| People for Progress
in India
2002 Annual Report P.O. Box 51231, Seattle, WA 98115-1231. http://ppi-usa.org/ e-mail:ppi@ppi-usa.org | ||
Dear Friends: Greetings! As PPI enters its 25th year, we are happy to report that our work in supporting small-scale development continues with noticeable growth and change since we first began in 1978. We have 19 on-going projects in eight states from Delhi to Tamilnadu, and Rajasthan to West Bengal. - To fund programs that
make people self-reliant and self-sustaining. - To maximize the affect
of money sent by working directly with local organizations and volunteers
- To maintain direct
contact with the partner NGOs. - To
encourage new ideas that involve people participation
Please take a few
minutes to review PPI’s current projects and activities in the past
year,
and check our website at http://ppi-usa,org/ for
updates. Be PPI’s partner in working for India’s progress! Sincerely, Anutosh Moitra Chairperson, PPI NEW
PROJECTS 1. Micro-Enterprise Training for
Disabled People
Ashraya - Chitradurga, Karnataka, M.Y. Swamy Dec 2002 – June 2004. Total commitment: Rs.230,800 ($4919). 2002 funding: Rs. 133,000 ($2,830) This is a micro-credit project to promote economic empowerment of disabled people. Organic fertilizer will be produced by composting waste material with earthworms. 2. Vocational Training Program for
Rural Women KHI - Karnataka Health Institute, Ghataprabha, Karnataka, Dr. Kiron Vaidya Dec 2002-Dec 2003. 2002 funding:: Rs. 132,000. ($2,808) This project will provide training for rural women in advanced tailoring, embroidery, machine knitting and doll making. Local NGOs have offered to help in marketing the products. PPI is encouraging KHI to also explore markets for designs indigenous to the area. Graduating trainees will be encouraged to pay back by supporting the training of new students. 3 Economic Empowerment of Women through Dairy Cooperative RHEDT - Rural Health and Environment Development Trust, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu - Ansar Basha May 02 - May 03. 2002 funding:: Rs.163,000 ($3,468) The purpose of this 1-year project is the development of a dairy cooperative run by women. The funding is for purchase of 10 cows and dairy equipment, plus training sessions for the beneficiaries. A portion of the profits from the sale of milk will be put back into a revolving fund so that more women can join in future years, and the present beneficiaries will be trainers for the next group. 4.
Dairy-based Industry for a village economy TVSG - Trust for Village
Self-Governance, Kuthambakkam, Tamilnadu - Elango Rangaswamy Jun 2002-Jun 2003. 2002 funding:: Rs: 150,000 ($3,191) This one-time grant is part of a large project that brings together six small villages in a cluster that will evolve into a self-sufficient village economy based on the Gandhian concept of self-dependence. Several small-scale industries such as edible oil, food-processing, bakeries etc. are being set up through funds from other organizations. PPI is funding a Dairy Products plant for alternate use of surplus from milk local villages. The PPI grant will be used to purchase equipment, utensils and cold storage facilities. 5. Management of Natural Resources SPS - Samaj Parivartana Samudaya Dharwad, Karnataka. - S. R. Hiremath Jun 02—Jun 05; Total commitment: Rs.450,000. 2002 funding: Rs. 150,000 ($3,191) PPI is supporting a part of a large project that will affect some 21,000 people in 26 villages in central Karnataka. Its objectives are: (i) better management of common property resources; (ii) development of non-timber forest products (fodder, firewood, medicinal plants, etc.); (iii) increasing agricultural yield by better management of natural resources; (iv) improving health through preventive measures and education; (v) advocacy to protect the rights of tribals and the rural poor concerning natural resources. The main strategy is grassroots organizing to enable the villagers to take charge of their own development. 6. Comprehensive Education & Rehabilitation Program for Child Laborers TRUST - Trust for Rural Upliftment Strategies Bangalore, Karnataka. Apr 2002 – Apr 2004: Total commitment: Rs. 298,000. 2002 funding: Rs. 149,800 ($3,170) Trust aims to eliminate child labor practices and rehabilitate affected children through education, motivation and training. During the past six months, they have set up four non-formal education centers, and about 75 child laborers are enrolled; the necessary teacher training and equipment acquisition has been accomplished. Trust held two awareness/education programs for the local populace to stress the need for education and encourage support for their work; the response was enthusiastic. They are organizing self-help groups for mothers of child laborers, and are setting up a children’s library (to be inaugurated by PPI representative Murli Saletore.) Trust sums up: “The single most important achievement of this project is its acceptability by the community.” 7. Sustainable Health Care and Health Worker Training < GRAVIS - Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti, Jodhpur, Rajasthan - L.C.Tyagi Feb 2002- Feb 2004, Total commitment:
Rs. 320,500 ($6820).
