Jee-news - Spring 2009

Letter from Andrew

It is hard to watch the daily unravelling of the global banking and credit structures, the tottering system of fictitious money, assets and work, and the gulf between real livelihoods and unreal wealth, without wondering what our founder Fritz (E.F.) Schumacher would have said about it today.

A reminder came on BBC's Newsnight last week in the person of Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and pioneer of microcredit. Both of them economists, Schumacher and Yunus have in common their touchstone of human-scale, people-centered economics. As Yunus pointed out, the international financial system has become 'de-linked from the real economy': it ignores two-thirds of the world's people - who are scarcely better served by the 'dysfunctional' foreign aid system depicted in 'Dead Aid' by Dr Dambisa Moyo who appeared in the same interview.

Microcredit starts from the bottom up. Instead of collateral to secure repayment of its micro-loans, it looks to the solidarity of the women's Self Help Groups who take the loans, and who demonstrate consistent repayment rates far higher than those experienced by western banks and lenders. Microfinance savings and loan schemes, for people below the radar of modern banking, are rooted in their local economies - whether in India or in New York City - and hence have been largely immune from the global credit sickness.

Nowhere are these issues more real than in rural India. At the Stakeholder Workshop described below, which Jeevika Trust organised last week in south India for its several local partners, microfinance schemes were the subject of vigorous debate. Self Help Groups (SHGs) are already a standard feature of Jeevika Trust's village livelihood projects, and we aim to use savings and loan schemes increasingly as an engine for project financing and continuity, alongside grants and donations.

The financial crisis and the climate change crisis are generally accepted as being driven by the same human failings. Hence it is no coincidence that our sister organisation Schumacher Centre for Development (SCD) continues - as you'll see from Dr Giri's letter below, - to work with the government of Orissa and others on global warming and its impact on rural livelihoods.

And how about joining me in Team Jeevika for the Dragon Boat Race on the 19th July?!

Andrew Redpath
Executive Director, Jeevika Trust

Letter from India

As Delhi's temperatures begin to climb at this time of year, the Schumacher Centre Delhi (SCD) is also looking onwards and upwards. An exciting new chapter for the organisation will be written in the coming months when we move home.

SCD has been located in the same red-painted office in the south of New Delhi for several years now. But change is afoot - the organisation has selected a new home one mile away in the up-and-coming Green Park neighbourhood of the city.

Currently we are increasing our focus on climate change-related activities at SCD. This has come about with the realisation that rural development will be halted in its tracks if climate change is allowed to ravage crops and rob village dwellers of water.

I have also been working to ensure that SCD reacts robustly to the current global economic downturn, which has caused us to re-examine our strategies. Previously our main focus has been on the social development of the rural poor. But we are now striving harder for their economic development. We want rural dwellers to be able to market their own goods and sell them for a price that doesn't leave them cheated.

If the rural poor become better equipped in economic terms, they will not be marginalised and forgotten during future economic crises.

Best wishes and warmest regards to all our friends, allies and supporters in the UK.

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

Rural India Awakening

Stakeholder Workshop 23-25 February held near Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu

This event was a first for our six partner organisations which was facilitated by Priya Anand, our local consultant in India. Two representatives from each partner organisation travelled from New Delhi and Bubaneshwar (Orissa), and other partners travelled from within Tamil Nadu to arrive at Tuticorin. The workshop was held at a venue sponsored by our partner, Social Change & Development, which generously contributed all meals, accommodation and local travel services.

The purpose of the workshop was to bring our SCD and our other partner organisations together so that they could make friendships, share experience and perhaps form organisational alliances to enhance current and future project design and delivery. The programme included such topics as gender & livelihoods, the impact of HIV/AIDS on llivelihoods, NGO accountability, effective leadership, communication & media liaison, SHGs & microfinance, fundraising from local government sources and networking solutions.

Feedback was extremely positive, with partners asking for similar workshops to be held on a regular basis and JT hopes to be able to run a second workshop later in the year with an emphasis on strengthening the capacity of partners to collect data, monitor and report on project activities.

