VOH Journey so far

VOH began as an online community on Yahoogroups in 2001 with an idea of connecting and bringing together Himachalis all over the world. It was only in 2003 some of the members of this community got together in Delhi to place faces behind the emails which these members had been circulating all this while. This meeting became a turning point for the community where the idea of giving back to Himachal and the society got germinated.

In 2005, some of the active members of the group went ahead to launch HimVani.com, a citizen journalism based initiative, focussing on social and developmental issues of Himachal Pradesh. The website initially started of as a blog and later was upgraded to a full fledged website with generous contributions by VOH volunteers and well wishers.

All this while the group continued to function as an ad-hoc organisation with all its operations being managed virtually. It was only in 2008 that VOH got registered

Timelines

2006 Feb
HimVani.com launched as an independent website focusing on social and developmental issues in Himachal Pradesh.

2006 Jun
Co-sponsored Utsav 2006, a seminar on differently-abled children in Shimla.

2006 Oct
Based on an online debate in our e-group, HimVani wrote to the Chief Minister requesting for training on Himachali cuisine for dhabawallas along Kalka Shimla highway. Soon after the department announced a pilot project to train the dhabawallas thereby improving experience for tourists coming to the state.

2006 Dec
HimVani helped raise Rs 60,000/- from its global audience to support cochlear implant operation of 12 year old Vasudha who belongs to a remote region in Himachal.

2007 Feb
Surti, a 5 year old girl living in slums of Dharamshala was born with a hole in the heart. HimVani team helped raise Rs. 75,000/- for an operation to alleviate her condition.

2007 Jul
Lok Vigyan Kendra, an NGO proposed herbal plantations in remote Charda panchayat of Chamba district to restore forests and livelihoods in the region. HimVani supported the campaign in its channels and helped raise almost half of the required project money.

2007 Aug
Vriksh, an NGO based in Kangra valley proposed a tree plantation project. HimVani helped raise money for not only tree plantation but also labour costs for upkeep of the new saplings for one year.

2007 Nov-Dec
During H.P. assembly elections HimVani supported efforts of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in running election watch campaign and acts as a partner in disseminating information about election nominees to the common masses through our website and network of NGOs.

2008 Feb- Apr
Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan organized a padyatra to sensitize the government to evolve a rights-based policy for single women in the state. HimVani team took an active role, managing media and public relations on behalf of the NGO, informing and align media representatives in Shimla and Chandigarh.

2008 May
HimVani started with its project to create and maintain free blog-enabled websites to select civil society organizations and intellectuals in Himachal. The idea, in keeping with HimVani’s objectives is to facilitate for them a platform to voice their opinions to a global audience. Website of noted Hindi writer Mr. S.R. Harnot launched. Our technical team developed a website for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Himachal Pradesh.

2008 Jun
HimVani team launches a website to promote Kangra miniature paintings in association with Kangra Arts Promotion Society (KAPS).

Vriksh is back with its campaign to plant trees. HimVani team has put them in touch with WWF Shimla unit to offer a small donation for the project.