What are the benefits of joining self-help groups?

Trying to convince communities to join self-help groups is not always easy. Many times, people have been cheated in the past, leading to a lack of trust. Or, they might not understand the strength of groups. Or, they just might not be interested.

Sandeep (PDM 11) compiled a video of some of the success stories from women who were able to start small businesses after joining Kalanjiams. He screened this video to communities to help raise awareness of self-help groups.

Note: Subtitles have been provided so that you can get the gist of the story. If anyone is capable and interested in providing more accurate subtitles, that would be fantastic!

Filed under: DPS 1, PDM 11 , DPS 1, PDM 11, Sandeep Kumar, video

IDRC Food Security Project: Two Videos from DPS 1, PDM 11

The IDRC Food Security Project is a research-based project which is focusing on small millets cultivation in rainfed farming areas of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Three development NGOs have taken the responsibility to implement this project: DHAN (India), LIBARD (Nepal), and Arthacharva (Sri Lanka).

Filed under: DPS 1, PDM 11 , Amarendra Kumar, DPS 1, IDRC, minor millets, PDM 11, Ravi Raj, video

Some art showing up around the campus

While we are working on editing a few articles for posting here, I thought I would share two photos of some of the art showing up around the TDA campus.

Here are two paperweights made of broken pieces of granite, painted by Seema (PDM 12).

I’ll post more as they appear, and look out for a few articles from students in the next couple of weeks!

Filed under: Non-Academic, PDM 12 , art, paperweights, Seema

The Badminton Battles

Badminton was scheduled for the third day of sports week, coordinated by Shanti and supported by Pashupati and Sandeep. Four players were selected from each house to participate in the competition. The first match was between Milkha Singh and Dhyan Chandra houses, followed by a match between P. T. Usha and Dhyan Chandra houses. In the semi-final games, V. Anand house won against P. T. Usha house with a closing score of 11-3. In the second match, Milkha Singh I won over Milkha Singh II with a closing score of 11-8.

Filed under: Non-Academic, PDM 11, PDM 12, Uncategorized , badminton, PDM 11, PDM 12, sports week

Play Ball!!!

Yesterday at the Academy, students and staff members participated in a cricket match. (Unfortunately, since faculty were busy in a meeting at DHAN’s Central Office, they could not participate.)

Filed under: Non-Academic, PDM 11, PDM 12 , cricket, PDM 11, PDM 12, sports week

Inauguration of Sports Week 2011

The Tata-Dhan Academy is an institute devoted to development studies, known for its very busy classroom sessions and academic excellence since its establishment one decade ago. But that doesn’t mean the time is without any games!

Filed under: Non-Academic, PDM 11, PDM 12 , PDM 11, PDM 12, sports week

A New Batch of Explorers…

A new batch of explorers have started their journey at Tata-Dhan Academy.

As usual, almost as soon as the students come to the campus and start to get settled down, we put them into groups and send them off on a one-week village stay. This time, one of the groups happened to have a camera with them, and when they returned, they were kind enough to put together this video to share with us.

I look forward to a lot more interesting stories and explorations in the months to come!

Filed under: PDM 12

Red Card Application and Tribal Community Exploitation

By Shanti Gupta

This is the story of tribal communities in Latehar district where I saw the extent of exploitation. Before telling this story, I want to make readers familiar about the context of Latehar. Latehar is a district in Jharkhand where people have been facing drought from past 7 years. The majority of the population belongs to scheduled tribes; according to the Government of Jharkhand, there are 10 different tribes.

This tribal family went with no food for two days to save money to pay the exploitative charges set by photo- and copy-shop owners.

This story is set in the village of district Navadih. In this village, people are not able to get safe drinking water. After a discussion with some villagers, I was able to understand that the only source of water was a river on which 70% of the population depend not only for drinking, but for household work. I was amazed to see the situation of the poor people in this village. I was also not able to do anything about it because the exploitation was not being done by outsiders, but by others in the area.

Filed under: Fieldwork 2, PDM 11 , exploitation, Shanti Gupta, student reflections, tribal development

First Monsoon Shower in Madurai

By Yogesh Bhatt

Date: 30th May. Time 6:30 pm. I was working on my laptop. My window was open I was enjoying the cool outside breeze. I didn’t realize that this cool breeze carried rainfall with itself until I heard the peal of thunder outside.

Usually, it happens that whenever my friends and I get this type of opportunity, we immediately start to enjoy the moment. This time, I did not know that what was happening—why weren’t these guys outside jumping in the rain?

Filed under: Non-Academic, PDM 11 , PDM 11, student life, Yogesh Bhatt

Fish Farming Livelihood Opportunities

By Amarendra Kumar

There is saying that “practice makes a man perfect.” I realized the truth in this when I got a chance to observe and understand fish farming. The person we met with runs a very successful fish farm despite not having any background in fisheries.

His name is V. H. Ahmad Mohideen. He studied economics in Madurai, and then received a diploma in marketing from Mumbai, and took his first job as an executive manager in Saudi Arabia. He has now returned to his home because of the peaceful environment here.

Filed under: General TDA, PDM 11 , Amarendra Kumar, field visits, fish farming