“Arms control and disarmament do not happen simply because we wish them to be so. Success is achieved through the day to day hard work of ordinary citizens around the world who make disarmament meaningful through their commitment to change; through their understanding of what brings us security – human security – is not more weapons of any sort, but by meeting our most basic needs for food, shelter, medical care, education and opportunities to work and provide for one’s family.” – Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Binalakshmi Nepram - courtesy of The WIP Net

Binalakshmi Nepram founded Manipuri Women Gun Survivors Network in 2004 after witnessing the aftermath of the killing of 27-year old Buddhi Moirangthem in Wabgai Lamkhai village southeast of Imphal on Christmas Eve. Buddhi was dragged from his car-battery workshop and shot dead by 3 gunmen. His young widow, Rebika Akham, was left with no options and faced animosity from her in laws. Binalakshmi helped Rebika with a Rs.4500 investment. Rebika used the money to buy a sewing machine and secure her livelihood through making clothes.

Binalakshmi began to discover case after case of women survivors of gun violence. They were usually young widows or elderly mothers, who’s husbands and sons had been victims of armed state and non-state violence. She officially launched the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN) in 2007 to help heal the scars and trauma of this violence.

Now, MWGSN supports women who have survived gun violence throughout Manipur state. They also work to support women in securing their livelihoods locally. They help them launch small business ventures by offering training in financial literacy, and assisting them in getting bank accounts and no-interest loans of around $75-$250. With this support, the women have initiated businesses in silk reeling, weaving, the production of mats from water reed, and agricultural activities like mushroom farming, fisheries and piggeries.

Yesterday, I joined a MWGSN meeting where I was introduced to some new members at their first meeting. Reena Mutum, MWGSN’s coordinator helped them open their very first bank accounts. Although there is not a lot of money to be deposited, the act of opening the account and beginning to imagine financial self sufficiency is enough to bring at least 20 plus women out to each meeting.

After introductions, Reena invited the women to share whatever they would like with me and we are both amazed at the outpouring of stories. They felt comfortable, they said, in each others company and could see that I am here to listen. I felt privileged to be invited to bear witness to their courage and truth telling. Each of the 24 women told me her story. I was awed at their resilience amidst such intense grief and loss. And each of them, in spite of the most traumatic stories of surviving violence, has a plan. The plan involves generating income, supporting their families, ensuring a secure future and maintaining their relationships with each other.

Memcha is one of the newest members. She is a 30-year old widow with 4 children: 3 sons and a daughter. Her husband, Fazruddin was shot earlier this year, January 2010. He was a local merchant and had a small shop where he sold clothes. Together, the 2 of them also cultivated a small garden to sell vegetables.

After years of hard work, they had saved up enough money to buy a small piece of land to build their first home. They had a tremendous housewarming last July. Just six months later, there was a knock on the door. Soldiers from the Assam Rifles were at the door and demanded Fazruddin come outside for interrogation. It was a cold January, so he pulled on woolen garments and grabbed an extra blanket. Memcha found his body at the front door to their home. He was now dressed in military fatigues and he had been shot ten times. He had been brutally killed; his arms were cut and his teeth taken out.

At this point, Memcha’s otherwise stern voice faltered and tears poured out. She was left with 4 young children to support and the trauma of a brutally murdered husband. No answers have been offered to her. Memcha cried that they made an honest living and hoped every day for peace in the region. She knows her husband was not a militant and his brutal death has left her disillusioned. Every day is a struggle to survive but she is determined to use the support available to her through the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network to educate her kids and hopes for a better life ahead.

Map of Indian States - North Eastern States Colored Red

When you drive into Imphal town, the capital of Manipur, from the airport, the first thing that catches your attention is the heavy duty military presence everywhere, followed by long lines of cars, scooters, motorcycles and mopeds waiting for fuel. Gas prices are triple that of the national average.

There is a blockade underway and this means that people with vehicles must line up 24 hours in advance to purchase overpriced allocations of 10 liters to keep their lives moving. Last year, schools and colleges closed for over 6 months. Many bright young men and women saw their future aspirations diminish with each passing day.

This is Manipur, a state of 2 million people with few opportunities for young men and women, and at least one gun killing a day. Every person that I have met has lost a loved one in the last decade to armed violence. Manipur is one of the seven states in India’s northeast located near the Indo-Burma border. The others are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

50 years of a protracted armed conflict has left over 500,000 people dead and many more injured in this region. In 2007 alone, more than 400 people lost their lives to gun violence. There are at least 72 insurgent groups in the Northeast with more than 30 just in Manipur. This region has over 220 indigenous groups and 160 scheduled tribes in an area of 225,037 square kilometers. Geographically isolated from mainland India and socioeconomically neglected by development agencies and the state, the Northeastern states are experiencing tremendous crises rooted in militarization, land distribution, climate change, migration, displacement, political differences and violence.

