Annual Report

April 2010 April 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter from Directors..................................................................................2 Introduction.................................................................................................3
Who we are?...........................................................................................................3 Structure of AVAG....................................................................................................4 Community Development........................................................................................5 Exchange Programmes.....................................................................................6 Micro Projects....................................................................................................6 Service Camps...................................................................................................7 Community celebrations....................................................................................7 Government Linkages........................................................................................8 Summary of community building Activities 2010/11..........................................8 Economic Development..........................................................................................9 Micro Finance Programme................................................................................9 Livelihood Trainings.........................................................................................12 Capacity Building...................................................................................................12 Strengthening the womens and mens federation..........................................12 Leadership and In-Service Trainings...............................................................13 Exposure & Educational Trips.........................................................................13 Strengthening & Cluster Meetings...................................................................13 Seminar and Workshops.................................................................................13 Summary of capacity building Activities 2010/11.............................................14 Psychosocial Services..........................................................................................14 Somatic Experience and Energy Healing........................................................14 Counseling and mediation...............................................................................15 De-addiction.....................................................................................................16 Social Enterprise Creation Programme................................................................17 Eco-Life Store..................................................................................................17 Eco Femme......................................................................................................18 SEDAB.............................................................................................................18 Volunteer Programme...........................................................................................19 AVAG Capacity Building .......................................................................................19 Financial Information.............................................................................................20 Micro credit corpus increment and expansion......................................................21 Social Enterprise Creation Programme................................................................21 De-addiction..........................................................................................................22 Environmental initiatives........................................................................................22

What we do? Programmes.........................................................................5

New Developments...................................................................................17

Future Plans..............................................................................................21

List of Abbreviations................................................................................24 AVAG on the WEB.....................................................................................24

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Letter from Directors

Dear Reader, We are happy to be sharing with you the annual report of AVAG 2010 2011. This year apart from sustaining our programmes successfully in the areas of community development, economic development, capacity building, and psychosocial services, we have focused efforts in our new project for improved rural Menstrual Hygiene Management and Social Enterprise Creation the outcomes of these efforts can be read throughout this report. We are proud to inform our readers that due to our continued intervention in the area of psychosocial support, this is the second consecutive year that there are no cases of suicides among the women participants of our programme as opposed to 6-8 cases of suicides registered each year in the past couple of years. We also feel happy that we have started initiatives to deal with one of the major problems of the society, alcoholism and it gets good reception from women and men. We are very happy that many new clubs came forward to organize the caste and gender exchange programmes. These are unique programmes working with culturally sensitive issues and we have noticed a big change in the attitude of the people who have participated you can read more in the report that follows Another major focus for AVAG in the last year has been preparing the conditions to receive the much awaited funding from the Ministry of Rural Development for for project Sustainable Enterprises Development for the Auroville Bioregion (SEDAB). This project, which will provide livelihood and enterprise possibility for the people in the bioregion, will also alleviate some of the financial pressure AVAG has been facing in the last few years. Finally, this year has seen AVAG looking inward to its organisational mode of functioning this has led to some streamlining in our daily operations, increased networking with NGO's in Tamil Nadu and we have continued to benefit from the presence of long term volunteers and interns from all around the world who have enthusiastically given their time to help . Finally we take this opportunity to thank all our friends and donors who have given their ongoing support to AVAG. Your confidence in AVAG's work and commitment to us is heartfelt and greatly appreciated. We hope you will recognise the fruits in the pages that follow. Sincerely, Anbu and Moris Directors of AVAG

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INTRODUCTION
WHO WE ARE?
Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) is a unit of Auroville Village Action Trust (AVAT), registered under Indian trust act 1982 and functions as a part of the Auroville Foundation. It is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works to promote integral development in rural communities in Vanur Block, Tamil Nadu, and South India. AVAG places the complex webs of relationships between human beings their behaviours, traditions and prejudices and their environment at the foundation of its programmes and work with villagers. Therefore an integrated and multifaceted educational programme that promotes solidarity, cooperation and illuminates issues of gender and caste discrimination - which underlie the traditional social and economic structures of the villages - is central to all AVAG activities. Through an expanding network of women and mens self help groups (SHGs) and federation of male and female leaders, AVAG offers a wide range of successful programmes and initiatives to meet the complex needs of villagers. As of 1st April 2011, AVAG works with aproximately 3,726 women organised in 197 SHGs, and 701 men organised in 42 SHGs, in approximately 80 revenue villages and dalit hamlets with a combined population of 90,000 people. AVAG acts as an outreach wing for Auroville - a pioneering social experiment that aims to realize human unity (www.auroville.org) - in the role of a development organization, committed to community building and co development with villagers to cultivate their knowledge, skills and confidence to build a better future for all. Through a variety of projects and programmes it seeks to promote village empowerment as they work towards social, economic, psychological and environmental transformation.

