“Every time I come to these villages, I get that surge of pride that these are the village that God created in the best way possible.”

This idea brought Amala, a Singaporean woman with roots in India, back to Kerala. But she knew this beauty must live on, must survive, for the generations to come after her.

Thus began, Save A Gram - a unique enterprise that is trying to save the villages in India by preserving its village life.

The Marine Discovery Dive is an annual event that is the brainchild of EK Lim and his friends at People Support People in Malaysia. The group wanted to give persons with disabilities an opportunity to experience the sea. Many never get this chance because it's not physically accessible, and it goes against a general perception that persons with disabilities shouldn't be undertaking such pursuits. Well, People Support People is busting that myth. Not only is this event about bringing together able-bodied people and people with disabilities to learn from and support each other, it's about showing the community of people with disabilities that they can be empowered and break through their own limitations. One of the most valuable lessons we learnt on this trip is that disability is not about someone's physical limitations. It's about the environment. If we work to make it accessible, persons with disabilities have an equal chance of succeeding in everything that able-bodied people do. Underwater and out of their wheelchairs, these persons with disabilities are free. They can't walk but they can dive because, in the water, we're all the same. The Marine Discovery Dive 2016 is open to volunteers (those who dive and those who don't) and persons with disabilities from around the world. Training is provided.

Producer & Writer: Ashima Thomas

Cinematographer: Anshul Tiwari V

ideo Editors: Anshul Tiwari & Bill Kong

Additional Camera Work: Zhang Chao Yu

This Cambodian soccer prodigy turned down big leagues to help his country folk learn football.

Here's a practical way to help cancer patients: give them the power of hair. A close brush with cancer led Jason to start Recycle Your Hair, a project that gives people the opportunity to donate their hair towards a wig that is given free-of-charge to people who are bald because of illness. Wigs made of human hair are more comfortable than synthetic wigs. They also look more natural and last longer. But they are expensive, sometimes costing upwards of $1000. This is unaffordable for many people, especially when they're also dealing with medical expenses that can sometimes be debilitating. In five years, Jason has received more than 500 hair donations and made nearly 30 wigs. Rachel, who features in the video, had extremely long hair and an entire wig could be made from her donated hair, but it usually takes multiple hair donations to make a single wig. Jason works with a local wigmaker - one of the remaining few in Singapore - who makes the wigs at a reduced cost of $180. He then partners organisations like the Breast Cancer Foundation which offer the wigs to women who go to them for help. Sometimes, hair donors will also sponsor the cost of making a wig. Many times, Jason pays. Where he's struggled the most is finding volunteers to help behind the scenes, arranging hair collections and deliveries, as well as physically sorting and cataloguing hair donations.

Producer & Writer: Ashima Thomas

Filmmaker: Anshul Tiwari

Executive Producer: Denise Oliveiro

Photographer: Grace Baey

What can you do for someone who has less than three months to live? Those who volunteer with the non-profit Dover Park Hospice (DPH) come face to face with this question on a regular basis. Sounds grim, but would you believe that it’s not? The volunteers provide music, massage services, food and playdates with pets for the residents to enjoy. They spread happiness with a smile, a song, a touch. It doesn’t take much, and yet it means a lot to the residents, judging by their responses. Their focus is on helping the residents to live as fully as they can, in the time they have left.

Producer & Writer: Ashima Thomas

Filmmaker: Anshul Tiwari

It's a simple pleasure that we often take for granted: feeling the wind in our hair. And it is precisely that pleasure that captures the essence of Cycling Without Age. The movement started in Denmark in 2012 and has since expanded to more than 20 countries. It began with one man's desire to bring the joy of cycling to people who'd lost the ability because of age. In doing so, Ole Kassow created a space for something much deeper. Not only did the rides foster a connection between the young and old, they gave the elderly a chance to revisit and remember the places they once knew, to share stories about the past and to see how life had changed. Singapore is now home to Cycling Without Age's first Asian branch, and it's ripe with opportunity for the so-called pioneer generation to share about what life was like before Singapore's rapid - and unceasing - transformation went into full force. So here's a chance to be a positive force in your community, to dedicate some time to the elderly, to show them they are valued, and in return, you get to experience your city in a different way. And feel the wind in your hair.

Filmmaker: Anshul Tiwari

Producer & Writer: Ashima Thomas

Additional Camera Work: Caline Ng

Executive Producer: Denise Oliveiro

Photographer: Grace Baey

No stranger to loneliness and alienation, Sazzad Hossain’s personal struggles with life as a migrant inspired him to start Social Development Initiative (SDI) Academy, to help the migrant workers whose struggles mirrored his. SDI is a social enterprise aiming to tackle language, physical and professional barriers through access to affordable education, vocational skills and activities for social inclusion.

From learning to start a business venture, to acquiring language skills for career advancement, SDI’s work transforms lives of low-wage migrant workers — among them Alom Mia, who lost his livelihood after sustaining an injury in Singapore, but has found an enterprising way forward thanks to SDI.

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Find out more: https://www.sdi-academy.org/

Read the full story: https://www.ourbetterworld.org/story/...

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Director, Camera & Editor: Anshul Tiwari

Writer: Anita Zee

Executive Producer: Chris Annadorai

Nusrat knows what a creepy touch means. She has known it for a very very long time, ever since she was molested by a man five times her age, when she was 12 years old.

This event, horrific as it is, shaped her life, brought it to a point where she came on the verge of a breakdown, before someone pulled her out of the dark waters and said, “Now you must never let that happen to any child.“

Nusrat started a mission to arm children against sexual predators in India. Over the past 20 years, she has saved more than 50,000 children in her native state of Maharashtra alone.

10 year old, Hnu Mana is writing a story in English, one she'll have to narrate before a packed auditorium, facing a microphone and people intent on every word she speaks.
This is her story.

"Somewhere in a village in Myanmar lies a leader that is going to change this world. It is my job to find that person and bring him up in this world." Linus, a Singaporean teacher lives by this Mantra.
This is his story too.

Joseph teaches English to children in orphanages. He has found his calling in helping the poor, the needy, the community and to raise the youth to stand on their own feet in this world.
This is his story too.

Lilis (name changed) was promised a better life, a job and a place to live. But she was being sucked into sex trade.

When she found out, she was already on a boat with no return ticket, nor her passport.

She was asked to serve men. Despite her repeated protest, they continued to pressure her, until one day, she escaped miraculously helped by a taxi driver, an old lady and a police officer.

For every Lilis’ that escape the sex trade, there are countless others who are trapped.

Tucked in its own corner, Ghatsilla is home to the one of the largest tribal population in India. It is also home to a series of schools started by a handful of determined individuals who were committed to educating a generation of tribal children who had never heard the word "school".

One man from Singapore, Alvin Yong, chanced upon this town 7 years ago, during his "journey through the soul of India". Inspired by the schools and its unique teaching methods, Alvin tapped into his own education and created a solution to solve the problem of electricity shortage in the area.

Seven years later, Alvin goes back to Ghatsilla to reconnect with old friends and to find out just how far his solution went to change the tribal schools.

The story of Dennis Rosario - a street musician in Singapore.
For more details and production notes, please go to: anshulfilms.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/88/

Festivals and Awards:
- Best documentary in short documentary section - IAFOR Film Asia, Japan
- Selected for screening at Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF)