the afforestation program, along with better practices for water harvesting and management, reducing the dependency on forests for fuelwood, and creating awareness for minimizing and management of waste, is an integral part of Aarohi’s interventions. Drinking water schemes and sanitation program, along with reforestation, has been in the works since 2002 under the Swajal Programme, in 13 villages, benefitting around 700 households.