Ajay Das comes from a poor family in Patla village. The family of six was dependent solely on agriculture. Apart from paddy, they also cultivated vegetables and Assam lemon, earning around Rs.1500 a month, which was barely sufficient. What does Ajay do now? He is an entrepreneur, producing arecanut leaf plates. Initially shy and slow, over a period of time he gained confidence when he saw the money coming in and when he realized that he could independently handle such a complex activity. In the last financial year, he produced around 40,000 products, one of the highest. He has taken up this activity full time and has one of the best raw material supply chains and is earning more than Rs.3000 a month.

Dalimi Patgiri from Bhalaguri village, a mother of two, is married to a teacher in a private school in the village. She came forward to start a similar venture. She not only saw an opportunity to earn additional income but also to set an example for other women. She facilitated setting up the raw material banks through a SHG (Self-Help Group) and helped collect 50,000 pieces of raw material in her area. She led a team of seven women on training visit to Salem at a time when many women did not have the courage to go beyond the precincts of the village. Later when her group did not support her to establish the plates manufacturing unit, she decided to do it alone. She set up the unit with a loan from SBI in January 2007. In spite of many problems and criticism from villagers, she has continued to improve her performance.

These are inspiring stories of just two of the many villagers of North East India, whose lives have been completely transformed by the initiatives of Dhriiti – The Courage Within.

Dhriiti has set up micro enterprises for Arecanut Leaf Plate Manufacturing. Each arecanut leaf plate manufacturing unit provides direct employment to three persons and indirect employment to ten other persons. At the same time, it produced an eco-friendly alternative to dangerous plastics and polystyrene plates, using dried arecanut sheaths, otherwise wasted in these regions. Since these regions have a huge raw material supply, Dhriiti focuses on the four Bodoland districts of Baska, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Udalguri and the adjoining districts of Barpeta, Nalbari and Bongaigaon to promote this project. Dhriiti operates from its office in Barpeta, Assam and hopes to generate a business of more than 100 crores for rural North East by 2015.

So far, Dhriiti has established 44 units. Not only have over 5 lakhs plates been sold till now but the process has generated income of around 2 lakh for rural people by selling arecanut sheaths which was earlier deemed a waste product. The units, established at the house of the entrepreneurs, offer convenience and ease of self-employment.

The Raw Material Left for Drying

Raw Material Entering Machine

Final Product coming out of the machine

The percentage of poor in Assam is the highest among the seven sister states of the North East. Around 36.09 percent of the State’s population continues to live below the poverty line. The incidence of unemployment, measured as a percentage of the labour force is increasing in Assam. The way out of the unemployment and insurgency scenario is to promote self employment. This is where the arecanut leaf plate industry comes in. Cheers to an organization that has tapped the opportunity in this sector, providing employment to not just the entrepreneurs but also to many others!

Every seven minutes, a woman in India dies due to pregnancy-related complications. Over a million babies born in the country die within their first month of life. India has the unfortunate distinction of claiming more than a quarter of the total newborn deaths in the world. The majority of these deaths occur in rural areas where poverty and lack of knowledge about proper maternal and child health care are the real cause of these fatalities.

The Indian government has come up with schemes such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the soon-to-be-launched National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) to address this dire situation. Both schemes give high priority to the issue of maternal and newborn health for marginalized communities, and seek to improve the availability of and access to quality health care for those at the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder. Additionally, government programs such as the Janani Suraksha Yojana incentivize delivery in hospitals by encouraging mothers to opt for institutional deliveries.

Effective development communication programs can play a pivotal role in bridging these knowledge gaps by identifying barriers to behavior change, analyzing these barriers, and developing original techniques to overcome them.

AKHA

For instance, in Assam, a collaboration between the Indian government, UNICEF, and local bodies is using a boat called Akha to reach underprivileged indigenous tribes that inhabit geographically isolated sandbars and islands called chaporis. The chapori residents, who live near the lifeline of Assam—the Brahmaputra river, are often cut off from accessing health care facilities due to floods and other natural hazards. What’s more, awareness about maternal and child health care is all but drowned out by the other concerns for survival that face this group.

The Akha Boat

The Akha, which comes equipped with medical staff and communications materials, makes visits to these isolated regions with the mission to regularly provide facilities for maternal and child health as well as promote awareness about health-seeking behaviors. Findings suggest that the service delivery undertaken by the boat, which has been continually expanding over the last few years, has dramatically improved thousands of lives. 71 percent of the chapori mothers sought some form of antenatal care during their last pregnancy; of these, 42 percent sought care from the Akha.

