 I visited our project in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh and attended two training sessions in our oldest training block, Shahgarh and in the newest, Sereni. I was overwhelmed by the eager participants: our village women. They are smart, inquisitive, and open to new information. Our lively discussions ranged from hand washing to menstrual ailments. Their candor was a revelation and the transformation of activists that has taken place in Shahgarh in the past 18 months – since we started there – is [Read More...]
 So, you read the newsletter, bought the T-shirt, and came to the fund-raiser… but you feel as if you could do so much more to help your charity of choice! I was in your shoes over two years ago, when the usual avenues of giving back to my community were simply not enough. That’s when I decided to create my own website so that I may be able to attract attention and funding, inspire similarly-minded individuals, and ultimately help a great cause. Starting a website can be a wonderful experience of self-discovery and personal growth, but as I learned very early on, you have to venture out of your comfort zone to really get what you want. Before you dive into your mission of saving the world through online activism, you should get familiar with the following rules [Read More...]
In the month of October we trained 82 new health activists (Swasthya Sakhis) in Uttar Pradesh from Sangrampur, Unchahar, Sareni and Bhetua blocks. We also conducted six refresher training courses for 99 activists already working in the field in Salon, Jagatpur, Musafirkhana, Baldirai, Bhafiya, and Gauriganj blocks. In the month of November we plan to train new activists from Jagdishpur and Dubey blocks besides conducting six refresher training sessions for old activists.
According to our plan for 2009, we had planned to pilot test our program in a new district to see if we can replicate our work and methods outside Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The plan is on schedule. We are expanding to a new district: Jhansi. Our staff will travel to Babina, Jhansi to train new health activists from 26th to 29th November. We have also received requests from other states to start our program there. We may do this in 2010 depending on our resources and experience in Babina, Jhansi. We are currently drawing up our plans for 2010, which we will publish in our January 2010 [Read More...]
TRAINING
In September, we conducted four, three-day long trainings for new health activists. We trained 79 new activists in all
We conducted eight refresher training courses for those already in the field
We are now working in 459 villages and will reach our target of 600 villages by the end of December 2009
REPLICATION
Our project manager visited Phoolpur in [Read More...]
Our training program has had one positive effect. In the beginning of this program, about 18 months back, we encountered some difficulty in motivating even one volunteer to attend our training session. But that has changed. Now, many more volunteers than we reach out to show up for our trainings. And we train them all, [Read More...]
 I still get calls at home, asking if I want to donate to so and so cause, and which one of us hasn’t gotten stuck with letters that decry the ills of the world and how for the small amount of “x” dollars, we too can change the world? I am sure none of us are opposed to philanthropy in general, and many of us actively support some sort of community minded project. Which got me to wonder why do we get involved? Usually, we can relate to the cause in some way, but, for me, as a lawyer, it’s because I can see the results. I believe that in tough times like this while each of us have a limited amount of capital to invest in the things that interest us, the organization or cause that shows tangible results will succeed more rapidly than the one based on good intentions or slick marketing. [Read More...]
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