AVAGs activities are all designed to empower the local population to organize themselves for their own community development

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STRUCTURE

OF

AVAG

The 3 Trustees from Auroville, Alain Bernard, Bhavana Dee, and M.S.Subhashchand, oversee the running of the organisation and ensure that it operates according its statutes. The 3 Executives from Auroville, Kathy Walkling, Auralice Graft and Santo Nanci provide operational support. What Makes AVAG a Special Organization?
1. AVAG uses an integrated approach, working with all sectors of society. 2. AVAG gives equal importance to the holistic development of both individuals and the entire community. 3. AVAG emphasizes co-development and self-empowerment, not charity. 4. AVAG recognizes Dalit settlements separately from caste village settlements, ensuring that everyone gets the needed care and attention. 5. AVAG does not recruit; programmes are expanded through a word-ofmouth grass roots network.

Vision: AVAG collaborates with rural communities to reveal their innate wisdom and ability to collectively determine and manifest their dynamic potential Mission: AVAG fosters participatory village transformation through: Community development Economic development Capacity building Psychosocial Services With rural communities in the Auroville Bioregion

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What we do? Programmes

Village Action Group sees village life as part of an intricate web. We believe that growth is not encouraged by targeting isolated issues, but by encouraging beneficiary driven change that is stimulated by all sectors of rural society. AVAG therefore works with all sectors of society: with both men and women, with dalits as well as caste communities, with both elected and traditional leaders, with school children, teachers and parents with the local governing structures and the district and state level office, as well as the elected people's representatives. This makes it possible for AVAG to provide a comprehensive approach to rural development. The various programmes developed by Village Action Group target four critical and complementary areas: Community Development Economic Development Capacity Building Psychosocial Services.

Through these four programme areas, AVAG is able to address a wide range of issues through the medium of SHGs. All activities reflect the direct needs and wants of our target population.

Community Development
The overall goals of AVAGs community development programmes are to foster an atmosphere of community, solidarity and responsibility by engaging beneficiaries in physical infrastructure projects, social exchanges, and providing access to social welfare schemes. AVAG communicates these goals through a variety of programmes, the objectives of which are: To challenge assumptions toward patriarchal and caste systems by bringing traditionally segregated groups together for discussions and to perform communal work. To encourage participants by means of the SHG structure to take up collective responsibility for improving and maintaining village infrastructure through work camps and micro projects. To provide access to government and life insurance schemes in addition to www.villageaction.in 5/

expanding opportunities for education. To facilitate exchanges between participants in order to break down traditional barriers of social status, favoritism, and geographic isolation by replacing myths and mistrust with open communication.

Exchange Programmes
Exchange programmes bring together women and men, groups from different castes, and SHGs of differing ages and length of AVAG tenure. The purpose of this programme is rectifying prejudices that are endemic to India, such as fear of Dalits (formerly Untouchables) and other Scheduled Castes, as well as Indias particular forms of gender discrimination. Participants learn to see each other as unique human beings without discriminating. Thanks to our partnership with Village Outreach Society UK, we could maintain our Inter-caste exchanges, which are a unique programme not offered by other NGOs as far as we are aware, due to the sensitivity of the caste issues in this culture. The importance of these exchanges is seen in the following examples: Members from different groups often form friendships that continue to grow after the exchange visit Villages develop inter-community relationships that would have otherwise been unlikely to form; Groups are provided a forum to discuss impressions of each other and learn from each other Groups are inspired with new project ideas for their villages by hearing of another groups past activities. Aruljothi from Vanurpuddupakam In the exchange meeting we get the chance to make new friendships. All these people, I only get to know because of the exchange programme. When I normally see them in AVAG office, the only thing I know about them is from which village they come. But now we got to know each other as human beings. I know their feelings and their life-story. We share our problems and laugh together. This makes me really happy.

By building communication bridges between formerly unknown groups, knowledge and understanding replaces mistrust and myths helping to break down previously held assumptions and prejudices about others.

Micro Projects & Work Camps

Some physical infrastructure problems in the Vanur block communities are very small: from piled trash on the roadside or a need for a fence around a childrens play area, to a communal area thats poor condition makes it unsuitable for meetings. Villagers can help reduce administrative costs by planning projects and submitting proposals themselves, an important step in building their own capacity. By using the existing SHG structure, costs are reduced, allowing AVAG to partner www.villageaction.in 6/

in projects through a small, one-time investment. Work camps are simple projects that can often be completed in half a day while micro projects sometimes take up to a week to complete. The confidence and skills women have gained from participation in traditionally male areas of work has done much to earn them respect from their male counterparts, a vital step in the gender sensitization process. The AVAG Micro Project and Work Camp programme has attracted the attention of neighboring NGOs that regard it as a novel approach, which addresses the small but persistent infrastructure problems that plague village life.