This is one example of how an intervention tailored to the specific needs of a community can raise awareness and create tangible change.

SURE START

Another example is the work done by a project called Sure Start—an initiative based at PATH, an international not-for-profit organization supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is working with rural communities in Uttar Pradesh and settlements of marginalized people in Maharashtra to help mothers and their children to survive and stay healthy.

The project’s communications program is innovative in its efforts to raise awareness and interest about maternal and child health care issues. In villages, for example, the “letter from an unborn child” campaign reached out to 40,000 fathers-to-be, educating them about the importance of taking care of their wives during pregnancy. In both Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the program uses interactive and entertaining tools including dance, music, theater, and games to create awareness.

Mr. Nirbhay Singh, the elected head of one of the villages in Uttar Pradesh where Sure Start operates, estimates that since the program began in his village in 2008, 70 to 75 percent of adults in the community have become aware of safe delivery practices and the vital importance of ensuring access to maternal and child health services. One result is that payments under the government’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (a scheme that incentivizes institutional delivery) have increased alongside the growing awareness about the health benefits of giving birth in hospitals.

In this way, projects such as these use customized communication techniques to raise awareness of maternal and newborn health issues, thus helping local communities benefit fully from existing government schemes. It has often been said that knowledge is power, and the projects mentioned above give that power back to the communities they work in.

Sure Start works to educate women in India on maternal and neonatal health. Sure Start, an initiative by PATH, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to promote safe childbirth practices in India.

Connect with PATH at:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sure-Start-Project-by-Path/178629192101
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pathsurestart

Article courtesy: Vikas S from PATH Sure Start. Thanks Vikas!

This article is about a unique initiative called the Clothes Bank. Many people just throw their old clothes away. Old pair of jeans which one no longer fits in, an ancient sweater with some wool pulled off, a ragged t-shirt and all such clothing we abandon and move up to the latest fashion. You might want to donate, but the problem is how to find people who need such clothes?

To solve this, a Guwahati based NGO called Xavier’s Foundation has founded a unique Clothes Bank in association with the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi).

The basic objective of this bank is simple – it collects clothes from people who no longer need them, and distributes these clothes to the poor and the needy. Its a brilliant idea and leaves one wondering as to why such an idea was not already implemented.

The Telegraph reports in this article:

“Our basic idea is to collect old clothes that can be still be used and make those available to the needy free of cost through different NGOs and other organisations which are working for the uplift of the poor and underprivileged,” Xavier’s Foundation president Pranab Jyoti Neog said. The idea is his brainchild.

For the donors:

He said the clothes bank would be good for donors as well because while disposing their old clothes they would be doing charity by ensuring that these clothes reach the needy and poor people free of cost.

If you live in Guwahati or nearby the city, you can donate your clothes at the office of the NEDFi which is house number 8 on Rajgarh Main Road. You can also call them at their office on +91-036-2529 202-06. (Contact number obtained from NEDFi website)

If we have numerous such clothes bank in our country, it would be a great help in cases of natural disasters (floods, earth quakes etc) since it would be easy to mobilize clothing to the affected people. In fact, why just a clothes bank we ask. We could also have an essential commodities bank wherein people can donate things like utensils, furniture, footwear etc. These banks could then take on the responsibility of distributing it to the needy. 

The Clothes Bank set up by NEFDi is a simple yet impactful idea and we hope this serves as an inspiration to many of us to take up such initiatives.

Read the complete Telegraph article.
Image courtesy: lime.com

“All the wealth of the world cannot help one little Indian village if the people are not taught to help themselves”

These are some of the words of Swami Vivekananda that inspired a young Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan to venture into the B R Hills region near Mysore and devote his life to the development of the native Soliga tribe.

The Beginnings:
As a student of Bangalore Medical College, Dr. Sudarshan spent his free time helping the tribals of the Nilgiris with Dr.Narasimhan. And after graduation, he was clear in his mind about the purpose of his life. One day in 1979, he took a solitary bus to the forlorn and perilous B R Hills, and his life changed forever.

