K-Link's Initiative "Blood Link"

Last year K-Link, the former technical arm of Abhiyan, launched its project "Blood Link" in Kukma, District of Kutch. This initiative enables blood donors and those who need blood to get in contact within seconds. Donors register with the Blood Link database and give their names, telephone numbers and blood groups. If blood is required an sms needs to be send to that database and afterwards a list with possible donors plus telephone numbers will be send back.Kutch News recorded the first presentation of Blood Link. Watch the videos beneath.

K-Link's "Blood Link" Launching 2010: Part 2

K-Link's "Blood Link" Launching 2010: Part 1

Abhiyan's Structure

This model illustrates the structure of the Abhiyan network. It depicts the linkages between the different actors, activities, collaborations and spin-off institutions.

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March - Last Part

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March - Lalbhais's Speech

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March - Speeches

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March - Adakaka's Speech

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March Part 1

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption March

On 5th of April 2011 the Indian social activist and Gandhian Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare, respectfully called "Anna" (older Brother), started a "fast unto death" to exert leverage on the Government of India to enact an efficient anti-corruption law as envisaged in the already existing but blocked Jan Lokpal Bill. This law should establish an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public offices. This initiative led to nationwide protests in support of Anna Hazare. Hundreds of his fellow campaigners joined in the hunger strike. After 4 days the Indian Government saw itself constrained to retreat and gave the okay to start new negotiations, with the participations of Anna Hazare, about the Lokpal Bill.
The Indian public seemed relieved that someone made the first move and reacted immediately: telestations broadcasted live for hours, actors and sportsmen assured their support and people of every age took to the street and demonstrated for more justice and a new Indian spirit.

Even the people of Kutch joined a rally organized by Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan in Bhuj to support Anne Hazare's act. On the 8th of April 2011 hundreds of citizens came out into the streets, carrying placards and stating slogans. "Anna Hazare age bhado!" (Anna Hazare go ahead!) and "Hindustan jaga hai!" (India is awake!) people shouted relentlessly, even during the coming together at Hamirsar Lake, where Abhiyan trustees such as Lalbhai and Adakaka spoke to the people. After the speeches, every participant went to the Mahatma Gandhi statue to light a candle, as a symbol for the non-violent protest.

Training on Decentralized Governance: TELPE, Prajatantra and Bhavishya

Sheetal's Farewell

In April Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan had to say 'Good Bye' to one of its dedicated fellow employees. Shree Sheetal P. Patel resigned after 9 years working and being committed for the NGO and for the people of Kutch, in order to apply herself to different occupational interests. Sheetal joined Abhiyan in 2002, after the devastating earthquake of 2001. By this time she was especially working in Bhachau taluka, before she associated herself with the Setu programme of Abhiyan in 2005. For Setu she occupied the position of the health coordinator.

Sheetal, the whole Abhiyan staff misses you a lot. But we hope that you enjoy working in a new task field and we wish you the best of luck. Stay the way you are, a sweet and warm person with a heart of gold. Thank you for being with us. 

Dear All!

At Abhiyan, we have lots of regular updates on projects, trainings, networking etc. We always want to share all this information with all of you, but this information is always not available in format that we can email you. Again all members do not have email addresses or internet access facility. We are always sending you important information by post/courier and in future also we will do the same. But to make it easy to share information with you, we are starting a blog in the name of Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan. Regularly we will update you through this blog.

Thanking you,

Harish Hurmade,

Consultant for Abhiyan and Khamir

Indigenous Housing Technologies: The Hunnarshala Foundation

The devastating earthquake in 2001 showed cruelly but also impressively how disaster can bring out the best in human and likewise how well coordinated disaster rehabilitation is skilled at infusing new energy and at changing development directions for a region.

These are the principles of the Hunnarshala Foundation. Its members gave proof of lifesaving and innovative abilities not only during the earthquake but especially for strengthening traditional wisdom and technology.