Service Camps
The camps such as Health, Eye, Veterinary and Awareness camps are carried out in the villages themselves. AVAG facilitates contacting the relevant organizations like hospitals, NGOs, Government departments to come to the villages to hold the camps which aim to improve the health condition of the people and to raise awareness among the public on social issues. Village SHGs cooperate to welcome and facilitate the service. Service camps treat 200-300 beneficiaries and this is a very efficient programme from a cost/benefit perspective. This activity helps the SHGs to get recognition from the community as a whole and is also helpful in bringing team spirits among the clubs.

Community Celebrations
This is a chance for the SHGs to share their achievements and talents with their community. Women get the opportunity to perform on stage and organize the whole programme by inviting leaders and Government officials. This helps the village to understand the different activities of the clubs and the SHGs get ideas and suggestions from the community to improve their performance. Apart from club level womens day celebrations in 52 womens groups, this year, cluster level celebrations were organized in 7 villages by the members of around 84 SHGs. These celebrations proved to be the occasions to showcase the skills and talents of the women to the community. In most of these celebrations the entire village attended the function and enjoyed the celebration with women. Pakkiriamal from Morattandi In our village we have the problem that people are very divided by politics. That is why all our 6 women's clubs decided to make a big celebration for international women's day to bring the different fronts together. Every member contributed 100 Rupees and we had a big festival with many fungames, food and speeches. All the village people, as well as local politicians were invited and we enjoyed a full day of celebrations. The village appreciated this event very much because even in between the conflicts, people gathered in peace.

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Goverment linkages
Helping our beneficiaries understand and access the resources and Government schemes available to them is seen as an empowering activity by AVAG. Examples include: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) under janshree bima yojana (JBY): (JBY) of LIC the members are insured for their lives by paying a premium of Rs. 100 each annually. If a member dies naturally they are entitled to an amount of Rs.30, 000 and for accidental death the family of the deceased receives Rs. 75,000. And if a member becomes handicapped partially or fully then she or he receives Rs.37, 500 and Rs. 75,000 respectively. Currently around 3500 SHGs members, of 49 villages, are insured from both men and womens self help groups and 5 families of the deceased members were helped to receive the claim amount of Rs.30, 000 each. Scholarship Programme: Under the JBY scheme the children of the insured members who are in classes 9th to 12th are eligible to get Rs.1200 as scholarship per year. During this year 438 children were helped to receive a scholarship. Toilet scheme: As per the government programme each SHG can receive Rs.2200 as subsidy and Rs 2500 as a loan to build individual toilets in their houses after paying the margin money of Rs 300 each. Since many members felt that the stipulated amount would not be sufficient to build toilets, AVAG negotiated with the banks to arrange loans up to Rs.15, 000 per toilet depending upon the need expressed by the groups. Housing scheme: The government of Tamil Nadu introduced the housing scheme for the poor witch has the grant of 75.000 rupees and the remaining amount has to be contributed by the beneficiaries and the members who are selected under the scheme were help to rise their contribution by arranging loans from different sources.

Summary of community building Activities 2010/11

Women
Participants No.of SHGs Events

Men
Events Participants 86 135 No.of SHGs 5 7 3 -

Meetings/Events Total
Exchange program Village level Women's day celebrations Women's day club level Workcamp Eye camp (4 villages) Biological water test done in the villages 21 7 52 23 4 62

Total SHGs Total participated Participants

65 84 52 121 47 -

1052 1358 965 554 665 -

21 7 52 16 -

60 84 52 114 44 -

1052 1358 965 419 -

2 7 -

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Economic Development
Activities for economic development are aimed at supporting the integral development of our beneficiaries through nurturing the development of sound financial practices and strengthening the livelihood base of our communities. Specifically, this programme: Encourages savings and provides access to credit through a revolving fund. Facilitates SHGs in accessing credit opportunities through various government and bank schemes. Support income generating activities and development of entrepreneurial skills. Conducts livelihood skills trainings.

Our economic development activities comprise three components; each working to provide holistic support that is beneficiary supported and follows sustainable development practices: Micro Finance Programme, Livelihood trainings and Social Enterprise Creation (see section New developments).

