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Just finished a new paper in what’s become an interesting – and fun – new area for me. Our research examines the factors that are associated with smoking and obesity – two significant health problems and contributors to leading causes of death.

There’s been a lot of research on smoking and obesity among individuals and some which looks at geographic patterns. Still, what we find is interesting. There is considerable variation in smoking and obesity across states. And smoking and obesity are both closely associated with post-industrial socioeconomis structures, that is high levels of knowledge; professional, creative work; and high levels of college-educated adults. The results holds even when we control for the level of economic output.

What this all seems to mean is that places that have transitioned to postindustrialism go beyond economics and innovation. In addition to generating better-paying jobs and having higher levels of income and innovation, these sorts of places appear to have better health outcomes as well, and they do so in ways that go beyond the effects of just higher levels of economic output. The effects of these structures work in addition to the effects of Gross State Product per capita. The full paper is here.

RT @WallStAndMain: Reuters BreakingViews: Coke Adopts Move It Scorned: Th evolution of consumer behavior… http://bit.ly/d1W5Ex # Retail vacancy rate in Tampa Bay shopping centers grows to 10.5 percent – St. Petersburg Times http://shar.es/mXCKc via @sharethis # Watch Buxton's webcast on How Public Libraries use Analytics to Drive Key Business Decisions. http://tinyurl.com/yl3rvph # 0

RT @WallStAndMain: Reuters BreakingViews: Coke Adopts Move It Scorned: Th evolution of consumer behavior… http://bit.ly/d1W5Ex # Retail vacancy rate in Tampa Bay shopping centers grows to 10.5 percent – St. Petersburg Times http://shar.es/mXCKc via @sharethis # Watch Buxton's webcast on How Public Libraries use Analytics to Drive Key Business Decisions. http://tinyurl.com/yl3rvph #

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Bawana Resettlement colony is situated in the North West of Delhi. This colony is one of the 3 new locations chosen by GFA to expand its activities in 2010.

According to the interviews held, more than 60000 people are currently living in the 11 blocks of this colony. Most of the inhabitants were earlier living in the Yamuna Pushta area. Bawana is said to have an overall capacity of 12,000 plots.

 

1. Occupation and Income

 

The majority of people living there are daily wage earners. Among the men, some go to Chandi Chowk or to West Delhi to ride rickshaws. Others go to market places such as Azadpur or Keshavpur to sell vegetables. Few also go to commercial areas in Chawri bazaar and Chandni Chowk to load goods. Some of them work as laborers in Bawana, Narela, Khanjawala or nearby villages.

Women and children as well work in nearby factories in low skills types of occupation. According to the interviewees, the pay is extremely low. They get paid Rs 6 for making 1000 boxes in a day or Rs 10 for making 100 beads. The amount collected is far from the minimum wages. Few women also travel to Rohini to work as maid. They leave their house as early as 5 in morning and reach back home at 10pm.

The average household monthly income is between Rs 1500-3000 depending on number of people working in the family.

 

2. Facilities

(i) Water

Water is provided through tube well boring and is extremely dirty. There have been reports about health problems in the area due to the pollution of water.

 

(ii)Ration

The ration providing process is not efficient in Bawana. Adequate quantity is an issue, the dealer is said to use incorrect measurement tools. However, people prefer to stay quiet as if they tried to complain they could be refused their ration. In families where only one person works, ration service is a crucial help.

In addition, number of ration cards was burnt during fires, a quite frequent phenomenon in the colony. Obtaining a new card means more than 5-6 visits to the concerned department and consequently a heavy loss of daily wages.

 

(iii) Health

There is only one government dispensary with an irregular doctor’s attendance providing for the needs of the whole colony. Inhabitants mostly depend on health facilities provided by NGOs.

 

(iv)Education
There are five primary schools in the colony and one middle school. Children have to go outside the colony for higher schooling.  36 Anganwadi are present but their service is said to be extremely bad. 

Many children in the colony do not go to school because they work in nearby factories or have to look after their younger siblings because their parents are working.

 

There are many organizations in Bawana already working on non-formal education or alternate schooling but education still remains a crucial problem. People complain that girls drop out of school after 8th standard, to continue they would have to travel far outside the colony. There is thus a strong demand that the school within Bawana should provide classes till 12th standard.

In addition, serious cases of ill-treatment by school teacher have happened. A girl died in the colony because of harsh corporal punishment.

 

(v)Transport

The bus frequency is sufficient but as the colony is located far from main centres traveling time is very long.

 

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Janta Mazdoor colony is situated in Jaffrabad area, near the Welcome Metro Station (East Delhi). This colony is one of the 3 new locations chosen by GFA to expand its activities in 2010.

