These stories are about women and men (“Mothers and Fathers of Invention” we can call them) who have found answers to some of the world's biggest problems.
But please remember: The important thing is not how big your idea is. The important thing is that anyone can find answers to problems. Every problem you solve (उकल करणे), even small problems, make our world better. We just need to be willing to try. And if we fail (अपयशी), we need to be willing to try again and again!
1) Bicycle electricity.A man named Manoj Bhargava was very successful in his business. He became very wealthy (श्रीमंत). He had more money than he knew what to do with. He decided to use his wealth (संपत्ती) to set up centers where young inventors (शोधकर्ता) could be paid to work and invent (नवीन शोध) useful things for the world.
One invention is called the “Free Electric”. It is a specially made bicycle that makes electricity. If you pedal the bicycle for one hour it will give enough electricity to light a few light bulbs in a small home for 24 hours. It will also charge (विद्युतीकरण) a cell phone and other small things.
But there is more to this story! When people around the world heard about this idea, they tried to make their own bicycle power and discovered (शोधा) better designs (डिझाइन)! They used bicycles they already have and they used simple generators (जनरेटर) to store the electricity. This shows how ideas always grow and get better. It shows that more good is possible when we work together and share our ideas!
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1) Childline.A young woman in Mumbai named Jeroo Billimoria began her work to help her city with a simple telephone. She wanted to help street children. There are other organizations that help street children, but she wanted to help them at times that were not “convenient” (सोयीस्कर). It is easy to help someone on a sunny day at 2 in the afternoon if you are not busy. But what about helping someone at 2 at night when you want to sleep?
At first, Jeroo gave children her home number. They were calling every night for help. She could not do it all alone. And so, then she started a program called CHILDLINE to help street children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It took going to the government many, many times, but finally she convinced them to set up a free number, 1098, that any child can call day or night. But the government said it did not have workers to help the children in trouble. So Jeroo trained older street children to help younger street children. When the children began to call each other for help, crime went down. Children who were sick and hungry were given help. Here are children that CHILDLINE helps:
- Street children living alone
- Child labourers being abused (गैरवापर)
- Girl domestics being abused
- Children physically or sexually abused at home
- Missing children
- Run-away children
- Children who are victims of drug abuse
Her idea now exists in 80 districts across India. CHILDLINE helps 2 million children each year.
2) Clean water.For every seven people in the world, one of those seven people does not have clean water.
Now, name 10 things you cannot do without clean water.
Now, google “people without clean water” and then click “images”. What do the pictures make you feel?
One of the women who won the “Mothers of Invention” award is named Sarah. She started a non-profit company called “Well Aware” in Africa. To start the company, she left her job as a lawyer. Then she sold her house and her car and used the money to drill water wells for villages in Kenya. The company also gives villagers the way to harvest (collect) rain water. Every project “Well Aware” does, begins by working with the local community members. Sarah says working with the local community is what makes their work successful. Why do you think it is important to work with the local community?Once there is clean water, women and children can go to school (and not spend all day walking for water). People's food supply improves, their health improves, and the joy of living increases.
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3) Clean water after disasters.When weather disasters (आपत्ती) destroy homes and communities (समुदाय), one of the first needs is for clean drinking water. A woman named Tricia invented a backpack (बॅकपॅक) that purifies (शुध्द करा) water. It is called, the Day One Response (प्रतिसाद) backpack.
Each backpack can help a family of 4 people for two months. The packs are very light weight and so they can be shipped around the world easily. So far Tricia's backpacks have been sent to more than 50 million people in 20 countries. 
You fill the backpack with dirty water and add a small packet of chemical powder (रासायनिक पावडर) that purifies the water. Then you shake (शेक) the backpack, or walk with it on your back 5-10 minutes. The unclean elements (घटक) go to the bottom of the water. A tube (नळी) lets you to get the clean water from the top.
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4) Cleanliness (स्वच्छता) for all.Every human being deserves (पात्र) to be clean. No one wants to be dirty. No one wants to live on the street. It makes a person feel less than human.