Dr. Sudarshan in a tribal village

With the humble beginnings of a small hut on a rock, Dr. Sudarshan started operating his clinic with two staff members. The initial challenge was to find patients, as the sight of new people, especially people with needles and pills, was enough to frighten away the forest dwellers. However, as the doctor and his assistants became a common sight, and did not show any signs of going away, the tribals slowly gave in to their curiosity and began approaching them. It took several ‘miracle’ cures for them to start trusting the medicine man.

The Purpose:
Thus was founded Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK) in 1981 for the improvement of these tribal lives. Once the treatments of Dr. Sudarshan found acceptance among the Soligas of B.R.Hills, tribals from neighbouring villages also started pouring in. Dr. Sudarshan and his team would conduct information sessions in all these small hamlets to educate the local population about their work. The tiny hospital began treating a number of ailments and VGKK’s pioneering work began to show results.

While the medical facility took off and became a huge success, Dr. Sudarshan found from living among the Soligas that only health care did not bring about lasting changes in the lives of these people. They lived in abject poverty and unawareness, and while curative treatment was a necessity, it was not the only one. These people needed a lot more.

Thus VGKK started adapting to the needs of the community and evolving into ways not envisioned in the beginning. It came to focus on 3 more aspects of tribal development – education, empowerment and livelihood support – in order to provide more sustained benefits.

Health Care:
The ‘hut on the rock’ is now a 20-bedded hospital with all necessary infrastructures – laboratory, x-ray facility, operation theatre and a well-stocked pharmacy. This hospital caters to a large population of tribals in the region, including some from neighbouring Tamil Nadu as well, and offers them free treatment. The hospital maintains detailed case records of the tribals, and computerization of these records is ongoing.

The Soligas and other tribals are indigenous forest people and have extensive knowledge of nature cures and medicinal herbs. Dr. Sudarshan decided to nurture this aspect of traditional herbal cure, and incorporate it in his treatments. The medicinal plants have been identified and documented, and are grown separately for therapeutic purposes.

There are several communities of tribals living in very far flung and inaccessible forest areas which cannot be serviced by the BR Hills facility due to the immobility of these people. In the beginning they were served by Dr. Sudarshan with his medicine bags, traveling on foot to reach them. However, now a special mobile health unit comprising of a doctor, a pharmacist/health worker and a driver has been dispatched to visit these areas.

Education:
Looking at the needs of the community, the small hospital hut also started serving as a school at nights.

The School in B R Hills

Starting with a first batch of 6 students, the school has grown to a strength of 500 students, and now offers primary, secondary, high school, college and vocational training.

Dr. Sudarshan realized very early on that it was essential to help these Soliga children learn about their tribal traditions and keep them alive, in order to remain connected to their roots. So, along with studies, the school imparts knowledge on the several plant and animal species that abound in the nearby forests and the children are taught to cultivate vegetables, medicinal herbs, poultry, bees and silkworms.

Care has been taken to ensure that the children who are educated at this school are not left without means of livelihood, and have ample choices in life, which were perhaps not available to their parents.

Three among the first batch of students have completed their post-graduation, with one of them holding a PhD, a remarkable feat indeed. Most of the children who graduate from this school return to the community to help further education and other causes that VGKK stands for.

Vocational Training and Livelihood:
It became evident that primary and secondary education is not sufficient to guarantee a means of livelihood. In order to bridge this gap, the students and other members of the community were taught other skills like tailoring, knitting, spinning, silk, cotton and jute weaving, cane and bamboo works, baking, carpentry,

Vocational Training centre

smithy, agarbathi-making, bee-keeping, handmade paper making and food processing.

The vocational trainings were selected based on the easy availability of indigenous raw materials and to cover all sections of society, whether literate or illiterate. Care has also been taken to divert the Soligas from being completely dependent on the forest and its produce, so as to better conserve their habitat. In order to enable these tribals to generate income with their acquired skills, VGKK set up manufacturing and processing units and employed them. More skilled training programs like welding, motor rewinding and household appliances were started to offer the youth a range of opportunities.

The Vocational Training Centre (VTC) was set up in 1982, and since then has trained more than 700 girls and boys. Most of the trainees have then gone back to their villages and set up their micro-enterprises with the availability of loans.

Community Development:
The Soligas, like other tribes across the country, have been largely exploited by the government and local forest authorities. With no clear land titles and no formal education, it was easy for them to fall prey to scheming outsiders. It was essential to unite all the Soligas across the region, and give them a common voice for their petitions and struggle to be heard. This was accomplished with the organization of Sanghas in every village, which was a group of Soliga representatives, to fight for their rights. Most of their alienated land has been restored to them and Soliga candidates have done well in local elections as well.

