A month back we had just returned from Kashmir. Now to even imagine the magnitude of the devastation there is difficult. I, along with my family visit Jammu and Kashmir every Eid without fail, and then we carry on an extended trip to visit my sister in law and other family members in Srinagar and Kazigund. We usually take the train from Delhi to Jammu, visit our ... Read More
Recently many of us witnessed the vociferous fights against illegal mining, by tribal women across the country, in an effort to protect their rights from being usurped by undesirable commercial activities, and also, to preserve the natural ecosystem. On my part, I have always been amazed by the tribal world, which is resplendent with traditional wisdom and indige... Read More
When we started our self-help group-work about 15 years ago, we never thought, our collective journey would take us so far! At the beginning, it was primarily about saving money together as a group and drawing small loans out of the self-owned pool-fund for household use, and small businesses. This was a huge breakthrough, as for the first time we realized the hi... Read More
On entering a cluttered but surprisingly spacious room, or what they call a house, in a garbage-filled lane in Kalwa(Mumbai), we were welcomed with a few smiling faces. Undoubtedly, they were expecting us, and their effusive welcome was heartening. Among the girls standing there I could see Kavita smiling (name changed) behind the flimsy curtain of a plastic sack ac... Read More
“I have just come back after a long day outside the UN Protection of Civilian Area (PoC) in Bentiu. In the past months, we as CARE and other organizations were limited to work inside the PoC, where tens of thousands of people have sought safety from the fighting. However, now that the fighting stopped, our team decided to work outside the UN camp because th... Read More
In a situation where crops were seasonal, literacy skills insufficient, and habitations remote, poverty and marginalization became the main features of oneÔÇÖs lives. To enhance their livelihoods, the communities in the Kutch District of Gujarat turned to dairy farming for securing a regular income. The incomes did become more regular, but profits gained was not ... Read More
Putul says, “I am 34 years old. My husband is a farmer, and we have two sons and one daughter. In 2009 as we were struggling financially, I decided to come to India. My brother-in-law helped me cross the border, without facing any challenges. And, then I reached Mumbai. I struggled a lot in the first year as I was unable to find a decent job. In due course, I ... Read More
Peter Bothi is a storekeeper with the CARE South Sudan team in Bentiu. He is in charge of maintaining the inventory records of the stocks from the clinic and office that were once in Bentiu town but which are now currently being occupied by soldiers and where a number of CARE vehicles were stolen and the offices looted in March. Peter works out of a ÔÇ£rub hallÔÇ... Read More
In a few days Muslims around the world will celebrate their most important religious holidays: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, an entire month of fasting from dawn until sunset. This Ramadan has probably been the hottest and longest Ramadan that I have ever been through in my life. People are fasting up to 16 hours every day. We are not eating and dr... Read More
Kotshila is a backward village at the Noahatu Gram Panchayat in Jhalda-II block of Purulia district, West Bengal. In this village, the people are mostly engaged as agricultural laborers or are working in the local unorganised sector, such as the bidi (local cigarette) industry. People in Kotsila are extremely poor. It was noticed that they were not being ... Read More
In late January 2014, we got an opportunity to visit the riot stricken areas of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, These two districts of UP were hit by a communal upsurge in late September last year. Nearly a thousand families were dislocated and had to live in the 27 relief camps, which were spread across the two places. Aid in terms of food, shelter and clothing were p... Read More
In April 2014, I visited the Bagda primary school of Mundra block in the Kutch district of Gujarat. After reaching the school, I went to the classes, along with the Head teacher and Deepak, who is the School Improvement Coordinator there. The School Improvement Coordinator (SIC) is a part of the K- Leap Project of CARE India, which initiated the English Language ... Read More
