Why India is definitely NOT “too rich for aid”….

by Andrew Redpath, Executive Director at Jeevika Trust

We know what you’re thinking… We’ve faced this question many times before and yet still the question remains. Why, when there is such distressing poverty in other parts of the globe, why should we spare the time to think about poverty in India, a country who seems to be getting more and more affluent every day? India may have more billionaires than the UK and an international aid budget of its own, but this means nothing when hundreds of millions of people in rural India are still suffering, out of sight and out of mind.

Melissa HicksWhy India is definitely NOT “too rich for aid”….
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Back with a Bang : Walking for Water 2017

On 15th October Jeevika Trust’s annual ‘Walking for Water’ event took place. This fundraising walk raises vital money for our water and sanitation projects in India and has become a real highlight of our events programme.

Melissa HicksBack with a Bang : Walking for Water 2017
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Project SEED : Reaping the benefits of organic farming in Tamil Nadu

Ambika and Murugesan  from Thottipalyam village in the Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu were struggling to generate adequate income from the tapioca crop they were cultivating on their three-acre farm land. They had to wait for over ten months to harvest the crop and income from the land could vary between Rs 60,000 (£600) to over Rs 1 lakh (£1,000) per acre. However the monthly cost of pesticides, fertilisers and labour ate into their profits and there was little or no guarantee that the amount received after the ten months would be sufficient to meet their family’s household needs.

Melissa HicksProject SEED : Reaping the benefits of organic farming in Tamil Nadu
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Walking for Water : A Virtual Challenge for Children too

by Melissa Hicks, Marketing Manager at Jeevika Trust

As the festive season draws ever closer, many of us find ourselves helping our little ones write their letters to Santa with a never-ending list of the latest toys, gizmos and gadgets that they want to wake up to on Christmas morning. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are in comparison to other people living in absolute poverty.

People like the 60 million people in rural India living without access to safe, clean water to drink, cook and clean with. As a mother myself who spent her early parenting days endlessly sterilising bottles, dummies, rattles etc I can’t imagine the anguish mothers in rural India must feel knowing that their only option is to allow their precious children to drink unsafe water. Water that accounts for 21% of all diseases and deaths in India… it’s every parents’ worst nightmare. Sadly for villagers in India this nightmare is their reality, a completely unacceptable reality.

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The Footsteps of St Thomas – the Christian Church in South India

by Andrew Redpath, Executive Director at Jeevika Trust

Serena Fass who lives in London and takes tours to exotic places in India and the middle-east, served a period as a trustee of Jeevika Trust and has remained a firm friend of Jeevika.

She is an India veteran and a tireless traveller, researcher and scholar, with a particular specialisation in subjects revolving around the life, times and disciples of Jesus – her book The Journey of the Magi published last year received great acclaim from people such as John Julius Norwich. It was one of a planned quartet of books of which the most recent is ‘In the Footsteps of St Thomas’ which offers a dazzling array of highly researched information from many sources, as did The Magi, and in both cases she has personally trodden all the geography she has researched.

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How did we get on with our first ever crowdfunding campaign?

by Melissa Hicks, Marketing Manager at Jeevika Trust

Back in July we ran our first crowdfunding campaign designed to raise funds for the next stage of one of our flagship projects, Project SNAPS.Our Project SNAPS, launched in 2015 and delivered by our partner Jeevan Rekha Parishad (JRP) in Odisha, gives girls and women access to hygienic, cost effective, eco-disposable Sanitary NAPkinS (SNAPS).

We couldn’t have been more delighted with the success of this campaign!

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Project PANI : Changing lives in the remote village of Udada

“Beekeeping and Toilets change the status of Tribal women in Udada.”

Udada is a remote Tribal village located in the hilly forest area of Daspalla Block in the Nayagarh District of Odisha. There are 45 Tribal families living here, all belonging to the Parija Tribe. Government officials rarely visit the village. There is no school, no electricity, no toilets and a lack of safe drinking water. All the villagers, including children, are illiterate.

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Our first ever Bee & Honey Fete was a big success!

On Sunday 9th July we held our first ever Bee & Honey Fete at The Glass House, Barge Walk in Hampton Wick. Our family-friendly fete coincided with the  national ‘Don’t Step on a Bee Day’ and was a real celebration of India, bees and the precious honey they make for us.

adminOur first ever Bee & Honey Fete was a big success!
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Project SNAPS : Raising Awareness of reproductive health and hygiene

“Thanks to Project SNAPS I now know the importance of menstrual health and hygiene.”

As part of its Project SNAPS activities, JRP and Jeevika have worked closely with two local high schools to raise awareness of reproductive health and hygiene, and how sanitary napkins (SNAPS) provide a viable and healthy alternative to traditional methods of dealing with menstruation.

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International Women’s Day 2017

How did you celebrate International Women’s Day this year?

Earlier this month saw the annual return of International Women’s Day – a day dedicated not just to celebrating “the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women”  but also to promoting the need for accelerated change if women are to enjoy gender parity by 2030. At Jeevika Trust we believe that women’s empowerment and equality is vital – not only for women, but for the development and progress of humankind. Our projects prove that, when women are empowered, the results are dramatic.

We are very lucky to have a Board of Trustees who live and breathe the values we hold dear at Jeevika Trust. Read on to find out how one of our Trustees, Julie Hutton, has shown her support for International Women’s Day…

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