Development in Action have been sending volunteers to Action for Social Advancement (ASA) since 1999. But who is ASA? Where do they work? And what do volunteers get up to when they’re there? This article will attempt to answer these questions.

Established in 1996, ASA is a relatively young NGO compared to some of DiA’s other partner organisations. However, now directly working in over 1000 rural villages and indirectly in a further 500 across three states (Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh), ASA has certainly made up for lost time! At the heart of ASA’s work is the aim of developing livelihood security amongst rural populations. This is achieved not by imposing ‘solutions’ on those in poverty, but through actively encouraging participatory action at the community level.

The city where ASA’s head office is now based (and where most volunteers stay for the majority of their placements) is Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh. Mr Ashis Mondal, ASA’s director explains that ASA moved the centre of its operation here from its roots in Dahod, Gujarat and a Field Unit in Jobat to ensure it was in the “most appropriate location for providing timely support [and]…a better position to influence government & donor policies”.

Though Bhopal is often associated with the horrific factory explosion in 1984 that has since been responsible for over 20,000 deaths, the city should most definitely not be associated with this event alone.

“Bhopal is a city endowed with great natural beauty, especially the greenery; hills and lakes hold special attraction. Though city is graduallygrowing, however it has still not given in to the crass commercialization which one is witness to in any fast growing city, which in the process more often than not loses its soul. Bhopal is a good mix of modernity, conventional,scenic beauty, which offers a balanced pace and is oft suited to anyone lookingfor a quality life” Dheeraj Kapoor, Programme and Volunteer Co-ordinator who moved to Bhopal to work for ASA in 2008.

The Rough Guide describes Bhopal as a “packed old city surrounded by modern concrete suburbs and green hills” (fortunately for DiA volunteers, ASA’s head office is situated in the slightly quieter suburbs!). Like all Indian cities, Bhopal offers an array of shops, restaurants, cafes and cultural attractions. Furthermore, located in the middle of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal is surrounded by tourist attractions such as Sanchi (Ancient Buddhist site) and Pachmarhi (Hill Station).

ASA works with the agricultural communities through a number of different projects. This includes natural resource management; i.e. working in co-operation with communities to make the best use of the land and resources they have available to them already. ASA also works with farmers to help them develop and harvest new seed varieties that increase the productivity of their crops. Another way ASA works with communities is through Micro Finance, a scheme that aims to reduce communities’ reliance on extortionate money lenders and encourage them to save money to invest in their communities.

Given that ASA work in so many areas of development, there is plenty of scope for volunteers from a variety of different backgrounds both specific to agricultural development as well as wider organisational support. Mr Mondal explains the advantages of hosting volunteers as well as the work previous volunteers have been involved:“[Volunteers] bring fresh idea and objective perspective. They have made useful contributions in terms of conducting significant research studies related to programmatic interventions of the organization (the findings of which made ASA further optimize its programmes), developing communication material and actively marketed the organizations. The volunteers have become organization’s ambassadors and created important linkage for the organization in their country and got substantial goodwill”

In 2007/2008, through DiA, we were both fortunate enough to spend five months volunteering at ASA. As well as being given the opportunity to learn about ASA’s work and get an insight into the running of a NGO, we were also able to get stuck in to a number of different pieces research, develop marketing materials, and be involved with the organisation of a national conference hosted by ASA – pretty eclectic work! Before us, DiA volunteers had worked on projects to assess and document the impact that ASA’s work had in the areas where the organisation was working as well as working with Higher Education Institutes such as Indian Institute of Forest Management and organisations such as the Aga Khan Foundation.

Looking towards the future, ASA continue to expand their operation into other districts of Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar and other areas of the central India which are currently underserved. ASA encourages volunteers to come and work with them in these new areas of operation. Through their partnership with DiA, as well as through the establishment of their own independent volunteer scheme, Ashis describes how he hopes volunteers will continue to contribute to ASA in the future: “ASA hopes to build upon [the volunteer programme] in the future. Volunteers develop strong ties with the organisation and contribute not only during their placement but beyond through helping with programme development, capacity building of the staff, imparting newer skill sets, bringing about newer relevant systems approaches, office automation, marketing, organisational development and growth”

It would seem that it is an exciting time for DiA volunteers at ASA and that the growth of opportunity for volunteers is set to match the growth of the organisation as a whole.

http://www.asaindia.org/

Sarah Gettings and Tom Salisbury