Micro Finance Programme

Micro finance activity: Rs. 20,830,771 of savings has been collected by SHGs. Rs. 55,552,350 circulating among the groups as loans. To date all SHGs have repaid loans on schedule through fixed installments. Loans are offered for health, education, housing, consumption and function organization, business development purposes with an interest rate of 18 %. So far finance from the following sources have been facilitated for lending: savings generated by SHG, corpus funding of AVAG/the Federation, Government Funds and Indian and Pallavan Grameen Banks through SHG linkage. Micro-funding programme is the backbone of the activities of integral rural development of AVAG. Capacity building is of prime importance, so constant trainings is always provided to the groups. The Federations of SHG have a core position in the decision making process of AVAG, not only in the microfinance programme, also in the other activities of the organization, creating an strong bounding relation materialized, among other results, in the strong vocation of continuity of the SHG formed by AVAG. Empowering lending policies as mentioned below: 1. Loan amounts are awarded gradually, growing in relation to the proven capability of individual members for payment. Loans are offered for a wide variety of needs. Purpose depending loans are an incentive to insincerity that provide a wrong feedback of the reality to AVAG and at www.villageaction.in 9/

What is special in AVAG micro-funding programme:

the end weakness the trust relation with the SHGs. 2. Group members are encouraged to give priority to each members financing needs, rather than dividing the borrowed amount into equal shares. 3. Re-lending is not dependent on the completion of a previous loan, but rather is encouraged only when there is a genuine need. This system ensures group members will not compulsively re-apply for a loan immediately after the previous loan has ended. 4. The Groups have a double aim, the micro-funding activities and the debate and action about human rights, community development and other issues. Amount and purpose of loan of Men and Women Federations

Type
Housing Loan Repayment Function Agriculture Education Business Medical Others

Amount (Rs.)
12.435.000 11.983.200 10.871.300 7.154.000 5.904.800 4.572.500 1.779.500 852.050

in % 22,38% 21,57% 19,57% 12,88% 10,63% 8,23% 3,20% 1,53% 100,00%

Total

55.552.350

Loan Progress of AVAG Women SHGs

Year 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 Amount (Rs) 0 500 75.200 287.600 681.000 1.269.000 2.264.867 3.293.600 5.308.700 847.000 4.576.430 16.849.390 28.001.900 30.508.300 42.383.050 49.799.650
50000000 45000000 40000000 35000000 30000000 25000000 20000000 15000000 10000000 5000000 0 1997-1998 2001-2002 2005-2006 2009-2010 1995-1996 1999-2000 2003-2004 2007-2008

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Saving Progress of AVAG Women SHGs

20000000 Year Amount (Rs) 1995-1996 5.250 18000000 1996-1997 35.925 16000000 1997-1998 60.425 1998-1999 109.675 14000000 1999-2000 143.350 12000000 2000-2001 248.700 2001-2002 608.550 10000000 2002-2003 1.752.000 8000000 2003-2004 2.749.400 6000000 2004-2005 2.356.675 2005-2006 4.320.000 4000000 2006-2007 5.740.590 2000000 2007-2008 7.196.300 0 2008-2009 10.947.950 1997-1998 2001-2002 2005-2006 2009-2010 2009-2010 14.374.722 1995-1996 1999-2000 2003-2004 2007-2008 2010-2011 18.255.221

Members Progress of AVAG Women SHGs

Year Members 1995-1996 68 1996-1997 188 1997-1998 327 1998-1999 435 1999-2000 614 2000-2001 1101 2001-2002 1600 2002-2003 1741 2003-2004 1800 2004-2005 1950 2005-2006 2000 2006-2007 2334 2007-2008 3245 2008-2009 3466 2009-2010 3478 2010-2011 3726 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1997-1998 2001-2002 2005-2006 2009-2010 1995-1996 1999-2000 2003-2004 2007-2008

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Livelihood Training
The Livelihood Trainings teach skills in tailoring, and embroidery that can be performed in between household duties, providing women - especially those who live in extreme poverty and those who are dalits or widows some income. AVAG believes that instead of providing these services as a charity, women must be encouraged to be active participants in their own education and empowerment. Therefore, women who are able are asked to pay a nominal monthly fee of Rs. 75 with AVAG subsidizing the last Rs. 25 to cover training costs. This year 25 women finished successfully the tailoring training.

Capacity Building
AVAGs Capacity Building Programme aims to expand the social perspective and technical ability of each individual beneficiary in order to provide the tools that they need to flourish in society. Beneficiaries participate in a series of seminars, workshops, trainings, and meetings, which comprise an integral education that nurtures each individuals capacity for self-empowerment.

Strengthening the womens and mens federation

Federations members participate in mixed gender exposure trips as well as regular meetings and training workshops covering subjects such as gender and caste analysis, domestic violence, environmental awareness, and leadership skills to support their integral development. Trainings are also given for somatic experiencing, Hatha yoga (for a healthy body and mind), to build their capacity as leaders in order to strengthen the overall functioning of the SHGs.

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Leadership and In-Service Trainings

Each SHG has 3 elected leadership positions 1 animator and 2 representatives which are elected and rotate every two years to build the leadership capacity of all club members. Animator and Representative trainings help to build the capacity that supports these leaders to be of greater service to their SHGs by exposing them to social issues and educational programmes.

