Development in Action

Voices of India - Nitindra Badjatiya, Sewa Mandir, Indore

2009-07-02T21:30:00.003+01:00

This interview aims to give an overview of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind school (DDB) in Indore, and to raise people’s awareness in the UK about related development issues in India.Nitin’s personal experience at DDB1) What is your education and when did you join DDB?Nitin joined DDB on 19 July 1989. After teaching the deaf children for 6 years, he then decided to take a formal course in special

Editorial - Tom Wilmot

2009-04-15T16:56:00.002+01:00

Spring Issue - Volunteering in ActionWelcome to the Spring issue of the Development in Action magazine. Spring is the time when DiA prepares more volunteers to work at our partner organisations across India, so our theme this issue is ‘Volunteering in Action’. We hear from volunteers at three of our partner organisations in India, and also announce the inaugural Development in Action Photographer

International Solar Food Processing Conference

2009-04-15T15:54:00.002+01:00

Barli Development Institute for Rural Women (Barli), hosted the first ever International Solar Food Processing Conference at its campus in Indore, Madhya Pradesh from 14th to 16th January 2009. The conference was initiated and sponsored by International Solar Energy Society along with WISIONS from Germany and co-sponsored by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India. This unique

Spirulina – ‘The Social Supplement’

2009-04-15T15:24:00.007+01:00

Sharana Social and Development Organisation, is the first Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Pondicherry SouthEast India to produce and distribute its own Spirulina. This algae based, natural healthfood product was the first photosynthetic lifeform on earth and its alliance with Sharana NGO reflects a collaboration between the so-called ‘Superfood’ and the social sector. After extensive six

A Seva Mandir story

2009-04-15T15:08:00.002+01:00

It is with great honour that I embark on the task of writing my Seva Mandir experiences in a personal context, but first let me set the scene: I left Seva Mandir 5 days ago. I am currently sat in a beachside house in Goa, allowing myself the time to recuperate from what can only be considered as the most challenging, influential and powerful 5 months of my life. Within these 5 days I have allowed

Multi-agency partnerships in volunteering

2009-04-15T11:21:00.003+01:00

I have recently been thinking about what it means to be on a volunteer placement in terms of how we can make the most of how we work with partner organisation. We often work with more than one organisation in our day to day lives, and I thought I might give some time over to thinking about how we can make this work the best for us as individuals.My experience as a volunteer with Development in

Welcome to the moon

2009-04-15T10:57:00.004+01:00

There was a girl who landed on the moon,Then fell in a crater,A crater tainted with smells, isolation,A complex crater, cold, sickly, colourful, crowded,Where eyes met eyes,Cold to hollow,to dead,Light kashmiri eyes-selling eyes,Rich eyes in fleshy lids, poor eyes in sunken hollows,Trusting, lazy, empty, closed, eyes that bore through white skin,Smells of success, slum lined success,Success in

DiA Photographer of the Year 2009

2009-04-15T09:08:00.007+01:00

Volunteers at our partner organisations share some of their favourite photos. We want YOU to vote for which you think should be the Development in Action picture of the year for 2009.(Please choose what you think are the three best pictures and enter your vote in the comment box at the bottom of the page)1. Nap time at the Volontariat Farm (Yasmin Winnett)2. Phone call from 'Didi' (big sister)(

Editorial - Tom Wilmot

2009-02-01T14:45:00.007Z

Winter Issue - From theory to practiceWelcome to the winter issue of the Development in Action magazine. The New Year is always an exciting time as we begin to recruit volunteers for the summer. Despite the problems plaguing the financial world, we are confident that 2009 will see more groups of worthy volunteers travelling to India with DiA to expand their horizons, and those of others, in both

A new type of thinking

2009-02-01T14:42:00.004Z

‘The word cognition comes from the Latin verb meaning ‘to know’. It denotes the knowledge’ or concepts ‘we are able to draw upon to make sense of our environment’(Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 2004).Looking back, up to the age of 14 years old I didn’t really have any strong ideas or concepts, not that I can recall anyway. I vaguely remember being adamant once to a relative

Volunteer reflections - City of Child

2009-02-01T14:21:00.007Z

In September 2008 I arrived at Deep Griha Society’s ‘City of Child’ in Kasurdi, a small village 40km from Pune in Maharashtra state, India. (http://www.deepgriha.org/)I am here with one other volunteer, Rachel, as part of a placement with Development in Action (DiA). Now, half way through the 5 month placement, I am sitting here at the only computer typing this as fast as I can before the power

Who is ASA?