A woman named Doniece walked past lots of homeless people on her way to work. One day she saw a young woman on the street, crying. The woman was saying over and over again, “I will never be clean! I will never be clean!” Doniece felt so sorry for the woman. She wanted to do something. She knows people need food and shelter (निवारा), but they also need to be clean. Unless you are clean you cannot find a job, you cannot find someone who will give you a room to live in. So Doniece had an idea. She went to the city government and asked them to give her an old bus. She and friends who are engineers (अभियंता) turned it into a “moving” shower and toilet. She now has 4 buses. Each bus has 2 showers and 2 toilets. She and friends drive the buses to the poorest areas of the city and let people take a shower and use the toilet. Each year the buses give over 50,000 showers to homeless people.
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HERE
5) Electricity from playing soccer!
What if children could make electricity by playing with a soccer ball?! This is the amazing (आश्चर्यकारक) idea that two young women had. Their names are Jessica and Julia. They created a soccer ball that has a small motor (मोटर) inside. As children play with the ball, the motor creates electricity and stores (साठवणे) the electricity in a small battery (बॅटरी). After 30 minutes of playing with the ball, there is enough battery power to turn on a small light for 3 hours or to charge (उत्साह देणे) a cell phone!
5) Electricity from playing soccer!
In many, many places in the world there is no electricity or very little electricity. In fact, 1 out of 5 people on earth live without electricity! Think of 10 things you could not do if you did not have electricity.
What if children could make electricity by playing with a soccer ball?! This is the amazing (आश्चर्यकारक) idea that two young women had. Their names are Jessica and Julia. They created a soccer ball that has a small motor (मोटर) inside. As children play with the ball, the motor creates electricity and stores (साठवणे) the electricity in a small battery (बॅटरी). After 30 minutes of playing with the ball, there is enough battery power to turn on a small light for 3 hours or to charge (उत्साह देणे) a cell phone!
What if there were more things that were both fun and practical?!
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6) English at Work.When you have to move to a new country, life is very, very difficult until you can speak the language. It is hard to find work or friends. It is hard to shop for food or clothes. And to become a citizen of a new country, you must speak the language.
Many people from other countries who live in the U.S. work long hours at jobs that do not pay very well. They want to improve (सुधारणे) and get better jobs, but they have little time to study. When they get home at night they are too tired to study.
So a woman named Maile came up with a very simple and practical (व्यावहारिक) answer.
Maile teaches English to immigrants (स्थलांतरित). She went to the places where they work—in restaurants and in clothing factories. She asked the bosses (बॉस) of those businesses if she could teach English at work! She told the bosses that if his workers spoke better English, their work would improve. To be able to go to an English class at work made it easier (सोपे) for the students. They did not have to find their way to another place. They could learn when they were not so tired.It worked! Very soon, the students were speaking better English and their work improved. They were more confident and happier. And their bosses were happy!
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7) Food for all.Food and water are the most basic human rights. No human should be hungry. But did you know that there is now more than enough food in the world to feed everyone without growing more? The problem is, that almost half of the food in the world never gets eaten. It spoils (लुबाडणे) or it gets thrown away.
A woman named Komal knew there had to be a way to get food that was not being used to people who needed it. To do that she invented a phone app called Copia. When a restaurant, school, or grocery store has food they cannot use, they put all the information on the Copia internet site: how much food they have, what kind of food it is, and where they are located (स्थित). Then Copia matches the supply (पुरवठा) with the need (गरज). Copia finds where the food can be used and who is free to volunteer (स्वयंसेवक) to pick it up and deliver (वितरित करा) it. Every month, Copia sends a letter to the people who donated food to show how many people they fed and how many pounds of food was saved from being wasted.
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8) Portable home for the homeless.A woman named Tina was upset by all the people who sleep on the street every night in her large city. Tina is an architect. And she also loves to do origami (ओरिगामी). She put the 2 together and designed (डिझाइन) a shelter for homeless people out of cardboard (पुठ्ठा).
Her company is called Cardboardigami. The cardboard folds up like paper so it can be moved easily. It is also painted with a special paint so water will not hurt it. The shelter can be folded up (दुमडलेला) and carried from place to place.
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9) YOUR ideas! Do you see needs or problems in your community? What ideas do you have to find answers to those problems?
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