Voice of the Volunteers

The beginning of 2009 saw us recruit, with the help of Westminster-based consultants Ellwood & Atfield, two new volunteers to the Jeevika team. Angie Windle and Michael Connellan will be working with our sister organisation Schumacher Centre for Development (SCD) in Delhi for the next year. They will both be helping SCD with their communications.

Angie is a 25-year old from Hertfordshire who, after graduating in 2005, worked in communications for the New Local Government Network, a London-based think tank. Of her time in Delhi, Angie says 'I will be spending my time at SCD concentrating on internal communication - looking at office logistics, re-launching a new website, creating a calendar of events and developing The Schumacher Resource Centre. Hopefully you will see results very soon - watch this space!'

26 year-old Michael is from Cambridgeshire. Until very recently he has been a newspaper journalist, writing for local, regional and national press and hopes to use his 'understanding of the "dark arts" of media work to assist SCD and Jeevika Trust'. Unlike Angie, Michael has never been to India before and says 'the difficulties, quirks and fears of working life in Delhi are far outweighed by the benefits. Standing on the roof of the SCD office I can see bright green parrots, children playing street-cricket and vegetable carts being pulled by donkeys' and 'I have been deeply impressed by SCD's links across this huge country - from tiny rural communities to the corridors of political and financial power in Delhi.'

Dragon Boat Challenge

What do you get if you put 16 hairy men in saris and wigs on the River Thames in July? A fantastic day out and an even better way to raise money! We are looking for 16 exceptional individuals to take part in the 9th annual Kingston Rotary Club Dragon Boat Challenge.

Team Jeevika are taking part on Sunday 19th July and we want you to help us win. You don't need any previous experience (training will be given), just a bit of competitiveness, a great sense of humour and be willingness to dress up in a sari and a wig and maybe get a bit wet. All we ask is that you get your friends and family to sponsor you for minimum of £150 (go on, try and raise a bit more though) to help support our projects in India.

For more information or to show your interest in taking part, email Rosemary (rosemary@jeevika.org.uk) now - we only have limited places so don't miss your chance!

Recycling for Rual Poverty

Did you get a new mobile phone for Christmas? Is the old mobile still lying around gathering dust? What about the last time your changed your printer cartridge? Did the old cartridge go in the bin without a second thought? You can make these work for Jeevika Trust.

We have teamed up with leading electronic waste management company Reclaim-it for a new project that could help us continue our important work, while protecting the environment. The scheme is designed to turn your old mobile phones, as well as your empty laser printer and inkjet printer cartridges, into valuable funds.

So how does the scheme work? Reclaim-it will supply you with a collection point box for your phones and cartridges. When it is full, all you have to do is call the number on the box to arrange collection - it really is that simple. Alternatively, Reclaim-it can supply reply paid envelopes, which are ideal for sending individual phones and cartridges back to the company. Once collected, the value of the items will be donated directly to us.

For more information, or to request a collection point box or reply paid envelopes, call Reclaim-it on 01635 876900, send a fax to 01635 876906 or email info@reclaim-it.com confirming your support for us.

A Big Thanks!

Our big thanks this time go out to Catherine Purvis and Ellwood & Atfield for helping us recruit our two Delhi-based volunteers, Angie and Michael. Catherine and her team put in many hours looking through CVs and interviewing candidates and we're very grateful for their time and support. Thank you also to everyone who applied - we do hope you'll keep in touch with us.

Put it in your Diary

Eclectic Boogaloo - Wednesday 15th April, 8pm onwards, The Star of Bethnal Green (359 Bethnal Green Road) Back by popular demand, Sophia Surjadi is organising another benefit gig in London for us. Keep an eye out for more details over the next few weeks.

Dragon Boat Challenge - Sunday 19th July, Kingston, Surrey Rowing in a sari and wig may not be your thing but why not come along and support Team Jeevika and meet the team at our stall. For more details either about taking part or coming along to support us, please email rosemary@jeevika.org.uk.

Walk for Water - Sunday 13th September, Hampton Wick, Surrey Jeevika Trust's third annual Walk for Water will be taking place on Sunday 13th September. As well as walkers, we are looking for people to help us publicise the event with their friends and family, if you're interested, please get in touch with Rosemary by email (rosemary@jeevika.org.uk) or telephone (020 8973 3773). Look out for more details in our Summer edition of Jee-news.