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A Decade Celebration of DHAN Foundation
The Foundation Day Celebrations is an occasion for DHANites to reaffirm their commitment to the mission and values of DHAN Foundation. It is also an occasion for remembering and acknowledging the contributions of all the collaborators and well-wishers of DHAN. It is a get together of all the stakeholders of the Foundation, including donors, banks, government, academic institutions, affiliates and local organizations, more importantly the community with whom it is working. Sharing of the significant achievements, new launches, dialogue session on select themes and issues are the highlights of the foundation day celebrations.
DHAN Foundation with its rich experience of evolving, implementing and upscaling development themes has entered into its tenth year of operation. The tenth Foundation Day of DHAN Foundation was celebrated on the 2nd October 2006. The staff of DHAN Foundation, representatives of Peoples’ Organisations, collaborators and special invitees participated in the morning events. The post lunch session had two Dialogue Sessions on the theme ‘Water and Poverty’ by Dr. John Ambler and on ‘Health, Gender and Poverty’ by Dr. Nirmala Murthy. The celebration was not an exemption for new launches/releases from the previous foundation day celebrations.
Go to top Sharing of ten years’ achievement – Mr. Vasimalai, Executive Director,
DHAN Foundation
The foundation day celebrations started with sharing of achievements of a decade long activity of DHAN Foundation by Mr. M. P. Vasimalai, Executive Director, DHAN Foundation. He said that the philosophy of Gandhiji guides all the activities of DHAN Foundation, especially his talisman: ‘Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away’. The great women poet of Sangam age Auvaiyar has said ‘Poverty and hunger drives away ten virtues that are important to the humanity. DHAN is working towards poverty reduction through its programmes. “Mothering development innovations is one of the key strengths of DHAN Foundation, as it is continuously on the look out of new development themes that can potentially impact the communities. Building of two scalable models such as Kalanjiam enabling the model of microfinance and Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development model are the significant achievements of DHAN Foundation. Through both of these themes we could reach out to about half a million poor families” he said.
“Building professionals to build the community is the next achievement. A movement that was started with a few professionals in 1997, has grown consistently and today there are about 650 professionals committed to work for the upliftment of the poor. Creating an identity for the poor through building peoples’ organizations, partnering with the mainstream and other agencies to bring continuity and self-reliance in those organizations, up scaling the themes for reaching out and impacting a significant number of poor families are the major achievements” he shared.
He further reinforced that DHAN Foundation was always at the forefront in sharing its grassroots experience to bring about changes in the policies favorable to the poor. All these years it has been conscious in building and sharing knowledge with its stakeholders. One of its recent initiatives of facilitating and nurturing philanthropy for development has gained very good acceptance among the public and corporates, he added. DHAN Foundation has promoted Kalanjiam and Vayalagam peoples’ movements to build a new and value based social order, which is the ultimate goal of the Foundation.
He gratefully acknowledged all the funding agencies that supported the Foundation from the very beginning especially the OXFAM Novib, Ford Foundation, Sir Ratan Tata Trust for their continuing support.
Mr. Vasimalai has finally declared that deepening of the ongoing themes, sanitation and education, concentrating on the development of tribal, promoting grassroots democracy, expanding DHAN Foundation’s work in other countries, collaborating with many more organizations/agencies, pioneering in development works as some of the areas of a way forward for the Foundation in the coming decade.
Go to top Unveiling of Foundation Stone for new building for DHAN
 Dr. John Ambler unveiled the foundation stone for the new building of DHAN Foundation central office and convention centre in a meeting that was presided by the district Collector of Madurai Mr. T. Udayachandran. While delivering the felicitation address, after unveiling the Foundation stone, Dr. John Ambler said that the foundation stone laid here speaks not only about the stability, creativity, feasibility, credibility and strength but also the determination, purpose, philosophy and progressive outlook of an organisation. The District Collector who has more than 10 years of association with DHAN lauded the activities of the Foundation, and told that the proposed training for the government officials by DHAN Foundation’s Tata-Dhan Academy would help them have a better outlook of the development issues and enhance the skills of implementation.
Go to top Vayalagam Foundation launched
 Vayalagam Foundation, the second subsidiary of DHAN Collective was launched symbolically by the representatives of Vayalagams from 16 regions pouring the water they brought with them in the tank model thus proving their unity of working for the cause of water. The representatives from five Vayalagam Federations then handed over the Vayalagam Jyothi fund amounting to Rs. 1,77, 994 to the Vayalagam Movement leader, Mr. Duraisamy. The Movement Leader then contributed Rs. One lakh of this jothi fund to the corpus fund of the Vayalagam Foundation.
Shri. D.N. Das, Indian Representative of Huguenin Ralapalli Foundation was present on the occasion. A MoU was exchanged with them for funding support for renovating four Ooranis in the villages of Mudukulathur block.
Prof. C.R. Shanmugam, Programme Officer, Vayalagam Foundation was felicitated for his life time contribution to the tank irrigation sector. The audience gave a standing ovation to show their respect to him. Dr. John Ambler in his felicitation address said that professor has transferred his wisdom to the people and to the organisation. He said that knowledge when practised gets transformed to wisdom and wisdom again helps gaining more knowledge.
