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An e-base for learning in Leh Vandana Shukla talks to Sir Robert Swan, scientist-educationist
"We do not inherit our time on earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. We need to help shape those children to be equipped, educated and innovative as a gift to this very earth that has given us so much. That is why we have
e-bases."
Sir
Robert Swan, an advocate of renewable energy, is the only man who has walked both Poles. He established the first-ever e-base in Antarctica and co-authored “Antarctica 2041: My Quest to Save the Earth’s Last Wilderness.” In 2002, he and his ‘2041’ sailboat embarked on the longest overland voyage in history to protect Antarctica from polluting invasions. He set up e-bases at Mahabodhi Residential School, Leh, and Pench Tiger Reserve in India this year. Excerpts: How will an e-base help children from remote regions? E-base is as advanced as any smart classroom of a school in any part of the world. We value technology, but also understand the negative that comes with it and the overwhelming inundation of false information. People have been living in the Ladakh region since the 1st century, possibly even before. We have a lot to learn from them. Surviving in these harsh conditions can show the rest of the world that if people can survive there, just like Antarctica, then we can do it anywhere, and better than the way we are doing it now with fossil fuels and plastics. It is important for the world to understand that these mountains provide water to the 210 million people living in the region and indirectly to 1.3 billion people — one-fifth of the world’s population — as well as many ecosystems and animals. It is being termed the ‘third Pole’. This e-base will bring that information. For children, it will be exciting to link up with other children at different e-bases. A young team of Indians joined you in setting up the e-base. How is it going to work? There were 31 team members from five nations that joined the launch of the e-base, but it took many more people in setting it up and making the dream come true for Paras Loomba, who joined us in Antarctica and formed the Ladakh e-base plan. Realising the urgent need to combat climate change and fight for a sustainable future, he connected the challenges he saw in Antarctica to the ones he had observed closer home. Each person who helped us has come with their own skills and talents. How do you select a particular region to establish an e-base? The goal of our e-bases is to support meaningful climate change, education and positive action to local challenges and opportunities — think global, act local. The Leh region is very important because of the floods in 2010, which many feel are directly connected to climate change. Seeing how people have dealt with such a catastrophe is important for the world to learn from. People didn’t just pack up and leave. They rebuilt, and rebuilt better using natural and local building ideas. The e-base is a great area to test renewable energy, especially solar, as this region has extreme weather patterns and sun exposure. How are the e-bases maintained? Each e-base has its own follow-up plan. There aren’t any local people in Antarctica, so we utilise the help of certain scientific bases and the ‘2041’ team maintains the facility when we are there. With its durable construction, it is well contained for harsh winters, and is able to transmit scientific weather data. For our e-base in Pench, Conservation Wildlands has initiated a children’s programme in sustainability, climate change, conservation and even has an organic garden. The team maintains it and introduces programmes with direct impact on the region and the overall mission. The Leh e-base will have a similar approach with the help of Mahabodhi School, its educators and Loomba, our ‘2041’ ambassador. Do you have plans to frame a new curriculum for Ladakh? When we created the coolest curriculum originally, e-base Antarctica was all that we had dreamt of. After seeing the accomplishments of the e-base, we initiated two more e-bases with the plan for more, which has brought to our attention that the curriculum will grow in a new direction in the future. How did the Pench e-base help in getting over nightmares of poaching, etc.? Pench e-base was the second e-base to be set up. This inspired the idea that it needed to have a local focus as well as a link to our e-base in Antarctica in connection to the environment. The Antarctic continent has about 90 per cent of the world's ice, and thereby about 70 per cent of the world's fresh water. One of the poaching tactics in India is through the poisoning of water holes to preserve the tiger’s beautiful coat. The water then flows downstream to remote villages, causing illnesses, defects and even death, especially in children. The e-base showcases how the Rangers can have access to technology to warn of poachers in the area and poisoned watering holes. It also gives solar opportunities for heating water and food and serves to engage the local community in tiger conservation, habitat protection as well as act as a portal for learning about sustainable living. What do children gain from such educational programmes? Education does not always produce a well-paid job, but following a dream can create change. Change can be a richness that cannot be banked. E-base is that dream for us and education, science and culture are a part of it. But money does not have to be the final result to show success. Giving a child a solar lantern is opening a door to a better life at home, or new ideas. Having a group of children connect with an adventurer on the icy depths of the southern continent teaches that nothing is impossible and that if you can dream it, you can do it. We need to instil children today with the knowledge that they have a purpose and that they can make a difference. After all, it is they who will be cleaning up our mess and making global decisions for the future. I have always said, we do not inherit our time on earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children. We need to help shape those children to be equipped, educated and innovative as a gift to this very earth that has given us so much. That is why we have e-bases.