Exposure & Educational Trips

To foster womens solidarity and increase awareness on essential issues AVAG organizes educational exposure trips in the surrounding regions. Auroville is a particularly rich resource for exposure to and application of renewable energies, organic farming, herbal kitchen gardens, and alternative technologies. In each of these trips women from different clubs and villages get a chance to be together for one full day and this experience helps them to understand each other under friendly basis. Even after the trip they cherish the memory for a long period, since they look at it as an activity to improve their knowledge and to bring unity among themselves.

Strengthening & Cluster Meetings

Strengthening meetings support newly formed womens SHGs and those groups in need of additional help in their activities. Members spend the day discussing the importance of unity, solidarity and co-operation within the group using interactive games and discussions facilitated by AVAG staff. In cluster meetings, representatives from 10 15 SHGs in a common geographical area meet twice a year to discuss their common issues such as roads, transport, water and needs relating to other shared infrastructure. When a specific need is there for improvements, AVAG staff support the clubs in accessing Government schemes and devising strategies for improvement. Cluster meetings are also an opportunity for members to know women from different clubs and to advise and suggest strategies for solving problems that arise within the clubs. These meetings are another opportunity to foster solidarity among women beyond their own club

Seminars & Workshops

To foster solidarity and increase awareness on essential issues (e.g. government and insurance schemes, social issues such as gender and caste sensitization, environmental issues such as water and sanitation, waste management, global warming etc). AVAG organizes day-long seminars each month for SHG members. Depending on the topic for discussion, AVAG will invite a resource person with expertise in the relevant field.

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Summary of capacity building Programmes conducted 2010/11

Women
Participants Events Events

Men
Participants 0 0 0 0 0 44 0 No.of SHGs 0 0 0 0 0 13 0

Meetings / Events
Strengthening meeting Federation meeting Seminar Auroville trip Botanical garden trip Cluster meeting Trainings & Workshops Focus group meeting kitchen garden creation (villages) Animators & Representatives Training

Total
22 24 18 4 8 10 16 5 198 5

Total SHGs Total participated Participants

22 249 23 60 201 45 72 85

294 402 2494 75 206 651 296 149 198 229

22 14 10 4 8 10 5 5

22 All 23 60 201 45 59 85

No.of SHGs

294 259 75 206 651 149 154 229

0 10 8 0 0 0 0 0

All 143 48 315

201 2179

Psychosocial Services
According to the published report Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2008 the number of suicides in India increased to 6,165 in 2008 from 5,580 registered in 2007. The all-India average was recorded at 2.2 per cent. Out of the 6,165 suicides, 1,744 (28.3 per cent) were by housewives. Tamil Nadu is in the list of the eight highest suicide rates1. In spite of AVAGs support and services, we became aware that approximately 6 to 8 club members a year were committing suicide and around the same number of women attempted suicide. This motivated us to look for additional ways to offer psychosocial support to the SHG members. As a result of all these interventions AVAG feels happy and proud to notice that for second consecutive year there was no suicide case among the club members. 1 Masihi said, Suicide rate in state increases by over 10 % On line, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/suicide-rate-in-state-increases-by-over-10/605544/ Posted 04/13/2010, visited 17/06/2011. www.villageaction.in 14 /

Somatic Experience and Energy Healing

In 2008, we invited a group of visiting counselors trained in Somatic Experiencing (SE) from USA to provide individual sessions and provide training to interested women. This year, 2 trainers again offered their services by training staff and federation and SHG leaders in advanced techniques. The traumatized women were also offered individual sessions. This year, we also welcomed back a group from Langara college in Canada who offered trainings to staff, federation and SHG members and gave treatment to the people in the bioregion in Energy Healing. Based on the very positive response to this offering, a plan emerged to conduct an intensive training 15 days of training plus 20 days of supervised practice - over a 3 year period to interested SHG members. By conducting trainings in self-healing and stress reduction techniques, AVAG aims to: Reduce high prevalence of suicide in the target areas through early identification and treatment of emotional problems. Provide access to professional counseling for victims of human rights abuses. Increase awareness within community of social and health costs associated with alcohol abuse.

AVAG always motivates women to be helpful and supportive each other and create possibilities to feel collective solidarity. In Somatic experiencing, 133 Staff and Federation leaders were trained while 63 were trained in energy healing, and a total of 376 participants received treatment with this techniques during the year.

Counseling and mediation

Counseling is offered to the individuals who have difficulty in coping with the life situation. It could be due to the inability of the person cope or due to the problems in the family or society. Sometimes situations like accidents, sudden loss of a dear one or job, poor marital life could be a cause of it. Knowing the possibility to get counseled, club members on their own opt to come to AVAG or they are also brought by the other members. Family members and sometimes non-members of the SHGs also utilize this service. Depending upon the need of the case apart from counseling, they are also linked to other schemes of the government and other organizations.

