Jee-news - Autumn 2009

Letter from Andrew
Climate Change - what our partner Schumacher Centre has named "The Burning Issue" in its new blog - is going into overdrive in the run up to December's conference in Copenhagen. It's easy to engage with the macro-debate on what governments, especially the Indian government, should be doing to predict and help avert the onset of global warming. But it's a very different matter looking at the impact of climate change from 'bottom up'. The world community needs to predict and mitigate the effects of climate change - i.e. it must be left to governments to define the risks the planet is facing and, by signing an 'ambitious, fair and binding treaty' at Copenhagen, to mitigate their impact.

But helping the rural poor in India to adapt to these remorseless changes over the next decade or two is the business of NGOs like Jeevika Trust. We can observe at 'grass roots' level how water shortages - with all their consequences in terms of life, health, sanitation and nutrition, - can be confronted by e.g. renovating tradiitonal village rainwater catchment systems, how increasing use of solar energy can brighten life in villages with no prospect of electrification, how low-cost construction technologies and materials can help village communities to protect their livelihoods against cyclones and other extreme weather conditions. Britain's Ministers for Climate Change and for International Development - Ed Miliband and Douglas Alexander - are touring India and Bangladesh as I write: they note in their press releases how the poorest 'must be at the forefront of our minds as we decide what sort of deal we want at Copenhagen'. But while that deal is being worked out, and until it actually impacts the symptoms of climate change, the defenceless rural poor will have to adapt their lives to the changes already happening. It is the job of ourselves and other NGOs, working in deep rural areas the government cannot reach, to keep them 'in the forefront of our minds'.

I want to welcome our three new Trustees: Serena Fass, Raj Sitlani and Stephen Edwards were appointed in April and have already shown how Jeevika Trust can benefit from trustees who bring new networks and contacts to help raise our awareness and generate new funding. Serena has been directing tours in every corner of India for more than 30 years, while Raj has worked in senior circles in the investment banking industry and Stephen in the corporate Communications area - each having clients and contacts among people with the interest and the ability to support our work in rural India. We are delighted to have them on Board.

You will have received our Appeal letter in June, in which we asked for your support in the form of regular donations, and we are most grateful to those who have 'signed up' with us to contribute even small amounts on a monthly basis to help our activities. The motto of the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB), of which we have just become a member, is "Give with Confidence": information about what they do to champion best practice in fundraising can be seen by visiting their webite and we hope that by subscribing to the FRSB standards, we will make it easier for you to support us.

Andrew Redpath
Executive Director, Jeevika Trust

Letter from India
India's Forest Rights Act - blending bio-diversity conservation with livelihoods

India has over 84 million tribal people, categorised internationally as indigenous people. They constitute 22% of the 381 million poor in India who earn less than one dollar a day. The Scheduled Tribes and other Forests Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 signifies a remarkable shift in the focus on forests from trees and wildlife to human beings. It seeks to correct the fault lines in the history of forest management in recognizing the land rights of tribals. The Act also promises to rectify historical wrongs by re-establishing the tribals' ownership, stewardship and livelihoods. But there are challenges to overcome in delivering this promise.

Schumacher Centre, in line with our mission of promoting livelihoods, is helping the government of India's Ministry of Tribal Affairs to implement the Act. We are doing this through action & research, advocacy and pilot projects. Along with other government schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, this Act is a livelihood promotion intervention aimed at a highly focused group of 8% of India's one billion plus people. Schumacher Centre believes the Forest Rights Act deserves - and needs - the support of everyone engaged in the development sector.

Dr D. K. Giri
Director, Schumacher Centre for Development, Delhi

Rural India Awakening
A great impetus has occurred in our development programme since November 2008 when we held a Stakeholder Workshop for our six partner organisations to meet and work together for the first time. Since then, all partners have either extended their existing Jeevika projects by one year or begun fresh projects with our support. Trustee Richard Hillsdon visited many of these projects last March and returned enthused about the progress our partners are making: “I was impressed with the renewed commitment and excitement partners showed as a result of the workshop, but especially compared to my last visit, with the ambitions for developing the scale and therefore benefits of small projects. Partners had also used the workshop networks to co-operate and share experience e.g. over securing sources of raw material supply, and dealing with government regulation”.

