The proposed project aims to regenerate livelihood opportunities for the earthquake affected people in Banaskantha district and Patdi taluka of Gujarat. Disha (Developing Initiatives for Social and Human Action), will be the umbrella organization co-ordinating the work that will be done by smaller registered groups that constitute Disha's Fellowship Programme.

Support was requested for 3 independent projects:

1. shoe making: help the Chammar (shoe maker) community of Banaskantha district by providing raw material to make shoes and also help with the marketing of the finished product
2. ambar charka: supply Ambar charka and neccessary raw materials to affected families in Patdi taluka to earn money using their traditional weaving skills
3. salt pan: help local community salt makers in Patdi taluka known as Agariyas, by buying a salt pan to groups of around 10 people, and providing them with the necessary raw materials

The funding requested is Rs.31,96,000 or $64,000.

The proposal was received in ?? with a good recommendation from Gautam Desai. It was reviewed by 3 chapters -State College, Minnesota and Duke - in Oct, 2001 . After several rounds of questions, and feed back from Gautam after visiting all the 3 project sites a vote was taken on the project. All the 3 chapters approved the three projects in full. The amount will be sent in two installments over a period of one year. The first installment was sent in June, 2002.

Contact Information: 

Kavitha Nellore (AID-State College) Co-ordinator
Vijay Rajamani (AID-Minnesota) Co-ordinator
Harinath(AID-Duke) Co-ordinator

Mahendra Jethmalani is the contact person from Dishaa.

Proposal:

• Ambar charka weavers
• Shoe makers
• Salt pan workers

Question and Answers:

Set1, Set2, Set3, Set4, Set5

Updates:

• Conference call between Mahender (Disha), Harinath (AID-Duke), Vijay (AID-Minnesota) on July 30, 2002
• Change in Amber Charkha Project proposed by DISHA, August 30, 2002
• Email update dated Sep 13, 2002
• Project update on Shoe-Making project and Distribution of Salt Machines dated September 17, 2002
• Questions and Answers regarding proposed changes: Set1, Set2
• Project update on Shoe-Making project and Distribution of Salt Machines dated October 10/16, 2002
• Visit report from Avani

Past DISHA projects:

• Work by Kharapat Gramin Vikas Mandal
• Work by Dr.Ambedkar Manav Vikas Sanshodhan Trust