Aranyika Visit Report - Dec13th, 2011

This was my first visit to Aranyika or any of the projects that AID had/has been supporting. It took me a

while to schedule the visit as Mrs.Malini and the Aranyika team members were in Delhi representing

the local Dalit groups participating in a cultural event organized by the Government of India.

Started from Vizag at 8.00AM and reached Paderu by about 11.30AM. We were received by Mr.Raj

Kumar and a few folks who had come to the Aranyika office to speak about their issues. Met with Mrs.

Malini who gave us an overview of what their activities were and how she happened to start the

organization a few years ago. She put me in touch with Ms.Kusuma, the legal advisor supporting the

legal desk, who expressed her observation of how the legal desk had proved to be very helpful in

creating a platform for people to boldly bring up issues and identify solutions. Chinni , who is the

current first point of contact for the legal desk also arrived. She shared some pictures of their recent

trip to Delhi. It was great to see the sense of pride as the photos were passed around.

Right after, a great lunch was served by Mrs.Raj Kumar and a few other ladies at the location. All of the

representatives from the youth association had gathered and were waiting eagerly. Each of them

introduced themselves and started talking about any issues which they thought Aranyika helped with

over the past few years. One of them presented me with a few petitions that they had written

themselves and submitted regarding the Tabelugummi dam work.

As were beginning to wrap up, one of the ladies sitting quietly beside me until then said she wanted to

express her case. She was married to a person who had gotten married to somebody else within a few

months and disowned her as a wife. She had approached Aranyika's legal desk and with their support,

filed a case against him which was resolved favorably by the court in a span of six months (which I

thought was pretty quick). To my query as to what her future plans were, she replied that she would be

helping Aranyika in their activities. What made a mark with me in this incident was the fact that she

found it within her by the end of the meeting to bring up her topic in a group of about 20 people and

speak about the injustice she faced. That I believe is a great start for what Aranyika is trying to achieve in

those regions. That seemed to be a common trend of development.

I spoke to a few other ladies who had been involved with Aranyika for the past few years, and they

expressed similar confidence. One of them said that they were no longer afraid of the Police like they

were before and had the grit and determination to pursue their rights when questioned.

Anand Rao one of the youth association representatives, sang a very meaningful song that he had

written himself about a woman who killed herself as a result of pressure for Dowri. It was very inspiring

to see such talent and earnest interest in spreading awareness. Folks ran around a bit to perform

Dhimsa, a traditional dance done to celebrate any occasion of happiness but could not find the right

tools for it. Meanwhile the District Magistrate whom Mrs. Malini had tried to contact earlier also called

back and had great things to say about the credibility of the Aranyika group and the amount of trust

they had gained in the local folks.

During our conversations, Mrs.Mailini had mentioned that there was a high school in Paderu which

some of the local kids were attending and graduating from. However these children did not exhibit the

skill set of an average child their age. She expressed her interest in starting a new school out there with

proper staff to address this issue. She also expressed her thoughts about opening a Nature

Cure/massage resort at Paderu to help raise funds.

Overall, the work being done by Aranyika is commendable and inspirational. It is hitting the mark with

respect to bringing about confidence and self-reliance in dealing with their communities issues.

Personally, I could not identify the primary means of income for the local people that the youth

organizations were representing. An interesting suggestion by an aunt of mine who accompanied me on

the visit, was why not provide sewing machines and training to use them (or something of that sort)

which would provide them a sustainable means of income. That would also perhaps lead to self-

empowerment in addition to the great work Aranyika is already doing.