 

1. History

 

The Janta Mazdoor colony was set up 32 years ago. It’s an unauthorized colony. Initially when people started coming here, they took available land from the local pradhan at rates set by him, even if he was not the owner of the land. Over the years they have started building pucca houses. However, 10% of the population still stays in kutcha houses. The current population of the area is close to 60000 persons (according to the inhabitants interviewed).There is 14 blocks in the area; it’s a mixed religious colony with both Muslim and Hindu residing here. In 1992 there was a riot like situation but since then the colony has remained calm and there have been no communal tension. People mainly arrived from the state of UP, Bihar, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.

 

2. Occupation and Income

 

Most of the people in the colony are daily wage earners. They are rickshaw pullers, have their own cart in market, sell vegetables and so on. Stitching is also a major occupation here. Blue-jeans are stitched locally from raw materials provided by dealers outside the colony. Many houses have small stitching units within their house. The average monthly income is Rs 2500-3000.

 

3. Facilities available

(i) Water

Till recently water tankers used to be stationed very far from the colony and filling water was a difficult task. Things have improved slightly, now the tankers come in the morning near the colony. Women and children are mainly the ones who fill water every day. In addition, even if some people have hand-pumps in front of their houses, they are not getting water due to decreasing water levels.

 

(ii) Toilet and sanitation

There are few houses which have toilet facilities and due to lack of proper method of getting it cleaned it has added to woes of people in the colony. The waste from these toilets is cleared on the lanes of colony itself causing a crucial sanitation and health issue. Community toilets are present as well and are used by the inhabitants. At night most people do not go to the toilets because there are no guards and therefore defecate near the colony itself.

The daily garbage is collected from each household and thrown in a dustbin outside if not salable.

 

 

 

(iii) Schooling and education

Children attend the primary schools found nearby the colony. However, the colony witnesses a high dropout phenomenon after class 5.

Some children attend remedial classes set up by various NGOs like Chetnalaya and tuition centers as well.

The crucial problem however is the Anganwadi. The Anganwadis are not found within the colony but in a different locality. The inhabitants have approached the responsible officers and asked them to set up centers within colony without any avail since. Mothers complain that the distance is too far to drop children daily. Moreover the food quality is very poor.

 

(iv) Health

Health issue is the biggest concern of the inhabitants. Only private doctors and clinics are available nearby and therefore their services are costly. Sometimes to access free or less expensive services the patients have to spend money on travel. People also complain that doctors are very rude.

 

(v) Unemployment

Youths who have dropped out of school, most of the time, do not have work. Once in a while they hear about small tasks and work on them but most of the time they are unemployed. There are courses running for girls in GRC but for men there is still no work and training either.

 

(vi) Legal training

There have been legal trainings provided to women members of the Mahila panchayat. Few have also filed RTIs to build their cases but learning from these trainings has not been shared to a wide range of persons and very few are the ones who use it. Amongst other problems, there are still people who do not have ration card or people with wrong information written on their ration card who therefore cannot access government services.

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Sanjay Camp is situated in Chanakyapuri area, near the Embassy of Nigeria and the Rail Museum. This colony is one of the 3 new locations chosen by GFA to expand its activities in 2010.

 

1. History

 

Some of the inhabitants of Sanjay Camp have lived there for the past 30 years; “This used to be embassy area. We had come here to construct the nearby embassies and tin roofs were placed at this site for our work. Even after embassies construction was completed we continued to stay here in the same manner. Slowly we stated constructing permanent structures”.

Most of the people are migrants from the states of UP, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Bengal. According to the people met, the illegal colony counts close to 6000 households.

 

2. Occupation & income

 

The majority of the inhabitants are daily wage earners such as construction workers. Some of them travel to Navada, Noida, Gurgaon or any other place where some construction work is happening. The women earn daily wages as well. Few of them work as maids in the nearby area of Moti Bagh. The average household monthly income is Rs 2500-3000.

 

(i) Unemployment

This problem concerns mostly young people. Girls of the community learnt how to stitch and do some tailoring but did not find work related to these skills. Similarly, batches of boys were trained into computer skills, TV & radio maintenance but have also not found work in these sectors. According to the persons met, the unemployment of youth is a crucial problem of the community and training classes without placement or business creation support is useless.

 

3. Infrastructure & Services available

 

(i) Education situation

There are 8 anganwadi in the community for children within the age group of 1 to 6. For the primary level, there is one NDMC School till class 5. For higher schooling children go to the neighbouring areas of Moti Bagh or Bapu Dham.

Several cases of drop out exist in families where older children have to look after their younger siblings. The highest rates of drop-out appears in classes 6, 7 and 8.

 

(ii) Water

Water comes to the colony but is very erratic. There is one tap for most of the people living there. The tap is located inside a ditch which gets filled with dirty water during the monsoon thus creating a sanitation risk. Sometimes, people just get muddy water from the tap. The water usually comes for 1 hour only during which a high number of families have to collect it. This creates such problems that some people choose to cycle and get water from other areas like Rose Garden or Bapu Dham.