2002 funding: Rs.149,000 ($ 3,170) 8.
Watershed Development Training
SPS - Samaj Pragati Sahayog, Bagli, Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Vikas Amte. Feb 2002- Feb 2005. Total commitment: Rs. 594,000. 2002 funding: Rs. 180,000 ($3,830) This is a project for training five full time village level activists to impart technical know-how on watershed development to local non-governmental organizations and tribal people. This is being accomplished through Baba Amte Center for People’s Empowerment. Continuing Projects 9. Agro-equipment Support for Improving Farming BTS - Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha, Raidighi, 24 Parganas, West Bengal - Susanta Giri. Jun 2001 - Jun 2002. 2002 funding: Rs. 223,400 ($4,753). The aim of this project is to improve farming yields for farmers in the Sunderbans area. Villagers have formed Ferma Resource Clubs (FRC). More than 104 members have been using PPI-funded equipment such as power tillers, pump sets & paddy thrashers at costs much lower than local commercial rates. The FRC’s have also been conducting various support activities such as monthly study circles to promote use of bio-fertilizers/pesticides in lieu of chemicals; reintroduction of indigenous seeds; organizing women’s SHG’s to promote organic vegetable gardening for nutrition and income generation; training towards better farming techniques and double-cropping. They have plans to expand this to neighboring villages and also take on other developmental activities. BTS has set up grain and seed banks for use during harder times. 10. Income Generating Program for
Poor Women
CAVI - Community Awareness & Village Improvement Pedakakani, Guntur, A. P. - Kiran Kumar Dec 2001 - Dec 2003: Total commitment: Rs. 88,000 ($2000). 2002 funding: Rs 44,000 ($1,000) This revolving micro-credit project has provided loans to poor women from 10 villages, so that they can start small businesses such as fruit vending, pickle making, tea stalls, etc. Loans will be paid back in installments in one year. The principal amount will then be used to provide loans for other poor women. The women select their own businesses. Thirty self-help groups have been formed by about 350 women. 11. Participatory Tank Improvement
Project
Vikasana, Tarikere, Karnataka - Varghees Cleatas. Jun 2001 - Jun 2004: Total commitment: Rs. 612,700 ($13,036). 2002 funding: Rs. 189, 400 ($4,029) The object of this 3-year project is the rehabilitation and improvement of tanks (small reservoirs) in a 10-village area of western Karnataka. They have performed surveys of the tanks, conducted training sessions on importance and maintenance of tanks, and formed a tank development committee and water users committee in each village. 9000 saplings are being planted in the catchment areas and in school and temple grounds. The actual removal of silt from the tanks and distribution of it to farmlands as fertilizer is also underway.. 12. Kitchen Garden and Fruit Tree Plantations. CMS - Champa Mahila Society, Village Basanti, Sibgang, West Bengal - Sandhya Rani Das. Jan 2001 - Jan 2003: Total commitment: Rs. 415,550 ($8,841) 2002 funding: Rs. 104,550 ($2,224) Women in the Sunderban area were provided with training and seeds for planting small plots of land adjacent to their family homes, enabling them to produce vegetables in several seasons. The crops significantly addressed nutritional needs of pregnant women and small children while empowering women by earning them respect as economic contributors. Five non-formal schools bring basic literacy to children of families with no prior tradition of education and no access to formal schools. Anutosh and Stuti Moitra visited the project in Jan 2002 and were very impressed by its progress. 13. Asatoma Project Eye-care Outreach Training Dr. Shroff Eye Hospital, New Delhi - Dr. Steven Roy Nov 2000 - Nov 2003: Total commitment: Rs. 564,000 ($12,000.) 2002 funding: Rs. 188,000 ($4,000) . During the second year of the project, the hospital continued its training of volunteers and field workers to identify poor patients who would benefit from free care provided by the hospital. Accomplishments include: (1) 335 volunteers were trained to conduct hospital outreach - 285 in Delhi, 50 in Alwar District, Rajasthan; (2) 217 eye screening camps were held for cataract surgery, vision-restoring and vision-saving children’s surgery; (3) 341 teachers were trained to screen children for vision problems - 251 in Delhi, 90 in Alwar District, Rajasthan; (4) Published 2000 Field Worker’s Training Books and 317 Teacher’s Training Manuals. As a part of this project, they have also set up a department of pediatric ophthalmology in Delhi, and a permanent satellite center in Alwar, Rajasthan. 14. Rain-fed Agriculture, Tree