Go to top Water Resource Centre initiated
Mr. Bryan fofonoff, CAWST, Canada and Prof. R.K Sivanappan, Former Director, Water technology Centre, TamilNadu Agriculture University and Former member of State Planning Commission, Chennai have launched the Water Resource Centre. The Centre is set up to help communities get access to safe drinking water by undertaking various activities like water literacy, identifying relevant methods and technologies for the access to safe water that are cost effective and culturally acceptable, and educating the people about the importance of water quality and help them take efforts to improve the quality of their drinking water.
The centre aims at bringing about a reduction in the incidence of water related diseases through water literacy and adoption of appropriate practices and technology. It would help in capacity building of the people and other organizations on the need for safe drinking water and use of appropriate technology, and act as a watchdog to monitor the quality of water and share the results widely. The experiences and best practices would be documented and disseminated among the other development stakeholders to promote the access to safe drinking water. A network and partnership will be build with other agencies for the promotion and provision of safe drinking water.
The activities will increase awareness of the link between contaminated water and disease, the benefits of safe water and good hygiene behaviour, and ultimately better quality of life.
Go to top Release of Kodaangi film
 The film Kodaangi produced by Centre for Development Communication was released in the function. The purpose of producing the film is to create awareness about safe drinking water among the villagers. The film will be screened in the villages by using the mobile van. The actors of the film and artists shared their experiences.
Go to top DHAN International launched
 DHAN Foundation launched the DHAN International with its registered office at the Netherlands. The Friends of DHAN (FoD), Netherlands financially supported the expenses of registering DHAN International. Speaking on the occasion Ms. Annette Houtekamer Van Dam, the key person involved in both these initiatives said that the work of DHAN Foundation was professionalized over ten years. People were empowered and organized. To facilitate the upscaling of DHANs work in other countries need of DHAN International is felt and FoD – Netherland is supporting this philosophy.
DHAN International will help raise financial, technical, human and other resources for advancing the work of DHAN in the global arena. It will ebable DHAN to influence the pro poor polices at the international level. It would also help set up country chapters to support the development work of DHAN in India and in those respective countries.
The first initiative of DHAN International in promoting its Kalanjiam enabling model of microfinance is in Senegal, Africa. Ms. Soukenya BA, chairperson of FDEA an NGO in Senegal participated in the occasion. She has been working for women empowerment for a very long time. She is one of the founding members of INAFI (International Network for Alternate Financial Institutions) and is currently the Executive Director of INAFI International, Senegal. She was a minister in the government of Senegal. She has been to India several times and has been inspired by our model and has come forward to extend all support for taking this model to her country. A MoU was exchanged between DHAN Foundation and FEDA that marked the entry of Kalanjiam model to Africa where a difference in the lives of the poor can be made through it.
Go to top DHAN Malaysia and DHAN Singapore - helping hands to the Indian migrants
 People from villages in India go in search of employment to Singapore and Malaysia without knowing the horrors that await them there if their documents and contracts are not proper. The plight of those caught there is pathetic and they are stuck unable to manage their daily life there. Similarly, a lot of the Indians in Malaysia and Singapore barring the professionals are very poor and marginalized due to the globalization and various other factors.
A team was identified to address these issues. Dr. Shanmugha Siva, Dr. Somasundram and Dr. Madhavan from Malaysia and Ms. Lakshmi working at the office of the High Commissioner of India in Singapore are among the team. They have their roots in India and their desire to do something for their fellow Indians both in Malaysia and Singapore is very high. This team of volunteers is keen on spearheading the DHAN Malaysia and DHAN Singapore initiative to help in addressing the issues faced by the migrants and the Indians there. A two pronged approach of working on this issue simultaneously in both home and the host countries has been undertaken.
All the volunteers lighted the lamp as a mark of the launches.
Go to top II Development Film Festival - not for entertainment but for creating awareness
 The Centre for Development Communication of DHAN Foundation conducted II Development Film Festival on the theme Water & Life at Gandhi Museum during 28th - 30th September 2006. 12 films were screened to the public and three best films were selected among them. The two documentaries Sumit Roy’s Capital water – The story of Delhi’s 24×7 and Sanjay Barnela’s Hunting Down water won the first and second prize respectively. Consolation prize was awarded to G. Ponraj’s Thannikkasu. The results were declared on the foundation day and G. Ponraj, a student from Madurai Kamraj University received the prize.
Amit Mitra a Development Journalist in Delhi and one among the judges presented the award. He said “such film makers should be appreciated and encouraged to give more such products. These films should also be screened in all schools and colleges allover India”
Go to top Community Radio at Nagapattinam
Ms. Soukenya BA chairperson of FDEA and Executive Director of INAFI International, Senegal turned the knob of a model radio and initiated the Community Radio Project . The project is initiated in Nagapattinam District as part of rehabilitation initiatives in the tsunami affected areas. UNDP, VOICES and DHAN Foundation are the three partners in the project. DHAN Foundation will develop content and will narrow cast initially and will try for broadcasting over the period. The content will be made available to the community at all the Village Information Centers promoted by DHAN Foundation. The United Nations Development Programme provides the funding support.