 

(iii) Electricity

Electricity is supplied to every house for free (no electricity bills). Sometimes the community comes together to get things, such as transformers or wires, mended.

 

(iv) Ration

In the colony, the ration service is very limited. People have to go as far as Race Course or Teen Murti to collect their monthly ration. While rice and wheat are regularly available, sugar is not. People suspect that the dealers often put fake signatures against sugar supplied.

 

(v) Transport

From the main road, the bus service is good and regular. 

 

(vi) Health

There are no general health services available in the colony. The inhabitants have to travel to Moti Bagh for check-ups or emergencies. This situation becomes more difficult during night time. The only health activities going on in the colony are children immunization and pregnancy check-ups carried out by the anganwadi centres.

 

(vii) Sanitation

There is one toilet in the colony which has close to 21 seats. However, some of the people living near the railway also use them. Hence, the actual number of users is over the prescribed limits. Moreover, regular water is supplied for men but not for women. According to the people met this situation is explained by the fact that men pay Rs 1 for utilization and Rs 5 for washing of cloth but that the use of toilet is free for ladies. Hence, according to them the women toilets are badly maintained.

The waste collection is well organized. An NDMC dustbin is placed outside the colony and garbage is regularly taken out.

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Child Survival India

Email : csi_org@hotmail.com / www.childsurvival-india.org

 

General activities

Integrated approach to development with a prime focus on health and gender issues is the basic theme of all programs. The organization works on issue of children and other groups like women in distress ,people living with HIV ,Adolescent girls, truckers, commercial sex workers etc. 

The programs include Primary Health Care, reproductive & Child health, HIV prevention amongst truckers & sex workers, Gender Resource Centre, care & support to people living with HIV/AIDS, Legal literacy and formation of Mahila Panchayats and Adolescent development programs.

 

Programs in Savda Ghevra

Child Survival India program on Health started in April 2008. As of now the program is envisaged to run till September 2011.

 

Overall goal

To strengthen and enhance the primary health care facilities in the Savda Ghevra resettlement colony and develop its linkages with public health system to improve the health status, especially the maternal and child health status in the communities.

 

Activities:

1.       OPDs

CSI and GFA opened four OPDs in the different blocks of the community. Two of these OPDs have paid services, while afternoon shift in the Directorate of Health Services dispensary and the OPD at GMR are getting support for medicines etc. from the resources of these respective agencies. The OPDs run 6 days a week, each with a set of full time team, including a Doctor, an ANM, and a clinic attendant etc. Through a nominal consultation charge of Rs. 5, the patient is given a 2 day dose of basic medicines.

 

2. Swasthya Samooh’s

A group of 10-15 members were mobilized for every 200 families, resulting in a total of 25 groups in the entire community. These groups were formed to ensure the long term sustainability of the program by building up the community’s capacity. In the first year the members of these groups have been provided knowledge & skills on primary health care issues, with special focus on maternal & child health issues. The focus now is to make them the change agents in the community.

 

3. Organizing Health Camps

A series of specialized Health Camps run in order to complement the General Physicians at the OPD’s and to cater to the diverse health needs of the community e.g. Eye check up, Dental camps, skin and VD, breast cancer, orthopedic problems etc.

4. Emergency transportation facility

Ambulance service is provided through the system of ‘Suraksha Van 24×7’ in the project area for ensuring availability of vehicle at the time of health emergency.

 

Staff, monitoring mechanism

There are 13 members engaged in health project In Savda Ghevra including the project coordinator, Doctors, ANMs and community health educators.

Monthly reports are sent by the organization to the funders as well as Growth for All. Assigned staff from Growth for All submits reports based on observation, interaction with project beneficiary, staff, and swastha samoohs members. Quarterly meetings are held between Directors of both the organization.

 

 

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Dr. Reddy’s Foundation

 

 info@drreddysfoundation.org / www.drreddysfoundation.org

 

Programs

Set up in 1996, Dr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF) is a non-profit partner of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.

The Foundation’s major programs aim at poverty alleviation in the country through promotion of quality education and livelihood advancement for young people. Livelihood Advancement Business School (LABS), one of the flagship programs of DRF, is a new-economy livelihood promotion- training program which is exclusively designed for school dropouts/ unemployed secondary school graduates/ street youth/ retrenched workers/ migrant youth. The program supports both employment opportunity oriented workforce training as well as tiny and micro-enterprise development.

In the Education sector, DRF seeks to spread quality education through its Pudami Neighborhood Schools, Transit Education Centers, YUVA Youth Learning Centers, Altius Advancement School, Kallam Anji Reddy Vidyalaya and Vocational Junior College.