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Arul proved that one could remove an image, even the one that had heaps of comments, from anyone’s page. For the bug to work, one would require two profiles, with one profile acting as sender and the other as receiver. Photo identity and owner profile identity were the necessary parameters as well. If one wanted an image deleted, he would need both these parameters. Once tampered with, these would ensure that photographs could be removed without the owner even knowing about it. Arul is an electronics and communications engineer from Tamil Nadu. He says earlier this year he learnt about the Facebook bug bounty programme through which the company rewards people who detect flaws on its website. He came to know about some Indian hackers who hunt for bugs and are rewarded for it. He started looking for bugs and learned programming and networking through tutorials on the web. But the bug he found on Facebook did not require any technical wizardry. “I found it because I keep my eyes open when I use web services,” he says. When, for the first time, Arul sent the bug report to Facebook, the bug was not accepted. Facebook researchers were not able to recognise how it is affecting other users by exploiting dashboard vulnerability. He made a video by taking the profile of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He used Mark’s photo in the video but did not delete it. He mailed his screen cast video to the Facebook team for review. The video helped the team to understand how easy it was to delete anyone’s photograph without his knowledge. Most Internet companies now run bug bounty programmes and reward security researchers. Arul is delighted with his success and wants to learn more about programming and computer science. Hailing from Salem, Arul graduated from the Hindustan Institute of Technology in Coimbatore and is now looking for a job. He plans to hand over the prize money to his father, who runs a small shop. He says he was looking forward to helping his father in managing the family expenses. “I hope that at least one of the many companies I have applied to for a job respond to my application,” he says. “I have always been interested in the security of frequently used websites such as Google and Facebook. There has to be a bug somewhere and I keep testing every feature of these sites,” he says.
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Struck by paralysis in 1997, Gurvinder Singh of Sirsa has made it his mission to help road accident victims and has set up an ashram for mentally challenged
women.
A
road accident that left the lower half of his body paralysed changed his outlook towards life completely. Like any other businessman, Sirsa’s Gurvinder Singh, a building contractor, had a dream to make as much money as possible to secure the future of his family. But life had other plans. While travelling from Rania to Sirsa, a truck crashed into his scooter and dashed all his dreams. Any other person would have spent the rest of his life on bed or the wheelchair cursing his destiny, but Gurvinder resolved that he would not be put down. Today, he runs Bhai Kanhaiya Ashram, a home for mentally challenged women. Over 40 women have been getting food, shelter and medical treatment free of cost at the ashram. The organisation also runs three ambulances that help road accident victims and provides help to patients. Twist of fate
The transformation in Gurvinder’s life occurred when he was shifted to Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, after the accident in 1997. He had suffered a fracture in the spine, multiple injuries and had to remain in the hospital for several months. “While in the hospital, I noticed that members of an NGO used to come every morning and evening to serve milk and bread to patients. I always thought that if I survived, I will start this service in Sirsa,” Gurvinder says. His treatment continued for years. He lived, but the lower part of his body was paralysed. Gurvinder often thought of doing something to help the sick, but was unable to give a concrete shape to his thoughts. “I was sitting at my friend’s shop when we noticed a man lying on the road. He was alive, but was not moving. I asked my friend to help me shift the man to hospital. I had a scooter with an attached trolley. We put the destitute man in it and took him to the General Hospital, Sirsa. When I was taking him to the emergency ward of the hospital, he could not speak, but I could see the expression of gratitude in his eyes. It was on that day that I reminded myself of the commitment I had made to myself when I was in Ludhiana,” he recalls. From January 1, 2005, he started providing milk to patients admitted at the General Hospital. He, along with some volunteers, would collect milk from benevolent people and distribute it among the patients. On September 28, 2006, the milk service was extended to the hearing and speech-impaired children studying at RKG Shravan Vaani Nishakta Kalyan Kendra, Sirsa. However, due to the paucity of funds, he had to discontinue the service at the hospital after running it successfully for over eight years. In 2006, his NGO organised its first blood donation camp and since then, 18 such camps have been held. It was in 2008 that he purchased an ambulance for his Bhai Kanhaiya Ambulance Sewa. Now, four ambulances provide services free of cost to road accident victims, pregnant women and victims of medical emergencies. So far, it has helped 978 road accident victims. The organisation has also bought three mobile water tanks to serve people cold water during summer. Reaching out to all
He set up his ashram on 200 yards donated by a farmer Gursharan Singh Kalra. Later, the NGO purchased 400 yards adjoining the ashram and Sanjeev Jain, a philanthropist, donated 400 yards more to the NGO. The ashram was inaugurated in 2012 by Dr Inderjit Kaur, chairperson of All India Pingalwara Society, Amritsar. The ashram houses 39 mentally challenged women and three children. About 30 women have left the ashram after recovering from their illness. Among the inmates is a sexagenarian woman, who speaks fluent English and claims to have taught in Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. “When they are brought in, they have no idea of their past, their families and are even clueless about their names. But once they start getting food, medication and proper care, they start recovering and are able to recollect their past,” he says. In most cases, their family members come when informed about their recovery and take them away. Scarcity of funds is the biggest issue that faces Gurvinder. “Though we have appointed a permanent staff nurse and some attendants, we need the services of a permanent psychiatrist as every time there is an emergency, we have to rush to the hospital. Further, with the increasing number of inmates, the space is falling short,” he says.
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