The Person:
Dr. Sudarshan is a study in commitment and humility. The recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (1994) and the Padma Shri (2000) among many others, he brushes aside all his achievements with a sweep of a hand and a shy smile, and continues talking about the tasks he still needs to accomplish.

Dr. Sudarshan

Dr. Sudarshan has been Vice-President of the Voluntary Health Association of India, and a member of the Independent Commission on Health in India, the National Commission on Population, the National Nutrition Mission, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Indian Planning Commission’s Steering Group for the development of Scheduled Tribes. As Chairman of the Task Force on Health & Family Welfare he has brought out a comprehensive report to reform the health system of Karnataka. As Ombudsman for Health, Education & Social Welfare, Karnataka Lokayuktha, he is fighting against corruption and promoting good governance to make the public services reach the poor including the tribal people.

Having pioneered the role of public private partnership in the social sector, Dr. Sudarshan manages more than 40 public health centres in Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh and now Orissa, in conjunction with the Government. This is part of a related organization founded by him called the Karuna Trust which focuses on rural development. The largest community health insurance program in India is also run under its aegis, which offers incredible benefits to the poor like insurance at ultra-low premiums of Rs. 30 per annum for wage loss compensation of Rs.50 per day. Such initiatives are what make Dr. Sudarshan the person he is. Greatly inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Albert Shweitzer, Dr. Sudarshan emanates urgency of purpose and tranquility of inner peace, both at once.

Contact VGKK and Karuna Trust at:
#686, 16th Main, 4th T – Block Jayanagar
Bangalore – 560011 , Karnataka
Phone : 91-80-22447612
Email :ktrust@vsnl.net
Website: http://www.karunatrust.org/

Read More:
Wikipedia, Right Livelihood Award, The Hindu, Karuna Trust

What makes more sense than reaching the poorest sections of the society through the one place easily accessible to them – the post office! The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has tied up with the largest postal service in the world – India Post – to make microcredit available to female self-help groups (SHGs) in the remotest parts of the country. An SHG is described by Professor Annuppalle of Sri Venkateswara University as “small voluntary association of poor people, preferably from the same socio-economic background.”

Lori Curtis reports in MicroCapital:

 

The loans are set up so that NABARD provides the funds and the Post Office disburses the loans to SHGs. The interest rate is nine percent, three percent of which is commission for the Post Office, the rest is returned to NABARD. SHGs must open accounts with their local post office, and once they are identified by NGOs or recommended by NABARD they are watched for six months. A committee made up of representatives from NABARD, relevant NGOs and the Department of Post determine a credit rating and those SHGs with qualifying marks are eligible for these loans. The upper loan limit is Rs 24,000 (USD 515) or four times the deposit the SHG has in their post office.

The project which was initiated in two districts in Tamil Nadu as a pilot project in 2006 has now been extended to include the Northeast and 8 more states. A total of Rs.1.35 million has been disbursed to 165 SHGs in Tamil Nadu.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was founded in 1982 as part of a government mandate to facilitate credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries and rural crafts. As of March 2006, 33 million individuals have been linked to microcredit through this program.

With 155,333 post offices in India, of which 139,074 are in rural areas, there is great potential for this scheme to change the lives of millions living below the poverty line, and provide them a means of sustained livelihood.

Read the complete article here.

Link Credit: Asha P. Thanks for contributing!

Image Courtesy: http://sophieandstan.blogspot.com/

Tribal women with job cards, Tripura

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been a boon for the ruralfolk of Tripura, as many other states. The construction of a 2-kilometer long stretch of earthen road in a tiny village in Tripura has made the women very happy, not only because it allows them to travel to the market faster, but also because it allows them the opportunity to take home an income in an area with few other options.

The scheme allows them to earn about Rs.85 per day. This income is less compared to what a man can earn as a daily wages as a skilled (Rs.200 per day) or even an unskilled worker (Rs.120-150 per day). So while the scheme might need some changes to appeal to the men, the women have been the major beneficiaries. Ratna Bharali Talukdar writes in India Together:

“There is no work available for women. The two kilometre road construction work under NREGA gave us the opportunity to work and earn something. But it was completed before the state assembly election. After the election, we are looking forward to more jobs under the scheme,” said Piranjay Debbarma, a senior woman of the village.