 

Program in Savda Ghevra:

105 students underwent an intensive training under the LABS program. After the successful training, the students were placed into various organizations. Many of the individuals were placed into corporate organizations like Pizza Hut, Spencers, Radha Krishna Hospitality Services and in addition to this few also started their own micro-entrepreneurship. In total, close to 90 individuals found jobs after the completion of the training.

 

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Hasmukh Kala

 Website under construction.

 

Programs

Hasmukh Kala Trust, founded by Mr. Hemchandra Javeri is a dedication to his grand-mother, Hirabai Javeri, a renowned artiste, who along with her sister, Shyamalabai Mazgaonkar, initiated the Swami Samarth Sangeet Vidyalaya, in 1929. With dedication, passion, caring and commitment, they taught music to women from all walks of life. Along with music, women also learnt how to live their lives with self-confidence and dignity. They built a Hindustani classical music school for women, by women and of women.

 

Hasmukh Kala uses art in the form of music and dance to bring. about transformation and empowerment of women’. Music has often enabled talented people from different backgrounds and cultures achieve incredible things. Hasmukh Kala identifies such hidden talent, provides quality education, support, infrastructure and environment to them, and acts as a catalyst to help transform their lives.

 

Program in Savda Ghevra:

 

Hasmukh Kala was introduced in Savda Ghevra, by with Growth-for-All, in April 2008. The project in Savda addresses over 120 young girls and women, and a few boys. With classes being held twice a week, on Saturdays and Sundays, under the tutelage of a dynamic and committed “Guru Ji”, the children get an excellent exposure to the wonderful world of music.  Based on the number of children participating, the students are divided into three groups or classes. The first two groups are for girls, and focus on music and dance, while the third group is for boys with a keen interest in learning how to play musical instruments like the guitar, harmonium, drums and tabla. Since starting in April 2008, Hasmukh Kala has generated tremendous amount of interest among children who never miss a day of practice. The enthusiasm can be seen in their participation in “The Independence Day Concert” inside the community. The concert saw coming together of children with unique talent and improvising their ability to perform.

 

The interest shown by children has led the Hasmukh Kala Foundation to distribute scholarships to extremely promising and talented children. 5 children from Savda’s Hasmukh Kala were provided a scholarship of amount Rs 1000 in the month of November, 2008.

 

The extremely successful journey thus far has motivated Hasmukh Kala to expand its work in Savda Ghevra. Going forward, Hasmukh Kala plans to reach out to older women of the community besides providing advanced training to promising and talented children who have crossed the first stage

 

Staff and Monitoring:

 Hasmukh kala is operated by team of two, The Music teacher and program coordinator. Growth for All receives weekly update from the program coordinator. The field coordinator of Growth for All also reports his observation on weekly basis.

 

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GRAS Academy

 

 info@grasacademy.in / www.grasacademy.in

 

Programs

GRAS Academy is an initiative of graduates from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta who share a common desire to bring about social change by empowering unemployed and out-of-work youth with vocational skills to make them employable, capable of earning a livelihood and supporting their families. In 2008 GRAS launched its specialist division - Skill Development and Employment Centre (SD & EC), an expansion to encompass skills development across a variety of industry verticals in which skills are increasingly needed in smaller cities and towns.

GRAS Academy works in both urban and rural areas, delivering programmes that support individual, corporate and government initiatives offering vocational training, skills development and support, and employment opportunities. GRAS is a Retailers Association of India (RAI) certified Vocational Training Provider. GRAS is a Government of India (DGE&T) certified Vocational Training Provider

GRAS Vocational Education and Training (VET) : It offers vocational training modules in the hospitality and retail sectors, complemented with life-skills, for urban youth seeking training in order to become more ‘employable’; it offers companies tailor-made programmes to upgrade existing staff skill levels, and to recruit new staff with essential basic skills.

GRAS Skills Development and Employment Centre (SD&EC): It provides skills training tied in with job placements for Indian youth living in the smaller cities, towns and rural areas.

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Deepalaya

http://www.deepalaya.org/

Programs:

They work in more than 35 projects and our focus is distributed to the following areas:

Education : Deepalaya aims to promote and provide qualitative education at affordable costs to children and communities, which are socially and economically deprived. They have established 337 educational centers where 50,000 beneficiaries are educated through formal and non-formal education.

 

Institutional Care : Under this program children living on the streets, in need of shelter, care are provided shelter and better life at the hostel in Deepalaya Gram, in village Gusbethi in the state of Haryana.

 

Vocational Training: The Vocational training centers seek to provide better jobs to young adults from marginalized communities. It runs a training center in Khirki village which provides training on various courses

 

Health : the Community Health program focuses on preventive and promoting health. Through various health related interventions, Deepalaya have been able to reach out to 64,436 beneficiaries in 76 locations of Delhi’s slums.

 

Differently-Abled : Disability became an important core of Deepalaya work. The first breakthrough was setting up of Centre for Special Children at Deepalaya School, Sanjay Colony. In 2008, the Centre shifted to Gandhi Basti and has been making life better for many children since then.