In spite of this, there is a robust civil society working to counter the neglect from the Indian government, poverty, and the fear of violence. The northeastern states are some of the poorest in India, but they also have many communities working on sustainable livelihood development, women’s empowerment and better environmental resource management.

Because of this, IDEX has selected the region to explore grassroots organizations that could potentially become catalyst grantees. Already I have meetings arranged with a number of groups working on the key development issues in the area. I look forward to sharing this work with you.

Pakistan Floods. Photo courtesy UNDP.

While floodwaters are beginning to recede in many areas, Pakistan remains caught in the grips of one of the most devastating natural disasters in the country’s history.

According to U.N. estimates, the floods have affected nearly 18 million people countrywide. About 900,000 people remain in temporary camps, and thousands of others are in urgent need of food, potable water and medicine. In addition to submerging schools and infrastructure, the floods have destroyed precious farmland and livestock—the loss of which could be catastrophic for the country’s fragile economy.

Pakistan needs our help and will continue to need assistance for months to come. Yet the global response has been sluggish at best. As of August 27, the U.N’s Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan still required $167 million to meet its estimated $460 million funding need. As world citizens, humanitarians and fellow human beings, it would be unconscionable not to respond.

Although IDEX does not have partners operating in Pakistan, thanks to the International Human Rights Funders Group, we can offer a list of several grassroots organizations currently active in flood relief efforts. To learn more about each group or to make a donation, please visit the websites below.

• Visit Acumen Fund for a list of organizations currently on the ground in Pakistan, as well as donation information.
• American Jewish World Service has set up a relief fund for its Pakistan-based grantee partners. To make a donation visit AJWS.
• Global Fund for Women has established a crisis fund to support its partners on the ground. Log on to Global Fund For Women to make a donation.
• Donations to Global Greengrants Fund support five local groups on the ground, most of them Greengrants grantees.
• Grassroots International features a list of local organizations active in flood relief, including donation information.

Blog post by Erin Zaleski, Journalist & IDEX Volunteer.

Members of the IBSA group 2010

As well as the organizations from Brazil, India and South Africa linked to the Ford-IBSA project, the seminar was attended by representatives of entities from Peru, Uruguay, the United States, the Philippines and Germany working in the area. The latter came at their own cost in response to AS-PTA’s invitation to organizations from other countries campaigning on the GMO issue. Around 15 Brazilian organizations also took part in the seminar and had their travel costs and expenses met by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agrarian Development, thereby expanding the scope of the seminar, originally planned for members of the project only. University organizations and students from Rio de Janeiro were also present.

The seminar was composed of five panels. Four of these presented case studies produced by the entities taking part in the project. The session opened with an analysis of the agronomic and economic efficiency of the main GM crops (soya in Brazil, cotton in India and maize in South Africa), highlighting the gap between the situation experienced in the field by farmers who have adopted GM seeds and the promises made by the industry. This was followed by a debate on the biosafety legislation in the three countries. In the Brazilian case, input also came from the Federal Attorney responsible for coordinating the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Working Group on GMOs and Pesticides, who analyzed the organ’s role in monitoring the National Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio). Explaining the actions taken by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to rectify CTNBio’s mistakes, the Attorney General emphasized that the Office is actively working on the issue largely because of the demands made by civil society. A member of CTNBio representing the pro-biosafety group on the commission also took part in the seminar.

The reviews of studies on the impacts of GMOs on the environment and human health commissioned by AS-PTA were presented by a consultant from Nead/Ministry of Agrarian Development and a researcher from Fiocruz, respectively. This panel showed that there now exists a growing body of scientific evidence corroborating the warnings made years earlier, but discarded by the regulatory bodies of various countries, in general concerned less with biosafety issues and more with the interests of the biotechnology industry.

The program also included a panel on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, whose Fifth Meeting of the Parties (MOP 5) will be held in October in Japan. The Third World Network’s representative explored the main themes on the negotiation agenda at MOP 5, while the representatives from the Ministries of the Environment and Agrarian Development discussed the internal process of formulating the Brazilian position and their expectations for the event in terms of advances in implementing the agreement. As well as updating participants on the current negotiations, the roundtable performed the function of amplifying the Brazilian government’s dialogue with the organizations who work on the issue, anticipating the preparatory process for the next round of negotiations.

