by john snyder
of pascack press
HILLSDALE, N.J. —— Chandni Shah of Hillsdale is alarmed about the plight of farmers in India who are dying by their own hand at a high rate.
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And she’s doing something about it.
Shah, a senior at Pascack Valley High School, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award in December 2017 by giving presentations and holding events to create awareness of the trend, which has complex causes culminating in massive debt and desperation, and to fight for a solution.
Also president of her school’s Human Rights League (which helped raise awareness) Shah ran a walk-a-thon at her school to raise funds for the nonprofit organization Save Indian Farmers, or SIF.
Going a vital step further, she launched SIF’s Northern New Jersey chapter.
According to Shah, who will graduate in June, SIF runs projects throughout India to help farmers, widows, and their families to increase crop yield, start or expand small business, “and sustain life in tough situations.”
Major areas of focus are water conservation, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, microfunding, and rural poverty, health, and education.
The organization also runs farmer helplines to counsel farmers and their relatives “to give them new hope to live and earn their livelihoods.”
The Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, requires the completion of a leadership project of at least 80 hours. Recipients must discover an issue in the community, connect with experts and community members, and work to effect positive change.
Taking the cause on as a personal and environmental passion, Shah says the need is painfully real.
According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, averaging figures since 1994, a farmer commits suicide every 41 minutes.
“That’s less than one class period in my high school,” she says.
She says her project has led to a gratifying observation: Many of the people attending her events chose to support local farmers by buying their fresh produce whenever available.
Others offered to share the information they learned in order to help make a change.
She says she hopes her project will help Indian farmers and their families become financially independent.
And, she says, the Girl Scouts have the right idea with the aims of the Gold Award, for which she received lots of support along the way.
“Without this project, I would never have been exposed to social service at this level,” Shah says. “It has molded me to be a better version of myself, to be a better human. I have blossomed into a strong leader—something that I didn’t know was in me.”
SIF’s founders say on their website, “In 2011, none of us had any idea about this issue […] it really shook us. We realized that this is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. It affects people’s right to life, water, food, and an adequate standard of living. We registered this company in Arkansas to help victim families and give our aid to farmers.”
The IRS approved SIF as a nonprofit in 2012. All donations made to Save Indian Farmers can be claimed as a charitable deduction on your tax return.
SIF raised funds in 2012 that went to help four families and has grown from there.
For more information on the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, visit gsnnj.org. For more information on Save Indian Farmers, visit saveindianfarmers.org.
Photo courtesy Chandni Shah’s family