Five of our partners – with funding from the Waterloo Foundation – have now ended their second quarter of a three-year Women’s Livelihood Initiative to work with caste and tribal women villagers to generate income from such activities as soap-making, bee-keeping, candle-making and goat-rearing. The women – some with HIV/AIDS – have been formed into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and given skills-based training as well as the capacity to save and make loans from a Revolving Fund. Many SHGs have now been able to open bank accounts.

Three further projects supporting women and their families in Orissa include:

• Project Pani which provides a rainwater harvesting system for 250 high school students so they have clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, with nearby village ponds being cleaned to support freshwater fish for local consumption
• Project Eco benefits some 1,800 villagers on Mahinsa Island in the Chilika Lagoon through crab cultivation for local sale and fruit tree plantation to benefit household nutrition as well as stabilise island erosion
• Project Mousmi is providing safe water and sanitation to improve health and small scale cultivation among more than 3,000 villagers - as well as rooftop rainwater harvesting for 30 households and the construction of over 20 latrines

In Uttar Pradesh, we have extended our support for a further year for Project Shakti and its women beekeepers in twelve villages in northern UP. We are also supporting new activities in southern UP with Project Goharra which will renovate a large pond to provide villagers with water for household and livestock purposes. Funds for these two projects have been generously donated by Marion Kobylinksi and other Friends of Jeevika.

Voice of the Volunteers
Jeevika’s two Delhi-based volunteers, Michael Connellan and Angie Windle, have completed a thrilling first six months in the city. The pair are acting as communications consultants to Schumacher Centre, which is Jeevika’s sister organisation in India.

Michael, who is 27 and from Cambridgeshire, said: “Our time in India so far has been life changing, so we're staying to work for Jeevika for another six months. In the last six months I've played cricket in remote Indian villages, been charged at by camels, and even seen His Holiness the Dalai Lama face to face in the Indian Himalaya. You can't ask for much more than that. It's clear to me now why so many non-Indians develop a life-long love for the place."

Michael has been using his skills as a former newspaper journalist to raise the profile of Schumacher Centre. His Jeevika colleague Angie, from Hertfordshire, has been using her professional experience in event management to help the organisation attract the biggest names to its poverty-focused workshops, seminars and conferences.

Angie, who is 25 years old, said: "Everything in India simply seems more intense and more exciting. The work we are doing is deeply rewarding and I'll never forget the sights and sounds of village India as long as I live." Angie is currently organising a conference to be held in November on Tri-sector Partnership. More details to follow soon, so watch this space.

Michael and Angie have created a new website for Schumacher Centre. Please visit their site to learn more about Jeevika’s sister organisation.

www.jeevika.org.uk
Over the last few months we have been spending a lot of time updating our website and we are now pleased to tell you that there are many new features for you to enjoy.

Projects - Full details about all of our projects are now available via our Current Projects page.

Measuring our success - We constantly strive to measure the impact of our hard work. It is not enough to simply promise you, our supporters, that your donations are making a vital difference in rural India. We must measure and share the exciting results that stem from the contributions we receive. Click here to read how we measure our success.

Jee-Bazaar - We are very excited to be launching our online bazaar. From now on you will be able to support our work by buying books, paintings and various other Jeevika related items. We are very lucky to have been donated a number of paintings by artists Elinor Tolley and the family of Manjula Singh and Serena Fass' poetry anthology 'Faces of India'. To visit our new Jee-Bazaar, click here.

A Big Thanks!
Fundraising Stall, 11th April - A big thank you to 13 year-old Ellie Harris who gave up her Easter Saturday to have a road-side stall by the river in Kingston-upon-Thames to raise money for Jeevika Trust. Ellie raised £150.