 

Gender Equity:  Working in the Mewat region of Haryana where gender discrimination is rampant, Deepalaya started a comprehensive program on Self Help Groups in 1999. Until 2005 it has covered 308 groups with 3216 women in all 84 villages of the Tavru Block. The movement is also being implemented in the slum locations of Delhi.

Empowering NGOs

Deepalaya acts as resource and training institute to other ngos. It organizes capacity building workshops for several ngo’s.

 

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MARG, Multiple Action Research Group

 

Programs

The organization works on socio-legal issues related to discriminated and marginalized groups both at the mass level and at the level of policy makers. MARG is a forerunner in the sphere of legal empowerment through legal literacy workshops and undertaking action research on socio –legal issues. A majority of MARG’s legal awareness workshops aim at creating a cadre of women paralegal at the community level. MARG has trained over 300 persons per year, such as lawyers, police, teachers, panchayat members, community mobilisers, self help groups, etc. 80% of the persons trained are women.

MARG is a pioneer in creating legal training materials and advocacy tools, notably “Hamare Kanoon” and “Bol Basanto”- a 10 episode film on women’s rights. In addition, MARG has produced posters, literacy pamphlets, and radio programs on issues related to violence against women .MARG’s action research work relating to displacement, rehabilitation, personal laws, laws relating to rape have all addressed issues affecting women. MARG members have actively participated and contributed to law reform initiatives of the Law Commission, statutory national institutions and civil society networks.

 

Program in Savda Ghevra:

Legal Empowerment of community members: Under the program 15 Para-legals and 45 Community members are being trained on legal issues in Savda. This is done through a monthly workshop where a particular issue is discussed. The issues are very much related to lives of people and deals with concern of Rights, Law, and Police, Government department (Public Distribution systems, Education, Water, Sanitation and so on). Exposure visits are done. The objective is to provide adequate information and training to people in Savda so that they are able to take up issues concerning themselves from a legal stand-point.

 

Staff and Monitoring:

The workshops are conducted by trainers from MARG. Community mobilization is done by Growth for All. Feedback is taken from the participants after the workshops are conducted. Growth for -all members are presents during the workshop.

 

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Tata Consultancy Service – Corporate Adult Literacy Program (ALP) Group

www.tcs.com/cs

 

Program:

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organization. The CBFL programme teaches reading skills to illiterate adults, between the ages of 18-50 years, who have not

attended a formal school. It uses animated graphics and a voiceover to explain how individual alphabets combine to give structure and meaning to various words. The settings for the lessons are visually stimulating and crafted in a manner that learners can easily relate to. n CBFL is implemented using computers, which deliver the lessons (via puppet shows) in multimedia form to the learners. Supplementing computers in this process are reference textbooks or primers from the National Literacy

Mission (NLM) and State Resource Centres (SRC). TCS has adopted the NLM approach and has incorporated content from many of the NLM primers into its courses, as the NLM Primers are widely tested, readily available, and highly usable.

 

Program in Savda Ghevra:

 

The Corporate Adult Literacy Program was implemented in Savda and ran for a period of 6 months was classes for 20 women were held on daily basis. The computer based curriculum was imparted by local instructor who was trained by TCS. At the end of the course women were able to understand and learn basic of hindi varna mala (alphabets), words and sentences. However, due to dwindling attendance the course could not be extended for a longer period of time.

 

Staff and Monitoring:

 

A local instructor was recruited to take classes for women. Growth for All coordinator was responsible for mobilizing women and keeping daily records of the progress made.

 

 

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Maruti Driving School

 

http://www.marutidrivingschool.com/index.html

 

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has launched Maruti Driving School — its initiative for promoting safe driving. MDS tries to impart better driving skills and inculcate safe driving culture through special theoretical sessions for behavioural training and road sense. The school was the first to introduce advanced driving training simulator for better judgment and concept of route maps for holistic on-road practice. Training is imparted by trained instructors.. The certification of   Instructors comes after a tough evaluation process. There is use of advanced passenger car simulators for imparting driving training. The simulator familiarizes the trainee with car controls, before the trainee actually takes the car on road. It also simulates a variety of conditions such as night driving, hill driving, road and light conditions. It follows a curriculum that comprises comprehensive theory and practical sessions. The theoretical component focuses extensively on attitudinal and behavioural training and deals with the problem of road rage.

 

Program in Savda Ghevra

 

Maruti Driving School runs free classes for underprivileged youth. Youngsters belonging to below poverty line families are given opportunity to attend and learn the driving skill free of cost. 2 young men from Savda interested in learning driving and take it as a job opportunity underwent the training in Sarai Kale Khan, training center.

 

 

 

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Manas Foundation, a New Delhi-based registered trust, was founded in 2000 by a group of mental health professionals in response to their experience of the growing need for community-based mental healthcare.