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For the safety and physical and mental well being of a person, when the situation arises AVAG mediated between the disputing parties. It happens between the SHG members, between disputing families, husband and wife, employer and employee etc. This year, interestingly three men two alcoholics- approached AVAG to settle the problems with the wives. It shows that AVAG is more and more seen as a neutral organization capable of giving support for people irrespective of the gender. Apart from that, 41 persons were given counseling support during this year.

De-addiction
Alcoholism is one of the biggest threats to the health of the families and community. It leads to many individuals to violence, indebtedness, abuse of women and children, stress and trauma, etc. As a result of alcoholism, the community also looses many potential contributors. And in quite few cases the families lose the bread winners. AVAG has discussed this issue extensively with both women and men SHG members and has been requested to try and find some way to help. AVAG has contacts with Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) members and different deaddiction centres. Last year AVAG organized 3 seminars for the SHG members of men and women with the support of a deaddiction center - "Concern" - based in Chennai and the response from the members was overwhelming. Both Federations have declared taking positive steps to reduce alcohol abuse as a priority for the next year. 2 men from the families of the members were sent to the center for successful rehabilitation. We have begun to explore possibility of starting an AA group in our working area and to motivate alcoholics for deaddiction.

Kumuda from Rayapudupakkam Some months ago, my daughter's husband died because of alcohol. Before that happened, he drank every day. For 10 years, my daughter had to cope with this situation. Sometimes, her husband didn't go to work because he was drunk. And when he earned money, he wanted to spend all of it for drinking and my daughter hed to beg him to give some for the household. Now she and her 2 children live in my house. But because she is a widow, there is always a money problem. Sometimes I see the kids in our neighbor's house playing with a ball and I feel so sorry that we can't buy such things for our children, it really makes me cry sometimes.

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS
This year our focus has been on further development of our social enterprise programme and on capacity building of the organisation as a whole. Social Enterprise Creation Programme Eco-Life Store Eco Femme SEDAB Volunteer Programme Organisational capacity building Financial Information

Social Enterprise Creation Programme

Since late 2009, AVAG has been focusing energies towards the creation of social enterprises. We are embracing this new challenge and we are confident that the years of work with women to increase their capacity for self determination and working collectively is ready to blossom into the manifestation of team based income generating initiatives an important step towards economic independence. The aims of our social enterprise programme are: 1. To provide livelihood opportunities to AVAG women Self Help Group (WSHG) members that will generate at least a minimum wage in decent working conditions and where additional profit sharing with AVAG will be possible. To generate income through the creation of profitable enterprises to help support the work of AVAG the incubating organization which is currently dependent on external donations is an unsustainable situation for the long term. To create enterprises those are not only profitable but provide some social and/or environmental benefit to the local community.

2.

3.

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Eco-Life Store
The EcoLife Store was a spontaneous idea. After a seminar conducted by AVAG about global warming the participants felt the need to do something. Step by step they researched and gathered eco-friendly products and turned an idea into the EcoLife Store. The basic idea is to provide access to affordable ecofriendly technologies that are suitable for rural communities. To date the products includes CFLs bulbs, Activated EM, low cost Water Filters, different kinds of solar torches and solar lights, crank lights and solar mobile phone chargers. The store is located on AVAG premises making it accessible for SHG members. During the year EcoLife store participated in the AV Saturday market. This market takes place in Auroville itself and creates a space for Auroville Units to present and sell their products. The EcoLife team used this opportunity to raise awareness and distribute products within Auroville. In addition we participated in governmental exhibitions all over Tamil Nadu to spread awareness about ecofriendly products. In order to keep to increase the assortment of the EcoLife Store we are always looking for new, innovative and environmental friendly solutions to help reducing carbon emissions on a affordable price. Proudly we introduce our new slogan Affordable Eco technologies for a better future.

Eco Femme
This new project has become a major focus for us over the year and we are excited to share the progress. Eco Femme is a project that addresses menstrual hygiene management a complex subject in an integral way. Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in India has been recognised as a poorly addressed area of public health and is increasingly being taken up as a key intervention area by both Government and NGO's. Motivated by rural women's eagerness to explore this subject in seminars, AVAG began a concentrated exploration with women on the subject of MHM in 2009, through field research and focus group discussions. It became clear that MHM is a subject that involves complex linkages between social, cultural, economic, environmental, health and gender issues and we were concerned whether the Government's attempt to address this issue by distribution of disposable pads is truly sufficient to address the complexity of factors. This led us to set down the path of designing our own project which aims to create a comprehensive approach towards ensuring healthy, environmentally responsible and dignified management of menstruation among marginalised Indian women in rural and urban areas. The overall Eco Femme project www.villageaction.in 18 /

has 3 interrelated components: Design and production of a washable sanitary product: an attractive, cloth re-usable & eco-friendly menstrual pad. A business model for SHG production which can be upscaled and replicated, generating livelihood opportunities for rural women across the country. A comprehensive empowerment-focused menstrual health education programme. Rooted in the premise that awareness and choice are key elements of empowerment.

