I am shanti Gaikwad business school graduate was working with MNC ( Bank of New york Mellon) firm in Pune Maharashtra every thing was going fine what made me do this ? to stay in a place where there is no roads,no electricity no connectivity if it rains the villages become small island even in the medical emergancy there are no ways to get the patient out, in 21st centuries no one can imagine how tribal's live there life in the dense forest of maharastra , well there is a small story, me and my husband we were planning for the vacations we thought of Hemalkasa why because we have recently saw movie on Dr Prakah Amte and his journey to get the health care started for the tribals, the movie completely changed out perspective of life and that vacations made a major turning point in our lives, then we both decided to work for Lok Biradari Prakalp.
My Work : I am into Village development department of lok biradari prakalp Hemlakasa, I help villagers to form a SHG (Self help groups) of women. The group of women works together for their livelihood and the finished goods ( Ladu sweets, Bhakarvadi and khakra ) all the snacks are made up of Mahua flower it is sold to school children as mid-day meal and to some tourists who visit lok biradari prakalp.
I am a volunteer and serving Madia Gond community for last 3 years,Madia Gond tribal language is Madia it is one of the many indian tribal language with no script and limited set of words inspite of being habitant of maharashtra the Madia language has no connections to marathi and hindi they do not follow any of the indian religion but continue worshiping their local deities and forces of nature. the madia culture is unique among our indian tradition and culture, now a days tribals have begun adopt the customes and ways of people living in other more developed region, the tribals are associated with the nature hence the tribal is known for their unique preparation of mix of live ants and salt that they eat, the tribals eat " anything that moves " ranging from squirrels to snakes and crocodiles, they even brew there own liquor which is made up of mahua flower, now a days the liquor consumption is increased which completely destroy the youth of Madia- Gond community, hence to stop liquor consumption and to get back the mahua as a source of food. we make all the food items from Mahua flower ( such as mahua ladu, mahua bhakarvadi and mahua khakra so that this SHG's women get empowered and even it solves the problem of liquor.
Their existence is completely dependent upon the forest they live in, Post independence the forest officials have routinely exploted these tribes denying them any rights and claim to there own forest land however with the great number of madia gond educated with the help of lok biradari prakalp which is been started for the development of the tribals, there strength and resistance towards such injustice is increased day-by-day.
Need of SHG women
- There is no or very less infrastructure for the SHG’s women, the house where they are presently working it is also in not good condition the roof is licking, the wall is made up of mud it can collapse at any moment there is no machineries , so everything is made by hand so that they are not able to complete the orders which they got from the other people.
- No market linkages , Hemalkasa is the place it is situated very deep inside the forest hence there is no market available to this people except 6 months where the tourist come to see Lok biradari prakalp.
- In rainy season this place is converted into island because all the bridges and channels are over flowing and there is no connectivity with the outside world.
- Need Financial help so that we can develop infrastructure and some marketing place.
- Need Trainers who are into food industries, so that they can help SHG people for innovations in mahua food .
My contact number : 9421360530 ( we just got only one tower that is BSNL due to rain and cyclone the connections are always disturbed , even in some villages there is no electricity )
My E-mail : Shanti.pillai014@gmail.com
Hi Jai,
Thanks for sharing your inspiring and informative first story. It's crazy to me when I hear stories like this. I can't imagine living the way they do, and I don't mean it's a bad thing either. I think there are pros and cons to "progress." I think it's inspiring, too, that you and your husband decided to pack up your lives to move to this village and help. Very impressive. Do you miss your old way of life? And, do you think you'll continue working there for awhile?
For funding, you may want to check out the World Pulse "resources" page as there are a lot of grants listed on there, especially for India: https://www.worldpulse.com/my-pulse/resources. You can also post your financial "need" on this page, too. And, you could also search for grants on this site: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html.
Also, you may want to update your posts to not have your phone number or private email address listed, as World Pulse is a public forum and can be accessed outside the forum. You could have interested members contact you via private message.
Good luck with your fundraiser and continued good work! I'm looking forward to seeing more updates on the work you're doing.
Hope you have a great day!
Hi Jill,
we never miss our city life because Each day brings to us new problems and complications for which we struggle to adjust to survive the rat-race of life.city life is full of hazel ,there is no time for people only work work and work,
in village we enjoy nature , fresh air no pollution and peace of mind there are problem but it does not look that big as compared to city.
Thank you so much for sharing links Jill.
Oh, I see:-) Well, yes, that does make sense. I definitely hear you on that! That's part of the reason why my husband and I moved from California to Spain.
You're welcome!
Hope you have a great Friday and weekend:-)
You are a heroine Shanti. It takes a lot of courage and compassion to devote one's life and career with the tribes deep in the forest. I hope your story reaches many people especially those who have the resources that can help the SHG process and market their food products; and provide the necessary infrastructure to the community.
Thank you for sharing theirs and your story with the rest of the world.
Huuggs from the Philippines.
Thank you so much for the appreciation.
Thanks for sharing your story. Its not always easy but I think you are strong woman. I think now is the time for you to focus on your strength in helping the community members through this self help projects. In the future you will have a story a story to tell your children.
Hope you are doing very well!
Thank you Lisbeth for appreciation, yes there is always struggle we try to overcome it but need the collective help for strengthening the community.