2016-2017 WELTWÄRTS VOLUNTEERS IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

Background

Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is a prominent agency working in various developing countries on rural and social welfare projects. As part of the Weltwarts program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development ( BMZ ) 11 volunteers participated in various developmental projects across various states in India. WHH provided Human Development Society (HDS) with an opportunity to host young volunteers in rural areas of India. As part of such an initiative, two students from Germany Mr. Arne Bieler and Mr. Mathis Bullinger, lived with farmers of Muskaan Jaivik Self Help Group, Village Baag, VPO Pangna, Distt Mandi Himachal Pradesh. Their term for 1 year from July 2016 to August 2017 was undertaken by HDS for the year.

HIMACHAL PRADESH PROJECT

Muskaan Jaivik SHG has been associated with Human Development Society through the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) network in India. Since the farmers of the SHG are trying to convert their farm lands under organic production and the PGS-India program, the volunteers were selected to stay in the rural areas and interact with the farming community to understand the grass root situation in the mid-Himalayan region. Following points are of interest to note –

BRIEF OF WORK

1. Short Supply Chain –

Volunteers worked first hand to understand the challenges in working in mountainous regions of India and the issues of agriculture production and supply chain. They studied the existing supply chain and made recommendations on its improvement. They were also assisted by other volunteers from a well known Management University in India.

2. PGS System -

The PGS system was studied and implemented by the volunteers during their stay. The volunteers went around and assisted in collecting data for various farmers and uploading it in the government database. In addition peer review of existing farmers was also assisted by the volunteers in assistance with other interns from India.

3. Training on Organic Farming and Biodynamic Agriculture –

The volunteers also attended Organic farming training in Anand Gujarat for about two weeks. There they learnt about various principles of organic farming and cultivation techniques. This helped them performing various farming activities at the farmer’s center as well.

4. Sustainable Building Systems –

The Volunteers also assisted local masons and craftsmen to help build building systems for the farmers center. The works involved rammed earth system and in-situ stone masonry with mud mortar. The volunteers learnt elements of design, material use, cost management and work efficiency by working on this project.

BRIEF OF WORK

5. Sustainable Rural Toilet System –

The volunteers designed and built rural toilet system for a farmer’s center of Muskaan Jaivik SHG. The idea was to design and build a low cost but high impact toilet system suitable for rural areas. The volunteers worked with the farmers of the group to build such a system.

6. Website and Social Media Development –

The volunteers also assisted in the group media development by building a website for the group – (https://muskaanjaivik.wordpress.com/) and social media interactive space for the SHG (https://www.facebook.com/muskaanjaivik/). This has helped the group with media outreach as well. A well designed logo for the group also helped in establishing the group’s Identity. They also helped to design and maintain the website with updates on crafts men of the area, this was done with assistance from other interns from India.

7. Cultural Interaction –

First hand participation and integration into the rural fairs, festivals and celebratory events was done. This allowed the volunteers to know and appreciate various facets of mountain culture.

8. Media Interaction

The volunteers were also covered by the local media and interacted with the Deputy Collector of the district to discuss their stay in the region.