With the help of Upasana design studio, 3 prototype pads have been designed which we have found to be appealing to the women in our area the women find it attractive which generates a feeling of dignity (unlike the old cloth they normally use or disposable pads which are growing in popularity), they appreciate that there is no waste and most importantly, they understand immediately that such a product can save a lot of money! To get a feeling about the project, please have a look at this short video prepared by a visiting student Brian Redondo from the American University of Paris. Village Outreach Society UK have been of special support to this project providing funds and valuable inputs to help develop the project.

Volunteer Programme
As in previous years, AVAG has benefited greatly from the inputs of volunteers. This year, we have been fortunate to have 2 German volunteers participating under the German Government's Weltwaert's programme Arina and Ismael. Both are undertaking 1 year internships with AVAG and as a result of their long term engagement, have been able to work effectively on some longer term projects Arina has been instrumental in helping to establish a solid waste management system at AVAG and has been involved in communications such as reviving a newsletter. Ismael has been actively working on the SEDAB project co-ordination and helping with Eco Life store. Soon after their arrival, the team expanded with Pablo from Spain and Sayana from Calcutta both will also stay for 1 year. During this months they have been working in writing project proposals, and in the Social Enterprise and Social Research activities.

AVAG organisational Capacity Building

Last year AVAG identified as a goal a wish to improve and streamline its management process as well as create an internal system for assessment of www.villageaction.in 19 /

progress. We progressed towards these aims through participation in 2 externally facilitated processes one which focused on the organisation in general and another which explored the development of a strategy for resource mobilization which remains a challenge for AVAG. The major outcomes from these processes have been: Development of a new vision and mission statement which more closely reflects AVAG's core values today. Through exploring roles and responsibilities for each team member, we were able to better understand gaps in the team as well as inefficiencies and have begun working towards a more streamlined management where people are working in their area of expertise and passion more efficiently. We were able to identify that the women and men's federations are major resources for AVAG and evolved a strategy to include them more actively in resource mobilization efforts which has the dual advantage of developing more leadership capacity among the members. Looking more widely at other NGO's who can collaborate with AVAG on programme delivery and strengthening relationships particularly in Tamil Nadu.

Financial Information
At the end of March 2009, institutional funding (post 2004 Tsunami) for AVAG activities ceased. In spite of our efforts we still couldnt find a donor who can cover our financial necessities, so funding is becoming a critical priority, to cover the operational costs, sustain existing programmes and develop new ones which it is hoped will lead to an even more integral approach to rural development in the target region. For our beneficiaries, lack of funds means we remain limited to provide basic services without expansion possibility In spite of requests, we are unable to take on new SHGs and services in new villages. During this financial year, we even increased our efficiency, focusing in cost-free activities, and in the creation of social enterprises. In the next financial year, we are anticipating some relief from this critical situation of shortage of funds with the start of the SEDAB project. While it will not provide complete support for all of AVAG's running expenses, it will cover some staff costs and alleviate to some extent the pressure AVAG has been facing for a number of years.

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Future Plans
Were funding to become available, AVAG would like to expand existing services and implement the following programmes. Our 4 top priorities for the coming year will be:

Micro credit corpus increment and expansion

Based on field assessment of need, there is a pressure to increase the number of new SHGs by 30 for women and 20 for men, which means 800 new beneficiaries. Furthermore, with existing groups, there is an ever increasing demand to access more credit which AVAG is no longer able to extend as its reserves are saturated. The need of credit push our SHG members to find other sources, like chit schemes, pawn brokers and the local money lenders. Our estimations shows that if we only want to substitute the most expensive source of lending of the current SHG members, the money lenders (who usually ask in return an interest rate over 90% per year), we will need to increase the AVAG corpus by around Rs 60 lakhs . The substitution of all the expensive sources of credit will require around Rs 9 crores, but our immediate objective is to arrive to 3 crores, which would increase significantly the possibilities for enhanced loan capacity and extending support to women and men during times of family emergencies. In addition, it would be the most viable way of sustaining the social empowerment activities of AVAG organization as a whole through charging interest (between 12 18% which is comparable to current bank lending rates). Finally it would ensure more optimal use of human resources which are often spent dealing with banks which is time consuming and inefficient.

