Village Matters Archive

This page lists some of the articles which have appeared in AVI's newsletter Village Matters, and some of AVI's other publications.

What Happened to the Money?
Everyone knows that the Inuit have a thousand, million, trillion words for snow but English did not have one to describe a tsunami. We can give a precise date when the word entered everyday language, not just English but many, many others: 26 December 2004.

Jothi’s Story
I first met S.R. Jothiramalingam (Jothi) when we visited Tamil Nadu for the Partners’ Forum and to see the Tsunami recovery work. Jothi leads CRUSADE an organisation that he founded in 1991. AVI has been an associate, providing practical support, since its inception. On his recent visit to London we were able to have a long conversation about his work. David Knock writes…

Spring 2006 No.28
Complete text (pdf 1Mb)
A Troubled Lake
Action Village India began supporting Ekta Parishad Orissa’s small team on Chilka Lake, near Puri, in April 2005. Some six months later, as part of a small fact-finding team, AVI Coordinator Ivan Nutbrown had his first opportunity to visit the lake.

Education for All
The following article appeared in our partner Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra’s newsletter.

Ekta’s Chhattisgarh Yatra
Julius Reubke, the founder of Friends of Ekta Parishad in Cologne, walked with Ekta Parishad on this march to draw attention to the social and environmental disasters of rapid industrialisation in Chhattisgarh. This is his report to European supporters.

Letter from Rajagopal PV
The following open letter was written by Rajagopal PV, Ekta Parishad’s founder and president, a few days into the footmarch in Chhattisgarh.

Ekta Parishad March to Victory
Simon Morrow, one of four AVI supporters, spent the whole of February with Ekta Parishad on its land rights padyatra (foot march) through the Eastern state of Orissa.

Visiting the farms in Kerala
Gill and Leon Aarons visit Kerala most winters. They have got to know AVI’s local partner, the Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi well. They sent this report on their visit to some of the organic farms near Trivandrum.

New Projects Agreed
During my extended visit to India this spring, two of AVI's partners put forward new projects. ASSEFA asked AVI to fund part of a large dairy and vegetable farming project in Tamil Nadu and NBJK, sought support for girls' secondary education in through one of its related small grassroots groups in Jharkhand. These projects were approved by AVI's Managing Committee and the first funds have been sent.

I Don't know How She Does It
A forceful advocate for women's rights and champion of the disadvantaged; founder of a voluntary organisation; life long activist; wife and mother and a brilliant cook -Mrs Putul Kumari doesn't conform to any easy stereotype and she certainly has a lot of energy.

Land Struggle in Kerala
It was at the World Social Forum this year that Rajgopal PV, the National Convener of Ekta Parishad, came under fire from a group of European journalists. Speaking to them during Ekta's 'International Celebration of Land', which ran alongside the main events, he fronted questions on the well-publicised 'Muthanga incident' that had taken place in Kerala a year earlier.

Rural Links - Working with local communities Paul Bragman, community worker at Genesis Housing Group and formerly AVI’s chair, went to south India in January as part of the West Devon Environmental Network-led Rural Links programme. These are his reflections on the visit.

An Update from Kerala Gill and Leon Aarons, AVI supporters from Norfolk, visited our partner, KGSN in Kerala in January. This is their report.

Lakshmi Ashram: Thoughts for the future An Extract from the newsletter produced by ‘Friends of Lakshmi Ashram’, a supporters’ group based in Denmark.

Ekta Parishad Youth Camps

Bihar Dalits Denied Right to Vote Jothi Ramalingam from CRUSADE in Tamil Nadu, joined the AVI team in Bihar and Jharkhand for a few days in March. These are his impressions from his first visit to these states.

Questioning the ‘Rights-Based Approach’ These days, most of the funding agencies are changing their priorities to the “Rights” mode. Their belief is that governments should be pressurised to work effectively and that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should work in co-ordination with governments on development programmes.But there are real and very practical problems with this approach.

Kerala Diary Andrew Bamford and Emma Rahel from Warwick University had never been to India before, but last summer they visited a number of NGOs. This short section from Andrew's diary was written when both were with Kerala Gram Nirman Samithi near Calicut.

Women’s Achievements
Zoë McPherson visited ASSEFA’s Lathur East project as part of her MSc in International Development. Here she describes how her impressions of women’s lives in India were changed by the experience.

These are just a few extracts to give you a flavour of some of CRUSADE’s work, achievements and successes.

This report, by Rahul Ramalingam, shows an innovative protest by Ekta Parishad can bring good media coverage and change policies.

A rash of incidents of indiscriminate police shooting, atrocities against women and broken government promises, led Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra’s Bihar State Lok Samiti to organize a street picket in Patna, the state capital, one day last September.