On the 11th and 12th a meeting was held of the GM campaigns who had attended the seminar: AS-PTA and Terra de Direitos, representing the group coordinating the Brazilian campaign, the Pesticide Action Network – North America PANNA, the Philippines Third World Network, Uruguay Redes, ETC Andes Peru and EED from Germany, as well as Chetna from India, and Biowatch and the Surplus People Project from South Africa. This meeting was convoked with the objective of initiating a process of international coordination of initiatives on the issue. At the end of the meeting a number of common themes were reached, identified as priorities by the participants based on the specific contexts in each of their regions (contamination and monopoly of the seed market, legislation and risk analysis, information and organic markets). These themes were prominent among the challenges cited during the seminar, especially the panel on campaign work. The participants also established activities for each of these points, which combined can form the basis for a partnership and exchange project. It was concluded that the meeting had achieved its objective of initiating a process of closer liaisons between campaigns from different countries with the aim of creating a shared platform for interaction.

Responding to AS-PTA’s invitation, organizations from other countries expressed their interest in taking part in the activities, but could not attend as they were unable to cover their travel costs. This fact reinforces the potential of the initiative and illustrates that efforts should be made to promote or make use of international meetings and exchanges that continue the process of building a shared platform for campaigning on the GMO issue with the aim of strengthening civil society.

Heeralal explains the benefits of vermicomposting

With its gooseberry trees, guavas, mangoes and lemons flowering along with traditional crops such as maize and vegetables, Veni Ram’s horticultural garden looks more like an orchard. This beautiful farm in Godaghati also occasionally hosts gatherings of local farmers who consult with each other about their crops and share strategies to increase yields.

Veni Ram has been applying vermicomposting techniques to his farm since 2007, and during the meeting he spoke compellingly of how lemon trees made with traditional “khaad” or, compost are yielding shiny, ripe and delicious lemons that get grabbed up the minute he gets them to the market. On the other hand, the “urea” lemons—those grown with more industrial fertilizers—appear to be losing favor with the local market. Although the prices are the same, he noted, people seem to prefer organic.

Another farmer at the meeting shared a telling story from his own household. He had built his vermicomposting structure and had started composting more than enough for his farm. However, his son had yet to grasp the concept of vemicomposting and added a trough full of chemical fertilizer to the vermicomposting bin, believing that perhaps it would help the compost.

Although funny, the story gave a nod to the myth perpetuated by the Ministry of Agriculture and large agribusiness that chemical fertilizers such as “urea” are actually good for crops and soil. There are even training workshops aimed at small-scale farmers that tout the benefits of chemical fertilizers. However, the farmers have learned from personal experience that overuse of chemical fertilizers causes soil to harden over time, resulting in a decline in productivity. The farmers are choosing instead to utilize organic agricultural methods to, as one farmer noted, “restore life and living organisms to the soil.”

As Heeralal Sharma, a founding member and current director of Sahyog Sansthan reminded me, the future of the real India is in the hands of the rural poor. Rather than an India based on superpower supremacy and upper middle class luxuries in the midst of growing class disparities, this is the India that our freedom fighters envisioned more than 64 years ago. This is the India that people like Himmati Devi and Veni Ram are creating together with their families and communities, where individual dignity, social relations, communal ecology and indigenous culture are all celebrated and utilized as the basis for creating conditions for liberation.

During my visit, Heeralal remarked that grassroots projects should aspire not only to provide social services, but social transformation and liberation. At Sahyog Sansthan, I was happy to see this in action.

Women at a Self-Help-Group Meeting

In the last few days, I have had the chance to sit with representatives of 39 extraordinary women’s self-help groups over the course of four meetings. Comprised entirely of Udaipur district’s most marginalized tribal people, the groups proudly speak about their achievements. One group leader Himmati devi (appropriately named as “Himmati” which means “one with courage”) spoke not of the immense savings rate of her group, but rather about the pride she feels every time she walks to the bank in the city.

“People used to ridicule me for being so bold and thinking that a woman could go to a bank alone but slowly, they began to see that I can manage my own resources,” Himmati told us.

“My group is prosperous because through our own funds, we’ve been able to buy buffaloes, cows, goats and generate income through dairy goods. But most of all, I now walk with confidence because I know I can manage my own affairs and that feels very good. I want my daughter to learn this.”