Plantation and Child Education
GRAVIS - Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti, Jodhpur, Rajasthan - L.C.Tyagi. Oct 2000 - Oct 2003; Total commitment: Rs. 481,000 ($10,234). 2002 funding: Rs. 152,000 ($3,234) Ten arid horticulture units, 10 agro forestry units, and 5 plant nurseries have been set up in and around Rampura village, Badmer district. In addition to providing nutritious fruits, agro forestry units provide fuel, and prevent wind erosion. A school for girls has been started in the Badmer district to improve the low literacy rates (22%). 34 children are attending from Rampura.
15. Nutrition Elevation among
Vulnerable Groups RRS - Rural Reconstruction Society, Kavali, Andhra Pradesh - S. C. Mohan Aug 2000 - Aug 2003; Total commitment: Rs. 200,917 ($4,275). 2002 funding: Rs. 73,450. ($1,562) This NGO is working in ten villages inhabited by tribal and dalit people in the Prakasam District of A.P. Nutrition Committees of six selected women have been formed in each village to spearhead the program. Growth monitoring of children under 5 is being conducted in local clinics, with special care provided for undernourished children. Kitchen gardens are being widely promoted, and 350 compost pits have been dug to simultaneously accomplish waste disposal and organic fertilizer production. 16.
Bee-Keeping and Medicinal Plants Processing Training Center
ASHA INDIA , Kaithi, Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh - V. Pandey Jun 2000 - Jun 2003, Total commitment: 203,000 ($4,319). 2002 funding: Rs. 36,000 ($766) The project is in its final year. Jointly funded with the ASHA group, PPI’s project aims to build a training center to provide training in bee keeping, thereby creating employment opportunities. Jayashree Janardhan visited this project early this year and reported that bee keeping training sessions are going well. Many trainees have set up independent efforts. The forest department has been persuaded to subsidize the necessary but expensive bee boxes. 17. Agriculture, Soil and Water
Conservation
Pragathi, Mysore, Karnataka - B. Sharanappa Jun 2000 - Jun 2003. Total commitment: Rs. 543,800 ($11,570). 2002 funding: Rs.180,600 ($3,842) Begun last year, this 3-year project seeks to promote agricultural improvements in two villages near Mysore. It focuses both on organizing and educating the villagers to manage their land better and to undertake physical land improvement schemes. The Watershed Development Committees have been brought up to speed and are vigorously working to promote the building of bunds, gully plugs, and farm ponds for better water retention. Useful species of trees have been planted along roads and in wastelands. As a result, farmers are already having markedly improved crop yields. 18. Vocational Training for
Women
VASA - Veterans Association for Social Action, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh - P. Venkateswarlu Mar 2000 - Mar 2003. Total commitment: Rs. 180,600 ($3,842). 2002 funding: Rs. 62,800($1,336). VASA provides vocational training to women living below poverty level. Training centers have been established in the villages of Pamaru, Inimerla, Gopalapuram, C.S. Puram Road, Venkatapuram, and Kothuru with sewing machines and embroidery machines in place. The training center in Pamaru also teaches typing skills. To date, about 150 women have been trained in sewing / embroidery and 40 women have been trained in typing. The women have also been encouraged to form self-help groups and to save some money, however small. 19. Financial
Support for Micro-enterprise through Self-Help Groups
CHINYARD, Hubli, Karnataka. - C. Y. Bhardwad Oct 1999 – Oct 2002. Total commitment: Rs 426,350 ($7,234). 2002 funding: Nil Started last year with PPI funding, this
micro-credit project will provide loans to individuals to start
income-generating enterprises.