Manas Foundation is one of GFA’s partners. Their team will be providing carrier counseling sessions to youths of Savda who will attend vocational training classes. In the meantime, Manas conducted series of workshop in Savda Ghevra during the past few weeks. The workshops aimed at better understanding the issues of mental health in community.  

What is the importance of goal settings ? How do we decide which means to use to achieve an end ? How context and environment play significant roles in our actions and decisions ? How different do young girls feel about work they do ? What women feel about being happy, conflict resolution and so on. All these topics were discussed with more than 150 community members and helped understand their problem solving approach.

Workshops were conducted in January 2010 with various groups : young male adults, young female adults, older women and Child Survival India’s staff, our implementing health project partner in Savda ghevra.  Who would have thought, a game of Bull’s eye could generate such valuable insights about our self! Participants in each group were asked to hit at various circles drawn on a board which were assigned points. While doing so, they had freedom to choose their standing point. While most of the participants hit at the smaller, inner circle which incidentally also had maximum number of points, few continued to aim at the circle even after misses. Some got affected by laughter of other participants after being missed the target; some were too focused to be affected by what other people did.

The discussion that followed helped participants understand that we often set unrealistic goals for ourselves without assessing our own capabilities. Goal setting is decided most of the time by what people around us think we should do. Sometimes we set unrealistic goals only to prove point to others. We also frequently fail to decide which means is the most appropriate to achieve our goal. At times, we continue to prefer the tougher path in spite of failure because we feel that choosing an easier path would make us laughing stock of people around us. Thus we fail to assess our own capacity and potential.

It was interesting to see that unlike boys, many young girls of Savda did not think much while aiming the target in the game. It also reflects on how they perceive their life in reality. Many said that they did not aim at any particular circle; they would have been happy if it had hit anywhere. There were also few who said that they concentrated hard and were happy even if the target hit was not the inner circle because something was better than nothing.

With women in Savda the focus of workshop was different. The aim was to understand how they felt about the problems in the colony, how they could be solved, if those problems disappeared would they then become happy; what does happiness mean to them and so on. It wasn’t surprising to see that women surrounded by so many problems couldn’t express what they liked. Most of them said that they liked doing household work; and few liked watching serials. But expressing what liking meant was a tedious task.

 

 

 

Child survival India’s team benefited immensely from the exercise where they were able to discuss their own prejudices while dealing with community health problems. For them interacting with Manas Foundation team was an important thing as it gave them an exposure to problems related to mental health.

 

 

The new Viewpoint has just been published. It presents a broad picture of the unemployed youths living in Savda, their aspirations and mindset as well as the constraints they face in building their future.

gfa-viewpoint2-youths-dec09.pdf

I just read an article about Uncovering the Frozen Yogurt Franchises and how consumers are faced with choosing between so many different frozen yogurt places. Many years ago we had Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins and TCBY as the main places to choose from. Now we have Pinkberry, Menchies, Red Mango and countless others. These new yogurt [...] 0

I just read an article about Uncovering the Frozen Yogurt Franchises and how consumers are faced with choosing between so many different frozen yogurt places. Many years ago we had Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins and TCBY as the main places to choose from. Now we have Pinkberry, Menchies, Red Mango and countless others. These new yogurt [...]

Take the Main Street Trends Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2010Trends

Main Street Arkansas Calendar March 1 – 5, 2010
**********************************************************************************
MONDAY
TUESDAY Greg, Caroline: Rogers- Resource Team; Nancy – Batesville (merchant visits); Cary – out
WEDNESDAY Greg, Caroline: Rogers – Resource Team
THURSDAY Greg, Caroline: Rogers – Resource Team; Cary, Susan, Nancy, Mark – Siloam Springs (merchant & board visit) & Rogers – Resource Team presentation
FRIDAY Greg, Caroline, Susan, Cary – Rogers
**********************************************************************************

IN THIS ISSUE:
Downtowns Critical to Economic Development
CA LEED Laws & Preservation at Conflict
Good MSA Press
Main Street Ozark in Talk Business Quarterly
List Your Heritage Month Event
Main Street Paragould Press
Input Requested for Press on “Arkansas Institutions”
Smart Growth Assistance – Letters of Interest Accepted


Downtowns Critical to Economic Development
http://www.talkbusiness.net/Weblogs/WeblogItemDetail.aspx?WebLogItemID=26aed39b-9437-4df4-8468-8b5d354c790f&WeblogID=2c1ca2ae-06e6-4883-9e3a-554f31d9db55

California LEED Laws & Historic Preservation at Conflict
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123861278

More Great Press from Rex Nelson
http://www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com/?p=709

Main Street Ozark in Talk Business Quarterly
http://mainstreetarkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/downtown-ozark-in-talk-business.html

List Your Heritage Month Events for Extra Publicity
Folks, if you have any activities scheduled for May, be sure and enter them at http://www.arkansasheritage.com/heritage_month/addevents2010.asp.