I also had the opportunity to visit both private and community-managed common pastures. Seeing how both are equally well kept and managed was a testament to this rural community’s self-determination. At one common pasture in Chhapariya in the Aravali hills there was considerable excitement when the local village leader explained that despite a drought in the region, more than 2,000 cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep have access to plentiful fodder.

The natural regeneration of pastures is a slow process and has previously failed when government schemes have tried to drive it without community buy-in. Unless the neighboring households decide to allow the trees and plants in the pasturelands to grow–particularly in non-arable lands–people’s struggle to find fuel and fodder can deplete the forests. Here in Chhapariya, the search for fuel and fodder co-exists with community-led greening of the commons. Just down the hill in fact, there’s an anicut (dam) built to conserve rainwater and recharge fast depleting groundwater. As a result, the wells in the area are full and irrigation no longer poses as large a problem as it had in the past.

IDEX partner Sahyog Sansthan works to improve the livelihoods of resource poor households in rural Udaipur in Bhinder, Dharyawat and Lasadiya districts through watershed-based natural resource management. The concept of watershed management includes community-led initiatives to conserve rainwater and soil, promote diversified and integrated farming systems, manage common property resources such as pastures and wells, and strengthen livelihood solutions such as self-help groups. Sahyog strongly believes that the rural poor must be involved in conserving, managing and strengthening their natural resources.

Gravis SHG Member with her Daughter

Rahul Mishra, GRAVIS Program Coordinator, shared his journey of working in rural development. He explained that what he learned theoretically in a rural development program was less useful than the practical application of working in 15 villages with their unique conditions, cultures, circumstances and people-led development.

Rahul works with a team of 2 other field workers who employ participatory methods to build trust and relationships with the villages they serve. Natwar, one of the field workers, could have worked in the private sector for a lot more money when he graduated with a MBA. But coming home to his village and getting involved with the women’s self help groups (SHGs) motivated him to get involved in community driven development.

Natwar explained that initially the men in this rural community of Hemapura were reluctant to let the women in their households group together. But after witnessing the success of women’s self help groups; they have begun to create more opportunities for women to participate in the village’s planning processes.

I was able to join a meeting of the Bismillah Self Help Group. This is a group of Muslim women who have saved more than 10,000 rupees in less than a year. They have managed to support each other in buying goats, sewing machines and even send their girls to school. At this particular meeting of the Bismillah SHG, the women discuss their concerns about not being able to recruit a teacher for the girls’ school that they’ve just established.

Bismillah SHG has worked with the local Madrassah (mosque) to offer a room to start this school. But this may not be the best solution. There is some discussion between the SHG members and the GRAVIS field workers about whether or not holding a secular school on the Madrassah premises might give the impression that the school is non-secular. The women suggest approaching the local panchayat (governing body) to ask them to donate land to the budding school. This way the school will be clearly non-denominational. The school would then be more accessible to people from all communities and castes.

There is much discussion amongst the young and old and everyone gets to express their opinion before a decision and a plan is made. A small group of women will approach the panchayat for support.

It’s the first day of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting in Islam. The chairwoman of the Bismillah SHG speaks to us about how all people are one under Allah’s moon and sun. This is what the group celebrates. The women warmly share with us their ritual of cooking special foods to break fast daily.

Over my now sixth cup of chai today, I learn about how the group overcame initial dissensions to build greater unity with each other. They now work together on meaningful projects, both for their homes as well as for the community at large. They talk about sharing crops, water and just as importantly, insights about their children. And so begins that important time of the year and as the sun slowly sets over the desert. I am grateful again to celebrate grassroots action in all its glory.

The construction of a multi-billion rand Transnet pipeline from Durban to Joburg has ground to a halt after residents of Adams Mission, near Amanzimtoti, protested that the pipeline posed a health and safety hazard.

The multipurpose pipeline – which runs from Island View, through the south of Durban to Joburg – is designed to carry refined petroleum products, such as diesel, petrol and jet fuel. The project was expected to be completed in 2013 at a cost of R15,42-billion.

The delay could add extra costs as Transnet negotiates its way around the problem.

Construction started in October, but stopped at Adams Mission after protests from locals. One of the residents, who would not be named, said Transnet officials “took us for a ride” because of the high level of illiteracy in the community.

“We were told it would be a small pipe and that we would be consulted before the contractor began work. But when I came home one afternoon, a bulldozer had damaged my fence and vegetables, and there were huge pipes running through our yards,” she said.

Some residents had been paid amounts from R3,000 to R6,000 for damaged crops.