During the Shelter Reconstruction Programme after the calamity of 2001, that was undertaken by various NGOs and the Government, arose the need for a long term institution which could enable a sustainable revival of traditional building crafts. That was the birth of the non-profit organization Hunnarshala, which was primarily guided by the ideas of working with and encouraging the interests of building artisans and their craft through training, assistance and capacity building to the end that it leads them into the mainstream of construction. Furthermore, the organization promotes eco-friendly, cost effective and low energy building materials and techniques and it provides housing und construction facilities which combines high quality and affordability.

From the beginning, Hunnarshala has worked towards owner and community driven reconstruction in Tamil Nadu, Kashmir, Indonesia and Afghanistan, where the organization facilitated the building process of more than 30.000 interim shelters and 12.000 permanent homes, while in Bihar, after the Kosi floods, it initiated one of the most comprehensive demonstrations for rehab.

By cooperating and working with the community, rural experts, professionals and the Government, Hunnarshala showed that two important principles can lead to development concerning success: on the one hand, most regions in the world have communities, which, when trusted and well assisted, are able to create equitable, cost effective and safe recovery. Moreover, traditional design, building practices and the use of natural resources and materials, such as bamboo and mud, offer the best directions for sustainable habitat development.

Training on Decentralization to Local Governments

In the state of Gujarat, decentralization has grown increasingly important in ensuring that the development programs created by the government at the central level actually reach those who need those benefits the most. By focusing on strengthening local governments, Abhiyan ensures that those who live in a village are able to plan for their village and to shape the future of following generations. Through decentralization, local governments work on the local needs of their village and are empowered with the proper tools to do so. 

The state government of Gujarat is rapidly endorsing industrialization and has created all kinds of corporate tax breaks and incentives for major factories to  establish themselves in the Kutch district. The local governments and citizens have only little power to encourage these corporations to take the environment, culture, tradition, the health and well-being of people into consideration. Farmers face land encroachment and migrant workers have doubled the populations of small villages not yet at capacity to support such sudden growth. This has led to severe sanitation, hygiene problems etc. and weighs heavy on the spirit of the people in rural Kutch. 
Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan, in cooperation with qualified resource persons from all over India and as part of a larger proposal to strengthen grassroots governance, citizenship and the political economy of rural Kutch, has begun the process of establishing a leadership and Research Centre on Decentralized Governance, in order to engage with change makers within civil society, key Local Government (Panchayat) leaders and grassroots administrators. The Centre will put in place a Learning Hub, which will, amongst other activities, undertake structured knowledge building on good decentralised local governance. One of the core interventions of the Learning Hub is to develop a course on Local Governance and Citizenship. The objective of the course is to equip change agents in decentralized governance with the theory and practice of decentralized governance. This innovative training program encourages citizens and local government officials to become advocates for their right to govern. This course introduces them to new tools such as natural resource mapping and budgeting, and conceptual ideas about democracy, advocacy and citizenship, leaving all participants hopeful for a better future. 

This month the first session of the training ended and the motivation, the engagement and the energy of the participants was inspiring. See the pictures of the different workshops held in November 2010 and January and May 2011.

Revival of Banni

The wonderful grassland eco-system of the District of Kutch, calles Banni, is home to a number of small hamlets of Muslim nomadic pastoralists and Meghwal Hindus. These communities, the Maldhari, developed and conserved one of the best blood lines for buffaloes, that is also considered as best milking breed. The qualities, which make thes animals unique and indespensible for this region are the ability to free graze during the night to avoid the high temperatures of the day and to handle little fodder in droughts. In order to conservate and to preserve the Banni buffaloes, the animal breeders of the region came together to form the Banni Breeders' Association (Banni Pashu Uchherak Maldhari Sangathan). Besides, their objectives were the regeneration of grassland, which is essential for the preservation of the buffaloes, the initiation of animal husbandry services and the improvement of an animal marketing system.

Several organizations offered their help to the Maldhari, e.g. Sahjeevan, GUIDE (Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology and Ujjas Mahila Sangathan, and in 2008 the first Banni Pashu Mela was organized, not only to provide a marketing platform for the buyers and sellers but also to highlight the Banni buffaloe breed as an old traditional form of husbandry, that needs to be conserved.