Be it for an increase in the family income or a crucial tool for living, Tripura engages a substantial number of women in NREGA projects as compared to other northeastern states. In some pockets like Jirania and Dukli blocks, participation of women in NREGA works is amazing.

The beauty of the scheme is the dual purpose it serves. Not only does it provide employment to the rural population, it also helps in building the infrastructure of these areas.

The state records construction of 6,716 kilometres of road under NREGA projects in 2007-08. In Dhalai, another 962.66 kilometres have been constructed during that year. Justifying the major thrust on road construction, the minister says that while road construction is a permanent asset building process aimed at accelerating developmental activities at grassroots, the state government has set a target that every hamlet having a population of 250 will be covered with a blacktopping road within next two years.

“Ensuring person days is not the sole objective of Tripura model of NREGA implementation. Our thrust also rests on creation of permanent assets in the state”, Pandey says.

Besides road construction, the NREGA has also been able to build capacities in water conservation, water harvesting, micro-irrigation works, fisheries, land development, flood control and protection, culverts and RCC bridges. We hope many more Governement schemes have such positive impact on the underserved.

Read the complete article here.
Image Courtesy: India Together

The stage: A large hall in Takhel, a remote village about 15KM from Imphal, the capital of Manipur – a small state in North-Eastern India

The actors: A young woman of 27 years by the name of Arambam Romita and an educated farmer Keisham Biren, both news readers for an unassuming news channel

The props: A crude loudspeaker, a PA system, a long wooden bench by the window which serves as a news desk

The scene: The young lady is trying to fix the microphone to its stand, as it had been borrowed the previous day for a farmer’s meering.

This is the setup of the tiny Paothang Channel, the sole people’s broadcast initiative in Manipur. At present, it serves as the trusted news source for many of Takhel’s 5000 residents.

This informative article from Kangla Online, written by Thingnam Anjulika Samom, tells the interesting story of Paothang (meaning ‘news relay’ in the local dialect of Meiteilon) Channel and the people behind its creation.

“It is basically our own interest – not profit – that guides us, otherwise we’d have stopped long ago,” Biren adds. The dilapidated hall is the station’s third ‘studio’ – the first was in a hotel for about a year, then the second at his house for a brief while.

Here’s an example of the two newsreaders, Romita and Biren, presenting a daily news relay:

“Paothang Channel welcomes all its listeners. We are on air,” says Biren. “In this world full of differences of caste, colour, and creed, let’s not be divided by these artificial walls,” he adds.

And then he makes an announcement – the local Communist Party of India branch will be meeting the next day and all its members are asked to attend.

Romita takes over, speaking in a soft voice. There are many good stories today.
Twelve suspected militants were captured with arms in the official quarters of five MLAs. The signing of a memorandum by seven elected people’s representatives of Manipur – one to the Indian Parliament and six to the state legislative assembly – expressing their support for Naga integration. There are more than 20 insurgent groups operating in Manipur, waging an armed struggle against the government of India, mostly for the right to self-determination…

In an isolated village with hardly any disposable income as well as need/ intention to spend on newspapers or TVs and radios, this project created by the local member of the zila parishad Tensubam Ratan, allows the village folk to keep abreast of current affairs in the vast country that they are a part of, however far removed they might be.

It is also good to know that this is not a lone star. There are similar community media initiatives being undertaken in other parts of the country.

According to Sevanti Ninan, journalist, author, columnist and media critic, “such an initiative is actually the forerunner of local community radio, which has recently been permitted by the Indian government. It offers news that the local community needs for its day to day functioning, also news that connects it to the rest of the country and state.”

“The way Romita and Biren respond to a local need is similar to what communities are doing in other parts of the country. In Kurnool and Medak districts of Andhra Pradesh, in Daltnganj in Bihar, in Karnataka and in the Rann of Kutch. They all write their news using conventional news sources, and then find ways to transmit it to their community.

“In some places they record a bulletin and pay the state-run All India Radio’s (AIR) local station to transmit it. In other places they record a relevant local discussion on a tape recorder and move around villages playing it back.

This is indeed a laudable enterprise, and we hope that many will be influenced by the willingness and good intentions of the few who are taking on such responsibilities and bringing about change and progress in entire communities.

Link Credit: Vinay Sreenivasa via Ashwini Bharadwaj