Transnet gave residents an 11-page “temporary servitude agreement” to sign, but they refused.

“We don’t understand these documents they are making us sign, and we didn’t know that these pipes will be transporting diesel and fuel. What if somebody tries to extend their home and unknowingly digs where these pipes are laid? The entire community could be wiped out in the explosion,” the woman said.

Residents said that at a meeting last week Transnet had said it would pay them for affected portions of their land and damage to property, but the parastatal had reneged on its promises.

“Our houses are beginning to crack because of the constant digging Transnet must take their pipes and find an alternate route far from our homes,” an angry resident shouted.

Community activists said the project should be halted until the environmental impact assessment process had been completed and violations of provisions of the National Environmental Management Act were corrected.

Desmond D’Sa, chairman of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said the pipeline impacted on large tracts of land and posed environmental and health threats in the form of leaks.

“When the existing pipeline is decommissioned it will be filled with an anti-corrosive saline solution and left. This implies the same will happen to the new pipeline when it is no longer usable. If there is flooding, erosion, or other problems, the pipeline could develop a leak, destroying water sources and the soil,” he said.

D’Sa said no social impact study had been done and people had been unable to attend meetings held by Transnet, or were unaware that these were being held.

“It is necessary that Transnet physically walk the pipeline route to inform all those potentially affected. If Transnet can build on and pass dangerous fuels through land adjacent to people’s homes, then they can take the time to inform them of it. The Clairwood area has not been engaged by Transnet in public participation, despite the fact that the pipeline is projected to pass through a boundary at a secondary school and through residential areas.”

Lilian Develing, of the Combined Ratepayers’ Association, said the pipeline running through the north of Durban had developed underground leaks. “These took some time to discover, causing damage to grazing, and animals had to be moved.”

Transnet spokesman Mboniso Sigonyela said the project was in the national interest and had been approved by the National Energy Regulator of SA and the Environmental Affairs Department.

“More than 95 percent of the pipe from Durban to Jameson Park, near Heidelberg, has been laid,” he said.

“The route evaluation process formed part of the EIA process and a final route was chosen based on technical, constructibility, environmental impact, and social and economic impacts,” he said.

Sigonyela said residents had been consulted during the EIA phase, and claims could be made for damage.

We hope you will be able to join with us and MCJ for nonviolent direct action to “Make Big Oil Pay” on August 29-30. More details and videos are below.

VIDEO RELEASE:
Teach-In: BP DISASTER & BIG OIL, WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON, WHAT IT MEANS & WHAT WE CAN DO

One of the most insightful and compelling events explaining and analyzing of the the BP Gulf of Mexico Disaster is now available as an online “Video Teach-In.” On Tuesday July 20, 2010, on the 3-Month Gulf Disaster Anniversary, Mobilization for Climate Justice West organized a public Teach-In to a standing-room-only crowd of community members. The release of this “Video Teach-in” is timed to educate the public and to urge people to take action, including the mobilization and nonviolent direct action to “Make Big Oil Pay” on August 29-30. Key presentations from that teach-in are now available as videos on Mobilization for Climate Justice West’s YouTube channel at: youtube.com/ClimateJusticeWEST.

The five-segment video teach-in features:
Antonia Juhasz, leading oil industry expert and critic, just returned from the Gulf, meeting with impacted communities and groups. She is Director of the Chevron Program at Global Exchange, and the author of The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s Most powerful Industry and What We Must Do to Stop It. Juhasz has been featured on Democracy Now, written for the Huffington Post and is writing a new book on the impact and meaning of the BP disaster.
VIDEO: Antonia Juhasz (1 of 5)
VIDEO: Antonia Juhasz (2 of 5)

Byron Encalade is the President of the Louisiana Oyster Association and a leader for the African-American oyster fishermen in the region. Oil infrastructure has led to the erosion of the wetlands that oysters depend on, which were previously damaged further when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Since the BP disaster, Encalade has been a leading spokes person for impacted communities on the Gulf Coast; including being interviewed by PBS and the New York Times.
VIDEO: Byron Encalade (3 of 5)

Carla Pérez is the Program Coordinator for The Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project, which provides analysis and facilitates action around the global ecological crisis among organizers from urban Bay Area organizations working for economic and racial justice. Carla Pérez was a featured speaker at the opening plenary of the United States Social Forum.
VIDEO: Carla Pérez (4 of 5)
VIDEO: Carla Pérez (5 of 5)

For more details contact: mcjbay@gmail.com.

