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Krishna Patury Aranyika Site Visit
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Aranyika Visit Report - Dec13th, 2011
This was my first visit to Aranyika or any of the projects that AID had/has been supporting. It took me a
while to schedule the visit as Mrs.Malini and the Aranyika team members were in Delhi representing
the local Dalit groups participating in a cultural event organized by the Government of India.
Started from Vizag at 8.00AM and reached Paderu by about 11.30AM. We were received by Mr.Raj
Kumar and a few folks who had come to the Aranyika office to speak about their issues. Met with Mrs.
Malini who gave us an overview of what their activities were and how she happened to start the
organization a few years ago. She put me in touch with Ms.Kusuma, the legal advisor supporting the
legal desk, who expressed her observation of how the legal desk had proved to be very helpful in
creating a platform for people to boldly bring up issues and identify solutions. Chinni , who is the
current first point of contact for the legal desk also arrived. She shared some pictures of their recent
trip to Delhi. It was great to see the sense of pride as the photos were passed around.
Right after, a great lunch was served by Mrs.Raj Kumar and a few other ladies at the location. All of the
representatives from the youth association had gathered and were waiting eagerly. Each of them
introduced themselves and started talking about any issues which they thought Aranyika helped with
over the past few years. One of them presented me with a few petitions that they had written
themselves and submitted regarding the Tabelugummi dam work.
As were beginning to wrap up, one of the ladies sitting quietly beside me until then said she wanted to
express her case. She was married to a person who had gotten married to somebody else within a few
months and disowned her as a wife. She had approached Aranyika's legal desk and with their support,
filed a case against him which was resolved favorably by the court in a span of six months (which I
thought was pretty quick). To my query as to what her future plans were, she replied that she would be
helping Aranyika in their activities. What made a mark with me in this incident was the fact that she
found it within her by the end of the meeting to bring up her topic in a group of about 20 people and
speak about the injustice she faced. That I believe is a great start for what Aranyika is trying to achieve in
those regions. That seemed to be a common trend of development.
I spoke to a few other ladies who had been involved with Aranyika for the past few years, and they
expressed similar confidence. One of them said that they were no longer afraid of the Police like they
were before and had the grit and determination to pursue their rights when questioned.
Anand Rao one of the youth association representatives, sang a very meaningful song that he had
written himself about a woman who killed herself as a result of pressure for Dowri. It was very inspiring
to see such talent and earnest interest in spreading awareness. Folks ran around a bit to perform
Dhimsa, a traditional dance done to celebrate any occasion of happiness but could not find the right
tools for it. Meanwhile the District Magistrate whom Mrs. Malini had tried to contact earlier also called
back and had great things to say about the credibility of the Aranyika group and the amount of trust
they had gained in the local folks.
During our conversations, Mrs.Mailini had mentioned that there was a high school in Paderu which
some of the local kids were attending and graduating from. However these children did not exhibit the
skill set of an average child their age. She expressed her interest in starting a new school out there with
proper staff to address this issue. She also expressed her thoughts about opening a Nature
Cure/massage resort at Paderu to help raise funds.
Overall, the work being done by Aranyika is commendable and inspirational. It is hitting the mark with
respect to bringing about confidence and self-reliance in dealing with their communities issues.
Personally, I could not identify the primary means of income for the local people that the youth
organizations were representing. An interesting suggestion by an aunt of mine who accompanied me on
the visit, was why not provide sewing machines and training to use them (or something of that sort)
which would provide them a sustainable means of income. That would also perhaps lead to self-
empowerment in addition to the great work Aranyika is already doing.