We focus our support on the countries from
which innocent drinks buys its fruit. India is the home of alphonso
mangoes and some amazing Non-governmental Organisations.
Jeevika Trust works with the poorest people in rural communities
and has a vision for an India without absolute poverty where all people
have the opportunity to live with dignity, free from hunger,
deprivation and marginalisation.
We’re excited by our three year partnership with them which is supporting Project Mousmi in Orissa. Mousmi means Monsoon in the language of Orissa and the project aims to provide safe water and sanitation facilities which will improve health, income generation and the environment.
Jeevika Trust was founded in 1970 as The India
Development Group. In June 2005 they adopted the working name ‘Jeevika
Trust’. Jeevika is a Hindi word best translated as
‘livelihood’. They feel that the term ‘livelihood’ better reflects
their mission of tackling the roots of poverty through revitalising
rural communities.
Project Mousmi is a rural livelihood project which will focus on
two neighbouring Tribal villages, Sundarpur and Baramana located in the
Chandaka Forest Tribal Area of the Khurda District, about 20 kms
north-west of the capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar. Orissa has the highest
overall poverty ratio of any major Indian State, with 48% of all
villagers living below the poverty line (50p per day). It has the
largest number of Tribal communities (62 tribes) representing 22.3% of
Orissa’s total population
There’s a real need for the project; if the monsoon fails, as it
did in 2007, most ground water ponds become dry from February-September,
compelling people (and livestock) to depend on water sources not fit
for consumption.
The aim is to build a sustainable future for the two villages. They will be provided with sources of safe water & sanitation facilities in order to improve health, small-scale cultivation / income-generation activities & the environment .
Jeevika Trust works with local experienced NGOs, in this
case Jeevan Rekha Parishad. There’s a systematic approach to Project
Mousmi - all villagers, especially women, will be involved at
each stage of the planning & implementation process and villagers
are prepared to contribute their labour and artisan skills in exchange
for improved access to clean safe water for drinking, cultivation and
sanitation purposes.
Villagers living in Sundarpur and Baramana are landless. They belong to the Santala Tribe surviving on forest land, without access to Government water supplies or sanitation facilities, and Baramana is without access to electricity or any government assurance that these services will be provided to this area in the future. 85% of the Santala Tribe live below the poverty line (50p per day) and only 12% of villagers are literate. Any available local employment is typically low-paid seasonal labour and many men seek work further afield in towns or cities. This leaves approx. 40% of households with women having full responsibility for water collection and the provision of food for their families.
Consultation with around 80 villagers has given strong baseline indicators and a greater understanding of local factors, including:
- I hand pump serves the total population of both villages
- I spring in Sundarpur is unprotected and exposed to contamination from human and livestock waste
- The spring is not easily accessible - with steep sides it is really difficult to negotiate carrying a 15-20 litre container of water.
The project aims to:
- Maximise the harvesting of monsoon rainwater in order to increase sources of safe water. It will involve collecting water of the tin roof houses, installing another hand pump, constructing 218 soak pits, creating a pond in each village and training artisans to take responsibility for overall water management.
- Improve village health and hygiene through the provision of sanitation facilities for households and schools to ensure access to improved sources of safe clean water and an environment free of water-borne and other diseases.
- Improve nutritional health and reduce overall poverty levels by strengthening small scale cultivation/ income generation activities such as vermicomposting, kitchen gardens, fruit trees, fishing and grasses.
Project Mousmi is ambitious but by the end of year one villager awareness will have been raised of the links between water, health and hygiene, food and agriculture productivity and the environment. 16 household latrines, 10 rainwater harvesting systems, 1 hand pump, 109 soak pits and one renovated stream will provide villagers with access to safe and reliable supplies of waterwater. Water user groups will be actively managing water-linked activities and small scale cultivation will have begun.