Eclectic Boogaloo, 15th April - Thank you also to Sophia Surjadi who has organised another successful benefit gig to raise money for our work with HIV/Aids project, Project Mithra. Sophia, with the help of Kaana Ellie and her full band the Remedies, Druw and the Sound of Nudge, raised £323.42 - thank you! If you couldn't make the evening but want to support Sophia, you can donate on JustGiving in her name. Don't miss out on Sophia's next gig - details below.

Walk for Water, France, 24th May - Anthony and Danielle de Moubray have once again put on another fantastic Walk for Water in Provence. Thank you to all of their friends and supporters who came along to support our water projects in Tamil Nadu, they helped raise £2000.

Miniature Painting Exhibition, 13-17th July - Thanks to Anita Kapur for inviting us to benefit from her exhibition of Indian Miniature painting at the Nehru Centre. The exhibition was inaugurated by Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of India's last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, and was followed by a talk from our Director Andrew Redpath - 'Watching India: from pre-Independence to post-Millennium'. And many thanks also to Dr Kartar Lalvani, chairman of Vitabiotics, for kindly hosting a dinner for Jeevika and a few guests at his restaurant, the Indali Lounge in Baker Street, after the event.

Dragon Boat Race, 19th July - Congratulations and thank you to all of our rowers and their sponsors who took part in and supported Team Jeevika in the Dragon Boat Challenge on the Thames in July. After a slow start, the team reached the final, came 6th out of 34 crews and helped raise over £4500. 16 hairy men dressed in saris and wigs was certainly a sight for sore eyes early on Sunday morning - to see pictures of the team, click here.

New Regular Donors - thank you very much to everyone who responded to our appeal in June to help women just like Karuppi. We had a very generous response but it's not too late to still sign up. For full details and to read Karuppi's story, click here.

Put it in your Diary
Jeevika Trust Events
Walk for Water – Sunday 13th September, Hampton Wick, Surrey
It's time for our annual sponsored Walk for Water again and it's not too late to still sign up. So get your friends together and starting getting your sponsors to help us raise money to support our water projects. This beautiful walk takes us through Bushy Park and along the Thames, following water much of the way, before ending up with tea in a private garden on the banks of the River.

If you're thinking of joining our Walk please register with Rosemary straight immediately to receive your sponsorship form and get collecting! For details about our Walk, download our Walkers Fact Sheet and to register your place download your walker registration form. We hope to see you there!

Waterloo Station Collection - Wednesday 16th September, 7am - 7pm, Waterloo
We are looking for a team of volunteers to help us raise money in Waterloo Station between 7am and 7pm on Wednesday 16th September. We will be working in shifts from 7am - 11am, 11am - 3pm and 3pm - 7pm; if you are free during one (or more) of these times and are willing to help us shake our buckets please email rosemary@jeevika.org.uk or reply to this email and let us know which time you'll be able to help with. (Please don't just turn up on the day as we have to register collectors beforehand - thank you).

Eclectic Boogaloo - Benefit Gig - Thursday 24th September, 8pm onwards, The Star of Bethnal Green, Bethnal Green
After the success of our last two benefit gigs, Sophia is organising another one for us. The line up includes The Ryes and Druw. Tickets are £5 on the door at The Star of Bethnal Green (nearest Tube station - Bethnal Green).

Santa Run - Sunday 6th December, Greenwich Park, London
Calling all runners! Would you be interested in taking part in a 5k run through Greenwich Park in aid of Jeevika Trust? To show your interest in this fun and festive run, please email rosemary@jeevika.org.uk.

Schumacher Events
Bristol Schumacher Conference 2009 - Saturday 17th October, Bristol
'From the Ashes of the Crash - Rebuilding with the new economics' will feature lectures by Dr Jayati Ghosh (Professor of Economics, New Delhi), Andrew Simms (nef Policy Director) and Stacy Mitchell (Researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, USA) and much more. For full details please visit the Schumacher website or call 0117 903 1081.