Go to top Induction ceremony
 The newly graduated 122 DHANites received their certificates from Mr.Frank Bakx, Programme Manager, Rabobank Foundation, the Netherlands as a mark of their induction. The new DHANites vow their dedication and service for the welfare of the poor.
Mr. Frank Bakx, while congratulating all the graduating staff, told that all the idealistic youth were converted to be committed professionals to render their service to the poor. Leadership is a mix of skill, capability and character. While skill and capability can be improved the character should be complimented with what was learned in the recent past. The internal drive and motivation are two important things that have to come from within everyone and directed in right direction.
Go to top New collaborations
 New collaborations were announced with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in the areas of disaster preparedness, watershed management and agriculture related activities and with ICRISAT in the areas of rainfed farming, watershed management and information sharing using Information technology.
A MoU was exchanged with Centre for Environment and Science for drinking water quality, monitoring and water watch, and development of drinking water Oorani. Similarly Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand has collaborated with DHAN Foundation for International Programme on Water for Development Practitioners by exchanging a MoU.
Donatus, a Mutual Insurance Company in The Netherlands entered into a MoU with the Federation Mutuals at Pudur for three years. The company would assist in the insurance programme of the federation by granting Mutual Solvency fund of Rs.16 lakhs for three years. Mr. Simon, Donatus gave the agreement to Ms. Meena, President of the Pudur Federation.
Repco Bank has come forward to be our second national affiliate in India to adopt the Kalanjiam model. The first affiliate being Samaj Pragathi Sahayog a NGO based in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Manicka Sundaram the Project Director from Repco Bank, Chennai shared his experience on the occasion.
Go to top Dialogue Session – Water, poverty, health and gender interlinked
The session on “Water and Poverty” was handled by Dr. John Ambler, Senior Vice President, Oxfam America; U.S.A. Dr. John Ambler has a rich experience of water resource across the developing countries of Asia. He has spent many years in Indonesia on issues related to water management a field in which he has an international reputation. His inspiring guidance to Anna University and DHAN Foundation, led to a new understanding in tank irrigation management. Presently he is working with Oxfam America as senior Vice President for programmes.
Contribution of people in a meaningful way to its maintenance, social objectives considered along with production or revenue generation, considering tank as a community asset, part of the community’s heritage, even as it produces benefit for individuals are some aspects depicting the good governance of tanks..
The tanks must be improved from the view of agricultural productivity and security, community viability and the management systems must be improved from the view of sustainability. Rehabilitating tanks is not charity but investment. It is providing opportunities for poor people to allow them to gain access to resources from the tank as well as to gain short term employment from the rehabilitation of tank. These investments create rights. It is also an opportunity to improve the fairness of the distribution of benefits from the tank and to strengthen solidarity and common purpose.
The dialogue session on ‘Health, Gender and Poverty: Evidence, Issues and Solutions’ was dealt by Dr. Nirmala Murthy. She is in the field of health for about four decades with a rich experience in research and teaching. She is presently the president of Foundation for Research in Health Systems, Bangalore.
The Gender dimension is added to poverty and health recently though poverty and ill health are very old and well known problems. Poor people in India, especially women, are highly exposed to the added burden of health risks. They need both primary and preventive care and tertiary and curative care that they can afford. But they do not have both in spite of the health infrastructures that were created. Public services free for them are poorly staffed and equipped whereas private services are too expensive. They therefore approach the informal sector which makes them vulnerable to a higher health risk. Poor do not expect health services to be free. But they expect essential health services to be made available at a price they can afford.
Recognizing that poverty leads to ill health which in turn leads to more poverty, governments of highly indebted poor countries around the world have adopted the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals. There have been several reform attempts in India and elsewhere both in government and NGO sector that tell us what works and what does not, in providing health care to the poor. One policy that seems to work better than giving free care is to allow primary care facilities to retain user charges. Another policy is to get economically well off users to cross subsidize services for the poor. The two main pitfalls that affect our ability to reach services to the poor are corruption and negative attitudes of health staff towards the poor.
NGO sector accounts for a significant share for the health services in many developing countries, but not in India. NGO’s involvement is very important when dealing with poor people because an NGO usually ensures that poor people are treated with dignity and respect.
From the analysis, it is clear that the public health sector operates on a very large scale. It is resource rich and maintains some competency levels but highly corrupt. Private sector is closer to the clients and is more acceptable to them. But it has its own limitations in term of competency and accountability. Government partnering with this sector will improve this. NGO sector has a good reputation of providing health care to the poor but has a limited reach. NGO can be innovative, efficient and sensitive to the needs of the poor. In other words, its strength lies exactly in areas where the government is weak. Therefore in a constructive partnership with NGO, government would be able to avail health services to the poor.
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