Main Street Paragould Press
http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2010/02/23/local_news/doc4b841588bd2a7568466088.txt

Input Requested for Arkansas Institutions
http://www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com/?p=688
Roby Brock of Talk Business Quarterly charged Rex Nelson with writing about “things, people, places that make Arkansas what it is — things you need to do or experience to really get your Arkansas bona fides.” Rex wants your input. Click on the link above if you have something you want to brag about.

Request for Letters of Interest: Smart Growth Implementation Assistance

Free technical assistance available!

The Development, Community, and Environment Division in EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is seeking applications for technical assistance from communities that want to incorporate smart growth in their future development to meet environmental and other community goals. This request is being coordinated under the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Staff from HUD and DOT will assist in the provision of this technical assistance.

Eligible entities are tribal, local, regional, and state governments, and nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity. Letters of interest are due at 3:00 pm EST, April 9, 2010.

EPA has identified some key topics in which communities are likely to benefit from technical assistance:

- climate change
- equitable development
- financing and planning infrastructure investments
- hazard mitigation plans
- removing local barriers to implementing LEED-ND
- suburban retrofit
- transportation solutions for rural communities and places without rail
- cities in transition (significant population loss, poverty, or economic deterioration)

Proposals are not limited to requests for technical assistance in only these thematic areas; other topics for assistance are welcome and encouraged, provided they demonstrate cutting-edge challenges and the possibility of replicable solutions. The type of work may incorporate policy analysis and review, planning and visioning processes, scorecard/ranking criteria development and assessment, and/or other elements pertinent to the role of the applicant.

Selected communities or states will receive assistance in the form of a multi-day visit from a team of experts organized by EPA, HUD and DOT and other national partners to work with local leaders. EPA plans to assist three to four communities over a period of twelve months. The Agency anticipates announcing the selected communities in fall of 2010.

For more information and application materials, visit http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/2010_0128_rfli.html.

Americans following the Olympics at home have been almost as pumped as their athletes are about their record haul of medals. “I have looked (at the medal count),” Viktoria Rebensburg told USA Today, after picking up a gold medal in the women’s giant slalom, “But I didn’t expect I could give a medal to this thing. I never thought that would happen, so it’s cool. And maybe we will win this.”

The United States hasn’t dominated a Winter Olympics since 1932. With 32 medals earned thus far, statistics guru Nate Silver predicts the U.S. will end the games with 34, ahead of Germany with 30, my adopted home-base of Canada with 26, and Norway with 23.

But wait a minute. The USA is a much bigger country than any of these. With 300 million-plus people it’s nearly four times the size of Germany, 10 times bigger than Canada, and 60-plus times bigger than Norway.

So with the help of my statistically minded colleagues at the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute, I decided to take a different kind of look. We rated and ranked medal performance by the size of each country’s population. We’ve dubbed this new ranking system the Winter Olympic Medals Per Capita Metric, WMPC for short, where we rank medals per one million people.

Now the results get interesting.

The U.S. ends up in 19th place, with roughly one medal per one million people, less than Australia and about the same as Poland. Germany ends up 14th and Canada ranks 10th with five times the take as the USA. The top finisher is tiny Norway with four-plus medals per one million of its people.

If Silver’s projections hold, the U.S. will end up in 21st place by the end of the games. Norway will top the list with five medals per one million people, followed by Austria in a distant second place with 1.9. Slovenia will come in third with 1.4, then Switzerland (1.3), Sweden (1.1), Latvia (1), Finland (.9), and Canada (.8).

What happens when we track medals historically, going back to 1924? The United States comes in 14th, with slightly less than 0.8 medals per one million people. Norway is far and away the dominant Winter Games force, taking home a whopping 62 medals per one million people. Scandinavia, the Nordic countries, and the European alpine nations are also powerhouses, with Finland earning 29, Austria 23, Switzerland 16, and Sweden 13. Estonia and the Netherlands produce about five medals per one million. Canada produces four – still five times the American rate and eighth overall. (Excluded from our analysis are the Soviet Union and several other former Eastern bloc nations that were initially bigger countries that have subsequently broken into smaller parts.)

Looked at this way, the USA seems a lot less dominant than it first appears.

BY MICHAEL TILLEY
TBQ Staff Writer

Craig Ferguson, the Scotland native who hosts The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, cracks blue and cutting jokes about presidents, popes and pretty much anything.

Except for Ozark, Arkansas.

Which says all you need to know about the Franklin County city of a little more than 3,500 people nestled comfortably and strategically between the Arkansas River, a major east-west Union Pacific rail route and Interstate 40.