Social Enterprise Creation Programme

In our search for sustainability development we are very focused in the Social Enterprise Creation Programme because of their impact on multiple values. EcoLife: Since launching this enterprise, AVAG has learned from the successes and failures and have decided that the EcoLife Store is ready for the next phase: to enhance the effectiveness of outreach to rural communities by training interested SHG members as retail entrepreneurs to become EcoLife sales representatives. Eco Femme: Our next step is to launch a pilot project to test the appeal and acceptability of this product in partnership with NGO's working with rural and urban marginalised women. We have been joined by SEDC a unit of the international global market research company Synovate who will be designing the product testing protocol and ensuring unbiased testing. This pilot, for which preparations have begun, will conclude next March 2012. If the product is found to be acceptable it has a huge potential impact both as a product but also as a livelihood project women SHG members will be able to stitch these simple tailored products and in the process generate a sustainable livelihood. In parallel, we are preparing an educational training program for NGO staff to expose rural women in India to the topic of menstrual hygiene management. Using stories and group based activities, this educational package will go beyond biological explanation to more deeply explore the myths and taboos that result in www.villageaction.in 21 /

lifestyle restrictions and feelings of shame and impurity. SEDAB (Sustainable Enterprises Development in the Auroville Bio-region): The last months of the financial year saw AVAG engaged in intensive preparation for the arrival of funds from the Ministry of Rural Development for the SEDAB project. This project, due to start in 2011 is a substantial opportunity to ensure that the knowledge on sustainability and eco-consciousness, which are some of the leading values of Auroville, will permeate beyond the boundaries of this unique international community and manifest through rural life in the blocks of Vanur and Marakkanam in the Villupuram District that fall within the Kazhuveli bio-region. The overall approach will involve creating self-employment opportunities for rural women members of SHG's and the development of livelihoods in a sustainable manner. The project will also aim to create assets to facilitate self-employment. Linkages, both locally and beyond the bio-region will provide for a sustained growth of new enterprises that are developed as part of the project. Technical expertise and participation by Auroville will provide the enterprises with the professional back up and experience which may assist with trouble shooting and further growth planning. For achieve this AVAG will be partner with Pitchandikulam Bioregional Resource Centre (PBRC), under the umbrella of the Integral Rural Development (IRD) unit of the Auroville Foundation.

De-addiction
AVAG has plans to select and train the interested and potential club members from different villages in counseling the alcoholics and they are expected to act as the contact person between concern the de-addicition centre in Chennai, AVAG and the communities. AVAG will also continue to spread the message of de-addiction and AA through its network. A budget of 2 lakh for 1 year would facilitate this work.

Avaranjini from Acherumpet When we build our house, we had a big wasteland next to it so I took a loan from AVAG to build a fence and create a garden there. I was lucky because it was just the time when AVAG's kitchen garden programme started, so they could give me seeds for many different varieties of vegetables. They all germinated very well and I already had a good harvest. Now I don't need to buy any of these vegetables from the shop and can even distribute them to my family and friends or sell some of them. Like that, I am not affected by the rising food prices. Also, it gives me great pleasure to work in the garden. When I have some depression or family problem I just go out and take care for my plants and I feel better. 22 /

Environmental initiatives
1. During this year we developed, in partnership with Auroville Botanical Garden, the establishment of 198 Kitchen Garden among our SHG members. The good experience encourage us to expand the initiative next year. Promotion of Eco Femme more widely as an environmentally friendly

2.

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alternative to disposable pads which litter the landscape or contaminate the air if they are incinerated. 3. Eco life - Light up a Childs Life: The main initiative of this project is to provide light to children when they are without proper lighting, to support educational attainment. Our project will help to provide extended hours of studying though the provision of solar light and lessen the negative health, environmental, and economic consequences associated with kerosene usage. In sum, this will accomplish our goal of improving the quality of life for children and future generations while allowing them to reach their full potential. In this pilot experience we plan to distribute solar powered lanterns to 165 families and we gratefully acknowledge the Village Outreach Society Canada,for channeling funds for this project 4. AVAG's own Solid Waste Management project: Since the growing amount of solid waste contributes huge parts to India's pollution, we initiated a programme on this topic. We started in our own office where previously all the waste was burned a common practice in our area that causes pollution as well as health problems. In cooperation with AIAT, the Institute of Applied Technology that shares our compound, we set up a system for waste segregation and created a compost in order to recycle large amounts of our garbage and give a good example to our members.

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List of Abbreviations
AVAG: AVAT: NGO: SHG: MSHG: WSHG: LIC: JBY: RF: EA: AA: CFL: EM: AV: MHM: PBRC: IRD: AIAT: Lakh: Crore: Auroville Village Action Group Auroville Village Action Trust Non-governmental Organisation Self Help Group Men's Self Help Group Women's Self Help Group Life Insurance Cooporation Janshree Bima Yojana Revolving Fund Economic Assistance Alcoholic Anonymous Compact Fluorescent Lamp Effective Microorganism Auroville Menstrual Hygiene Management Pitchandikulam Bioregional Resource Centre Integral Rural Development Auroville Institute for Applied Technologies 100.000 10.000.000

AVAG on the Web

For general inquiries: villageactiongroup@gmail.com, avagoffice@auroville.org.in Visit us in www.villageaction.in Become a Fan on Facebook Find us on Idealist.org Vimeo: vimeo.com/AVAG

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