Last year Nidhi Bhaskar, a junior at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School, contacted Jacaranda van Rheenen, PhD, manager of the Global Health Center, to discuss her new organization, Project New Boundaries for Youth (ProjectNBYOUTH). Nidhi created her non-profit organization to spread awareness and inspire youth about local health, education, and environmental issues on a global scale. Her goal is to inspire and empower youth to work towards a sustainable future for their communities.
Van Rheenen became one of the mentors of ProjectNBYOUTH. Of her involvement, she said, “It was exciting to see a young person taking action to help promote awareness around sanitation and better living conditions in low and middle income countries. I realized that ProjectNBYOUTH represents the goals of the Global Health Center by creating awareness around global health issues at a local and global level.”
In 2015, ProjectNBYouth addressed the issue of waste management in India by challenging youth in Bangalore, India to encourage people to reduce, reuse, and recycle their plastic waste. Supported by a life grant from 2015 Keds Brave, Nidhi created a competition and awards program for students in Bangalore, challenging them to develop solutions to the waste management issue in their community.
Project NBYouth started a fundraising campaign in March 2016, click here for more details.
Founder Nidhi recently reported on what inspired her to create the organization, and the results from its first successful events that involved high school students in Bangalore, India. Read the Full Report