Furthermore, service centres concerning health and efficiency of animals were created with the main objectives to provide health care benefits, e.g. regular veterinary check-ups or advices concerning the feeding habits. The Animal Husbandry Knowledge Centre offers needed know-how to the milk producers, CBOs and NGOs, which are engaged in animal husbandry requirements. The Banni Grassland Regeneration Programme, coordinated by GUIDE, includes clear identification and characterization of grazing lands by satellite data based and participatory approaches of grazing land mapping. Under this study a total 42.324 ha of land was mapped and categorized. As these and other initiatives have shown before, the feasibility and success of the mentioned projects were mainly the unbroken commitment and the teamwork of the organizations, scientists and local Maldharis.

Abhiyan's Network

Abhiyan's network focuses on capacity building of the member organizations and communities in order to reduce rural Kutch's vulnerability in the face of continuous droughts, low access to primary health and education. Capacity building of member organizations also focuses on better governance within organizations. The network draws its strength from varied competencies, gathering collective experiences working in rural development and the inherent spirit of enterprise that lives in Kutch.

Collectively the network covers approximately 640 villages in the 11 blocks of Kutch through their work in:

• Natural resource management
• Health
• Legal aid
• Education 
• Micro credit
• Capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions (Local Governance)
• Livelihood interventions with artisans
• Women empowerment

What is "Setu"?

 Evolution of Setu

After the consumptive earthquake in 2001 the District of Kutch was in need of joint and coordinated effort to take measures against the destruction. The idea was to set up information centres in various parts of Kutch. These centres were named Setu (Bridge) and advanced from exchange of knowledge to information management, policy influencing, addressing grievances, ensuring transparency and mediating between the Government, several NGOs and the rural populace. In recent years Setus perceived a broader role to mobilize the communities to realize their development concerns and needs while always putting in first place self-help and self-governance mechanisms.

The Setu Convention 2009

After 8 years of existence and functioning, Setus hold a broader role to mobilize the communities to establish their development concerns and needs, with putting in first place self-help and self-governance mechanisms. While the Setu concerning initiatives will be continued, Abhiyan felt the need of creating a platform to share developmental projects with the citizens of Kutch on a national level.

Therefore the Setu Convention was organized and took place on 30th & 31st of January 2009 in Bhuj. It conduced to build up an understanding of Setu's approaches and activities which were untertaken during recent years. Furthermore the convention includes a reflection of Setu's collaboration with the communities and with the different resource agencies.

Assorted plenary sessions and panel discussion pavilions tended to improve strategies and work methodologies and to share ideas, experiences and activities which were showcased through live demonstrations, group discussions and debates. 4000 community representatives, several resource persons from civil society, from Gujarat and other parts of India, attended the two-day convention.

See the pictures of this event in our foto gallery.

What is "Abhiyan"

Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan arised as a response to the 1998 Kandla Cyclone. It became a coordinating point between NGOs, a forum for advocacy and policy recommendations to the Government, a platform for collective implementation and a mediator between affected communities, donors, NGOs and the Government. Thereafter it has been involved predominantly in Disaster Management in Kutch during 2 cyclones, 3 droughts and the devastating earthquake in 2001.
Since that time, Abhiyan evolved into a network of 33 voluntary organizations spread across Kutch. Its projects concentrated on capacity building of the member organizations and communities to reduce rural Kutch's vulnerability facing difficult living conditions namely continuous droughts, low health status and a lack of access to primary education. In order to implement certain projects, Abhiyan undertook the part of facilitator to bring together donors, the media, the district administration and other parties. Additionally it played the role of a service provider and promoted different institutional processes post the 2001 earthquake. The initial rehab program turned into several development projects for the District of Kutch.

Abhiyan combines:

• Creating and Sponsering Institutions (which includes Setu, K-Link, Hunnarshala, Crafts Resource Centre etc.)
• A network of development organizations working e.g. as a disaster response and for drought mitigation
• providing services

Abhiyan draws its strength from the varied competencies and collective experiences of member organizations working in rural development and from the inherent spirit and energy that live in Kutch.