To date, they have formed 13 self help groups. Through recovered
loans, the project has grown from four to 13 self help groups, through
which loans have been given to 120 participants. Training has been given
in the self-help concept, book keeping, bank operation, and credit
management. OTHER
ACTIVITIES Site Visits are an important part of
PPI’s funding policy. PPI members visit projects
and maintain personal contact with project leaders. In the past year, site
visits were made by Anutosh & Stuti Moitra, Shim Srinath, Pran &
Santosh Wahi, Swati Sircar, Jayshree Janardhan, Niranjan & Shantha
Benegal. Visitors S.R. Hiremath visited us in June
and gave a video presentation of the developmental work being done by his
organization Samaj Parivartana Samudya (SPS) in Dharwar, Karnataka. He is
undertaking a large 5-year project to improve the quality of life for 21,
000 villagers in 26 villages in Karnataka to better manage the common
resources, improve agricultural yields and health care. This, to some
extent, is an out-growth of some of the pilot projects funded by PPI in
the early 1990s. We are happy
to be a part of his venture. Elango Rangasamy visited Seattle in September and spoke to a joint group from PPI
and ASHA about the model village development project he is involved with
in Kuthambakkam village in Tamilnadu. He showed slides of a village that
used to be inflicted by poverty and violence against lower cast people
(Dalits) and women a few years ago, and the same place now transformed
into a peaceful, economically self-sustaining village. The villagers are
busy building an environmentally friendly local economy based on a
cooperative model to meet their basic necessities of life. Elango, himself
a Dalit villager, left his scientist job in the Indian government to be a
Gandhian and has been instrumental in the village’s transformation. He has
been given the “Ashoka Fellowship” for his exemplary work and has been
invited by UK and USA governments to study local governance. 2002 Annual PPI Dinner
PPI’s annual benefit dinner on March
30, 2002 helped raise about $5970 after expenses. Bipasha Mukherjee,
Anitha and Rajesh Kamath, Meera Krishna, Pradeep Chilka, Chandrika Shankar
and Jayant Bhopatkar gave a delightful rendering of popular folk, light
and film music. Our very
sincere thanks to all of them.
2003
PPI Annual Benefit Dinner Saturday,
March 15, 2003
Please keep this evening free to attend
PPI’s fundraiser dinner and entertainment event. We need volunteers for
serving food and refreshments, as well as items for our raffle. Please
contact us at ppi@ppi-usa.org if you are interested. Treasurer’s Budget Summary
2002 Income (as of
Nov. 28/02): Membership:
$
640 Contributions:
$ 21,793 Benefit Banquet:
$ 5,968 net Interest:
$
279 Total:
$ 28,680 2002
Expenditure: Sent to
projects(as of Nov. 28):
$ 46,148 Other expenses in
2002:
$ 3,250 Funds committed to projects in
2003:
$ 20,800 Funds committed to projects in
2004:
$ 9,400 Special
collections (not included in above figures): To Gravis
$ 41,200 (bequest in memory of Surain
afSandeberg) To Samaj
Parivartana Samudaya
$ 1,400
(individual donations to corpus fund)
IN MEMORIAM
As we end this year, we mourn the loss
of two dear and valued PPI members who passed away –Surain afSandeberg on
March 8, 2002; and Sunil Saraiya, on October 25, 2002. Surain afSandeberg and her
husband Robert joined PPI about three years ago and were enthusiastic and
dedicated participants in PPI’s activities. Surain had a deep affection
for India, its beauty, culture and people. She and Robert traveled
extensively in India meeting like-minded people involved in helping the
less fortunate, and visited several of PPI’s project sites. Surain’s fondness for Rajasthan and in
particular her interest in women’s issues was key in her making a generous
bequest to GRAVIS. She will be missed by all of us. Sunil Saraiya and his wife Urmi
were among the very early dedicated members of PPI . Sunil served as PPI’s
Treasurer for many years and in spite of Lou Gehrig’s disease physically
debilitating him 10 years ago he continued as treasurer for several years.
