Editorial - Kirsty Walton

Welcome to the Summer Edition of the Development in Action Magazine. It’s been a busy time for DiA in the last few months; this year’s 2-month volunteers are now in the full swing of their placements in India, whilst 9 new 5-month volunteers prepare for a September departure. After their recent training weekend, without a male volunteer in sight, I was pleased to compile this quarter’s edition with contributions from both sexes.

With so many development issues hinged on gender, this edition seeks to explore some of these.

To kick off, James Fairfax explores an encouraging new HIV prevention initiative being rolled out in 23 countries, including India. This initiative, involving the creation of country “Report Cards”, aims to tackle the spread of HIV across the globe. Looking at India’s report card, James highlights the recommended strategies governments and NGOs can adopt to stop the spread of the disease in young women and girls, as well as the role of men and boys in HIV prevention.

Hannah van Hove writes about the work of B.D.W.W.T, an organisation that aims to protect the rights of domestic workers in Bhopal, who often suffer under horrific conditions at the hands of their middle-class employers. The stories of many workers Hannah met in Patna illustrate a battle won for many domestic workers fighting for their basic human rights.

A key contributor to the feeling of empowerment amongst workers is the safety of financial self reliance, something our next article investigates. Our dedicated UK Coordinator Katie will be leaving us this autumn, and thus has contributed to this issue before DiA becomes a smaller, though not absent part of her life. Katie has looked at microcredit and the role this can play in empowering women in the developing and developed world, who as individuals cannot access bank accounts to save for their futures.

Microcredit is one of the aspects of the work of Sharana, one of DiA’s key partner organisations. A past volunteer, John McGreachy, presents another aspect of their work; the community crèche and medical dispensary in Angalakuppam, a village just outside of Pondicherry. John highlights the vital work of Lakshmi, the medical nurse at Sharana’s centre, in providing much needed healthcare. This article highlights more than anything, a great example of how one woman has overcome the pressure to abandon her education and followed through her ambition to help others through studying medicine.

Finally, the last article looks at another case study of one of our partners; this summer brought exciting news for DiA, when Jimmy McGilligan at the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women was awarded an OBE. As a past volunteer at Barli in 2004, Tom Wilmot was keen to interview him and find out what progress has been made at Barli in the past few years.

We welcome comments on this issue and encourage DiA members and volunteers to put pen to paper in the coming months.

Kirsty Walton, Editor