A biodiverse household garden in Rajasthan

After a 4-hour journey from Jodhpur, Shashi Tyagi, Rahul Mishra, Abdul (all GRAVIS employees) and I arrive in Kolu Nimbyat village in Western Rajasthan’s rural desert area. It’s good to be back in my home state. I’ve spent most of the trip marveling at the effects of abundant rainfall this July and August. For the first time in almost 3 years in Rajasthan the monsoon has brought enough water. While I cannot describe Jodhpur’s landscape as “lush,” relative to past years there is green everywhere. Cows, buffalos, goats and even dogs that are usually skin and bones in drought-ridden Rajasthan now have some fat on their bones.

Sandstone mines abut the road in Kolu Nimbyat. Each mine has a long line of daily-wage workers mining, cutting and shaping stone with their bare hands. Village women walk in groups wearing bright orange, pink, red and yellow ghagras. But they are no longer carrying pitchers of water on their heads. After many years their homes now either have a taanka (underground water storage container) or are built close enough to a neighbor’s taanka. IDEX supported taankas have been built, and horticultural gardens with drought tolerant crops have been planted by GRAVIS in this village since 2007.

GRAVIS works with the Village Development Committees (VDCs) in this area. With the guidance of the VDCs, GRAVIS works to support local households with food and water security.

Our first stop is at the home of Poonam Kanwar. Poonam planted her garden in 2007 with sesame, lemons, watermelons, cucumbers, moong (a nutritious Indian lentil), moth (another Indian lentil), cluster beans or guar, bor (desert fruit) and millet or bajra. She demonstrates her homegrown drip irrigation system made with earthen pots. Poonam also uses natural pesticides that she makes with cow dung and indigenous herbs. The garden is beautifully tended to and the whole family has seen their health improve since they started eating this nutrition rich diet from their garden.

The Government of India has many agricultural programs for desert areas. One of which is to provide families with 50 units of seedlings and plants. This can be counter-productive for many rural families who simply do not have access to sufficient water to take care of household needs. Let alone tend to animals, and manage a large food garden.

GRAVIS supports families with 4 main crops and no more than 16 seedlings. This is a more manageable amount. It allows families to experiment with growing drought tolerant and indigenous crops. As they adopt more sustainable farming methods they are able to yield more food for their families. They can also use conserved water to gradually increase the size of their gardens. It’s another indication of how holistic, integrated approaches to rural development recognize that water and food security are deeply connected.

Next I joined a meeting of the Ramdevji Self-Help Group (SHG). 14 women were meeting to go over the group’s finances. Not only has this multigenerational group saved over 30 Rupees ($0.65) each per month from their meager earnings, but they have also managed to support 2 women in the group to buy goats. The women have been able to increase their earnings from selling dairy products from the goats.

The women also save seeds. I am struck by the connection of ecology and economy in this group. They explain to me that financial self-sufficiency and food security go hand-in-hand. They can’t possibly save money to give to their daughters and pay for household goods, if they can’t save seeds, that which gives sustenance to their entire household. They delicately undo the lids of their earthen pots, sealed to keep out insects, and show me watermelon, sesame, moong and moth seeds. These were saved from the recent crop and will be planted next season. In the meantime, the president of the group proudly explains how the group has saved over 7000 Rupees ($150US) this past year from their own earnings. They plan to support more members to buy goats.

Right as the sun is setting, we arrive at the tail end of a Village Development Committee meeting in Hempura Village. The 11-member committee is comprised of 5 women and 6 men. I sit with the visionary chairman, dynamic vice-chairwoman and quieter secretary as they share their recent victories.

I am told how the 11-member committee protested the lack of electricity in their village even after pre-paying three months of bills for non-existent electricity. They also share with me how they joined forces with GRAVIS field workers to build water taankas for the most vulnerable in their communities.

Finally they introduce me to the poorest couple in the village. This is a disabled woman in her thirties who used to depend on neighbors to fetch water for her family having been struck by polio in her childhood. Her husband cannot look for daily-wage work since he has to care for her. She is unable to do much more than sit and cook or walk to the tiny shack’s outdoor seating area. One night, while trying to make the most of the rains, her husband went out to collect water and was bitten by a snake. He too is now disabled. The VDC has decided to support this couple in soliciting a pension from the government due to their disability and has plans to build them a water taanka.

The members of the VDC are not that much better off, but I am struck by the kindness, resilience and universal love that they exhibit to ensure that those who are even worse off, have a way to live with dignity.