The system that he set up for book keeping is still being followed by his
successors. His intellect, mental capacity and patience along with the
immense collective strength and courage of his family to live their lives
as normally as possible were an inspiration to all of us. Sunil, with his
ever-smiling good nature, will be missed by all.
Be PPI’S Partner in Working for INDIA’S
Progress! There are many ways you can be of assistance: ·
Come to PPI meetings,
and find out how you can participate. · Introduce your favorite charity cause to PPI and partner with us on developing it further. · Be our contact person on a PPI project, visit a project when you are in India. We need volunteers to correspond with projects in India. · Review project proposals, check on NGO references, make your suggestions. · Volunteer your time in other creative ways. · Contribute ideas on increasing participation. · Help
spread the word about PPI and help raise funds in innovative ways: for
example, two friends obtained pledges by running a bicycle marathon;
others by publicising PPI at events and festivals, and yet others
requested a donation to PPI instead of a wedding gift. Monthly meetings are held on the first Friday evening of each month, and are open to all. PPI funds projects from amounts collected through pledges (typically $10-$30 or more/month), contributions and fund-raising events. All donated amounts are passed on to the various projects. Only overhead expenses (less than 7%) cover the cost of printing, mailing and honoraria for occasional visiting guest speakers from India. Please fill the enclosed form and mail it to us. We need your support! Please cut, fill and Mail the Form below PPI 2003 Membership, Pledge & Contribution Form Name:___________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________ City__________________________________ State_______ Zip____________ Phone: ( ) ________________ E-mail Address: ______________________________ Membership: $ _______ _______($25 Family, $15 Single/Year) Pledge: $ ______________ /monthly for one year (2003), and/or Contribution of: $ ______________ Enclosed is a check for: $ _____________{IRS Code 501(c) (3) Tax Exempt, ID No. 91-1057315} Please make your checks payable to “People for Progress in India” and mail it with this form to: People for Progress in India (PPI), P. O. Box 51231, Seattle, WA 98115-1231. (If your employer has a matching grant program that PPI qualifies for, please include the appropriate form). Voices of People Touched by PPI
“I am Kajol Jana, resident of South Baikunthapur, West
Bengal. Our village Panchayat is surrounded by water on all sides.
Previously my husband used to provide subsistence for our family by
fishing, farming our little plot of land and gathering wood from the
forests. I was constantly terrified about tigers in the forest because I
had seen nine of my neighbors devoured by tigers when cutting wood in the
forest. I am a member of Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha. I convinced my husband
to join a BTS farmers’ group and we received help in the form of farming
equipment provided for by PPI in America. With this help from BTS we now
manage to get two crops a year from our small plot of land. This has been
of great benefit to our family--economic and otherwise. My greatest
satisfaction is that my husband no longer has to go to the forest to cut
wood.”
“I am Sanjay Kumar Manna, village Binidepur, West Bengal,
under Baikunthapur village panchayat. I am a poor farmer, permanent member
of Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha’s “Nabaday” group. We earn a living by
fishing and catching crabs from the river. Receiving farming equipment at
very little expense from Tarun Sangha has enabled us to start farming.
Lack of equipment had prevented us from farming previously.” |