In this issue

Editorial: Continuing to listen
It has been 15 years since our humble beginning. Many of us joined AID with a raw desire to help India.  Over the years, we began to notice how we view development with our own curiously biased views: do we want the poor and underprivileged to live like us, or just be masters of their own lives? We began to notice deeper meanings to the big words: What is education? Is health synonymous with having doctors and hospitals?, writes Arun Sripati

“This will be useful”
My mother never uses the expression ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’; I doubt that she has even heard of it. When she adds a little thread, pin, or cover to her stash, she simply says “This will be useful”, writes Uma Asher.

Arvind Kejriwal on Right to Information
An interview with Magsasay award winner Arvind Kejriwal, who visited AID US chapters in October.

P. Sainath on the agrarian crisis
P.Sainath, rural affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper, spends about 250 days a year in rural India, reporting about issues that affect the rural Indian majority. Recently, Sainath won the 2006 Harry Chapin award for journalism, and met several AID chapters during this visit.

Oasis of hope in a Mumbai slum
When was the last time any of us saw children come back for more school?, writes Amar Kapadia, visiting the Parivartan school in Mumbai's Wadala slum.

Guzzling water from the ground
Savithri Devi from Mehdiganj asks government authorities about the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. (HCC) plant in her backyard, “When we used to have droughts earlier, we used to rely on ground water to see us through the years. Now with Coca-Cola taking our water away, what shall we do?". A report by Chandrika Ramanujam.

Long journeys begin with small steps
Every year through our ‘One for India’ campaign, we appeal to you to take one small step towards development in India. Our initiatives in India range from working for the upliftment of the poorest of the poor to supporting the most entrepreneurial and imaginative young people working at the grassroots today.

Recent additions to our family of Saathis
Introducing Nityanand Jayaraman and Latha Anantha to our family of AID Saathis. 

Recently approved projects

October 2006 Dishaa printable pdf  

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Editors: Brunda Kattekola, Supriya Kumar
Volume 47, October - December 2006