Mohammad
Babalal Shaikh
Hailing from a small coastal village of Vengurla, he believed that poverty was his strength. After staying in children’s home till class 10, in 2007 he decided to join a non-conventional education and sustainable livelihood centre called ‘University of Life’ in Dhamapur near Sawantwadi. In 2003 he was the youngest fellow selected at Dr Abhay Bang Nirmaan camp for youth. His innovative out-of-box mind scaled him to greater heights of success. Today he is the managing trustee of the University of Life. He also leads a joint-liability-group of young intern students here. He is also leading Swayam a for-profit joint-liability-group of young intern students at University of life.
Victor Hugo Gomes
Popularly known as the conceptualiser and curator of the Goa Chitra Museum, showcasing Goa’s rich agrarian past, Victor Hugo Gomes is a well known name in the state. Having studied different restoration and conservation techniques from across the country, his contributions have been recognised as well as felicitated across the globe. In 2014, he had been appointed by the British Council, British Deputy High Commission to research on Mapping Museum’s in Western India; and also conceptualised and implemented the ‘Goa Cruti’ Museum (Museum on Goa’s Colonial past) as well as the Museum of Christian Art.
Rajendra Kerkar and Samruddhi Kerkar
The state convenor, Goa River Conservation Network, coordinator, Goa Foundation, Rajendra Kerkar has specialised in history and sociology. He has authored seven books (six in Marathi, one in English), has worked as a dedicated teacher for seventeen years and has been a member of a number of committees, including the National Board of Wildlife of India.
Samruddhi Kerkar aged 16 years is a student of school without walls. Through surrounding nature and environment, Samrudhdi learned writing skills of Marathi, Hindi, Konkani and English languages by the age of 10 years. Abhinandan Prakashan Kolhapur has published her first poetry compilation in Marathi ‘Nirzar’ that won appreciation. She has acquired the skill of wall painting of birds and wild animals. She has established a tradition of the annual Christmas celebration provided a forum for the children artists of various age groups at her home in Ghoteli.
Hyacinth Pinto
A young Goan architect who stands firmly in support of traditional mud houses and sustainable architecture explains why and how the new design style is the right choice to make. Her work focuses on renewable construction materials and energy sources as the basis of design. Believing that a sound site plan should have inbuilt water harvesting strategies and waste water recycling for landscaping, Hyacinth strives to create buildings and communities that are built from eco-friendly materials and driven by use of renewable resources.
Jason Fernandes
A gifted youth who triumphed over dyslexia and ADHD to become an award-winning entrepreneur, inventor and technology columnist reveals the science behind smartphone addiction and offers technological solutions. He is the founder of award-winning startup Record TV. He has won the Startup@Singapore award, the first national technopreneurship competition at Singapore. He also has to his credit the “Best Business Plan” award from Sybase Singapore in the Global Entrepreneurs Challenge at Stanford University, California. Jason’s work looks at the interaction between human mind and technology.
Richard Dias
An engineer turned event-manager took up work as a citizen volunteer for the Corporation of City of Panaji. While working as a citizen volunteer for the Corporation of City of Panaji, Richard conceptualised the Waste Wise programme which envisions waste-segregation at source, and played an instrumental role in building India’s first SWM 2016 compliant integrated solid waste treatment facility.
Isabel de Santa Rita Vás
With 65 theatre productions to the credit of The Mustard Seed Art Company, Isabel de Santa Rita Vás has written and directed numerous plays. A guest faculty at the Goa University, Department of English, she retired as the head of the English Department, Dhempe College of Arts and Science, after 39 years of service. An active theatre practitioner, she is also a member of Positive People, Goa (an NGO that works for HIV/AIDS awareness and support) and the author of ‘Frescoes in the Womb: Six Plays from Goa’.
Amit Dias
Founder secretary of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Goa Medical College, Amit Dias; also the chairperson of ‘Sangath’, currently heads the 10/66 Dementia Research group for India and is the chair of the nominations committee for Alzheimer’s Disease International, UK. Under his leadership, Sangath has won the ‘World Health Organisation’s Public Health Champion award in 2016. A founder member of multiple groups, he has also started the ‘MIND IT’ initiative in schools to promote brain health and prevent dementia.
Abhijit Nadkarni
A PhD in Epidemiology, Abhijit Nadkarni is a fellow of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. On the editorial board of Indian Archives of Psychiatry, the official journal of the Indian Psychiatric Society, West Zone, amongst others, he has been the course leader for the Barefoot Counselling course (2016) organised by Sangath-Goa and is also closely involved in the designing of curriculum for the MSc in Global Mental Health.