2009-02-01T13:37:00.006Z

Development in Action have been sending volunteers to Action for Social Advancement (ASA) since 1999. But who is ASA? Where do they work? And what do volunteers get up to when they’re there?This article will attempt to answer these questions.ASA’s head office in Bhopal Established in 1996, ASA is a relatively young NGO compared to some of DiA’s other partner organisations. However, now directly

Slumdog and 'poverty porn'

2009-02-01T07:08:00.002Z

How a global box office hit struck a nerve in 'Incredible India'.As Slumdog Millionaire became a global box office success and 'the feel-good film of the decade' in early 2009, its depiction of India was also hitting the headlines for very different reasons. The film tells the 'rags-to-rajah' story of Jamal Malik, from his roots in Mumbai's notorious Dharavi slum through to his dramatic success

Editorial - Kirsty Walton

2008-08-05T11:05:00.006+01:00

Welcome to the Summer Edition of the Development in Action Magazine. It’s been a busy time for DiA in the last few months; this year’s 2-month volunteers are now in the full swing of their placements in India, whilst 9 new 5-month volunteers prepare for a September departure. After their recent training weekend, without a male volunteer in sight, I was pleased to compile this quarter’s edition

HIV Prevention for Girls and Young Women: the Report Cards initiative

2008-08-04T10:40:00.000+01:00

Under the umbrella of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS (GCWA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), together with UNFPA and Young Positives, are developing country Report Cards to strengthen HIV Prevention strategies for girls and young women. By the end of 2008, 23 country cards will have been produced, including one on India.Each Report Card provides a country profile,

Behind closed doors

2008-08-03T10:20:00.000+01:00

India’s domestic workers find their voiceIt was a regular Sunday morning for the domestic workers of Patna. Though the monsoon rains had suddenly broken out and the streets were flooded with water, about two hundred domestic workers, most of them young girls, had still managed to make it to their weekly get-together, organised by the Bihar Domestic Workers Welfare Trust.After being given a most

Self-help, multiple gains

2008-08-02T22:59:00.000+01:00

We are brought up with piggy banks, Children’s bonds and the notion of ‘saving money for a rainy day.’ Savings, investments, loans, mortgages and new-fangled tax-free options are part of everyday life for many. For a vast majority of the world’s population, however, bank accounts are out of reach and out of mind.The Grameen bank of Bangladesh, and others like it, changed the face of banking in

Lakshmi’s story

2008-08-01T09:45:00.000+01:00

Lakshmi lives in the same house where she was born, in the village of Angalakuppam in Tamil Nadu, South India. She is 26 years old and has worked in the village’s medical dispensary since it opened in 2002.Before the dispensary opened, the village’s residents, many of whom without access to transport faced a 16 kilometre journey to the nearest hospital and clinic in Puducherry. This barrier

Prestigious awards for the Barli Development Institute

2008-07-31T19:42:00.006+01:00

Manager Jimmy McGilligan awarded OBEJames McGilligan (Jimmy), manager of Barli Development Institute for Rural Women has been awarded an OBE in Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2008, “for his services to social causes and the use of alternative energy in rural communities in India”. Originally from Northern Ireland, he has spent 20 years as Manager of Barli Development Institute for

Editorial - Kirsty Walton

2008-03-22T00:20:00.009Z

Welcome to the Spring Edition of the Development in Action Magazine. It’s bursting with contributions from past volunteers, members, trustees and supporters all interested in issues of ethical consumerism, fair-trade, and sustainability. It comes after the recent annual Fairtrade Fortnight pioneered by the Fairtrade Foundation, which marked an increase in sale of Fairtrade products in the UK to

Who foots the bill?

2008-03-21T23:06:00.003Z

Homebased workers in the leather footwear industry campaign for their rights. Homebased workers in many countries are working on the production of leather footwear. They experience poor working conditions as companies look for ever-lower product prices. Workers talk about pains in their hands and backs from stitching heavy materials, working long hours, having no

The new India?

2008-03-20T21:25:00.006Z

The dominance of multi-national companies (MNCs) and retail giants in the UK and other western countries is now so well established that it is easy to forget what life was like before they had such a monopoly. Having spent five months working at Barli in Indore, I have been immersed in a society where small scale retail is still prevalent. However, India has reached

Empowering women through micro-finance in Madhya Pradesh

2008-03-19T21:05:00.002Z

In 2005, the International year of Micro-Credit, Kofi Annan (Secretary General of the U.N.) highlighted the importance of micro-finance in helping to “alleviate poverty by generating income, creating jobs, allowing children to go to school, enabling families to obtain health care, and empowering people to make the choices that best serve their needs”. While I was working with Action for Social

Can design be a sustainable solution to ‘Make Poverty History’?

2008-03-18T23:31:00.002Z

Organic cotton. Fairtrade. Ethical consumerism. Reducing my carbon footprint. Sustainable Design?! To shop or not to shop at Primark?! I’m an eco-conscious designer and even I am confused by all of this! So how do we balance the environment, ethics and our love for shopping? Last year I travelled to the rural areas of North Thailand armed with my camera and sketchbook to find a viable

The ethical oxymoron

2008-03-17T22:15:00.001Z

Imagine your typical day as a consumer. Because that’s what you are, isn’t it? Imagine also, if you will, that I’m an instantly annoying friend of a friend who, at the end of your day of consuming, has cornered you at a party or sat next to you in the pub. Yes, you are a consumer, admit it! You buy manufactured products of all descriptions, some of them outrageously ostentatious status symbols,