And, seriously, Ferguson told David Letterman during an April 2007 Letterman show he stopped in the "lovely town" of Ozark where he first ate catfish. Ozark Mayor Vernon McDaniels sent Ferguson - who was not yet a naturalized U.S. citizen - a letter making him an honorary Ozark citizen.

The problem with Ferguson's "lovely town" moniker is that it's not good enough. The city has the potential to be a booming, dynamic city within the larger Fort Smith metropolitan area, says Jo Alice Blondin, Yvonne Case, Royce Gattis, Sandy Key and Eddie Melton.

Case, Franklin County administrator for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, says the city has several groups with "strong and realistic visions that are poised to make big things happen." All that's needed, Case advises, is an event or leader or group to "instill the art of compromise" and get all the groups to work together.

"We need to get one big thing done and we're on the cusp," Case said. "We're right there, but we have to win that first race."

Some of the groups and projects include Main Street Ozark, an effort by Gattis to construct an up to $15 million east-west collector street between downtown Ozark and 1-40, academic support for the school district, facilitating tourism growth and continued support of the Ozark campus of Russellville-based Arkansas Tech University. All of those things and more - including better broadband service ­are not just about internal socio-economic improvements.

"We can and need to be in the world market here in Ozark, Arkansas," Case said.

Population 3,525 (2000 census) Median household income $30,436

Melton, executive vice president in Ozark for Little Rock ­based Bank of the Ozarks, says the agri-based town ­poultry, cattle, grapes/wine - was once insulated from recessions. This one has been tough, but the "hard-working community adjusted to the times," he said. Melton's office windows provide a view of a multi-million dollar data center the bank has under construction. The data center jobs ­supported by ATU-Ozark programs - will help bolster a city posting a 3.2% decline in sales tax collections in the first 10 months of 2009.

Tourism growth also is the point of a roughly $11 million Main Street Ozark plan that would completely alter the city's physical and fiscal landscape, according to Main Street Ozark Director Sandy Key. The plan includes a multi-use riverfront pavilion, marina and dock that would be part of a larger River-to-Rails statewide tourism effort. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission provided a $500,000 grant to get the project through some early phases.

Possibly the boldest effort is the collector street plan pushed by Royce Gattis, who left Ozark in 1959 for the U.S. Air Force and returned in the early 1990s to an Ozark he believed could use the real estate experience he gained in Denver. The collector street would stretch several miles between the two arterial roads - Arkansas 23 and 219 ­that connect U.S. 64 through Ozark to 1-40. The new street would open up hundreds of acres for residential, commercial and industrial development.

"We've figured, based on past growth, that this street would open up enough land for 247 years of growth needs," Gattis said.

Blondin, chancellor of ATU-Ozark, says the people in Ozark think beyond the city's size. She's the first to admit the obstacles are huge, and the first to caution a visitor to not bet against them.

"These people, I tell you, they are solid with those (plans), and they will keep pushing, like Gattis with that street. I wouldn't discount them, not at all," Blondin said. 1BQ

A new report by the Pew Research Center details the characteristics of the Millennial generation, or those who born after 1981.  While I am a college professor and should be in more in step with my students, I took the quiz and found that my daily activities are more in line with the baby boomer generation.  Wow.  Actually – I am a Gen Xer based on my birth year (1976).  Hey – take the quiz!  Perhaps you’re 70 and text like mad.  Maybe you’re 21 and do not have a facebook profile.  If you are ambitious, you can read the full report here.  The research is an interesting read – something that we should consider whether we are faculty at universities or management at  other nonprofit organizations.

you can hear about this research study which aired yesterday (February 24) on  NPR’s All Things Considered.

Filed under: Higher education, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Work Tagged: College, Generation X, Higher education, Millennials, Pew Research, PhD

RT @EHolmesWSJ TJ Maxx and Marshalls CEO: "We can ultiamtely grow this company to double the size it is today." http://bit.ly/976D1p # 0

RT @EHolmesWSJ TJ Maxx and Marshalls CEO: "We can ultiamtely grow this company to double the size it is today." http://bit.ly/976D1p #

Just rest this from the Council on Foundations blog- deals with the issue of how foundation can and if they should pursue the idea of “glocality”.

Thought > Action > Impact » Blog Archive » “Glocal”.

Filed under: Community Economic Development, Community Organizing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Disaster Relief, Economic Crisis, Favorite Blogs, Fundraising, Globalization, International Development, Microfinance, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice, Social Work Tagged: Foundations, Fundraising, Giv, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofits, Philanthropy, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Justice

It’s been hard to justify high-speed rail (HSR) projects in terms of conventional cost-benefit analysis. But, it may be time to rethink – and broaden  - the way we think of the benefits of HSR. HSR’s benefits are usually thought of in terms of lowering transport costs by reducing problems like gridlock, pollution, and travel time. But the real benefit of HSR may turn on its ability to expand economic growth, according to a new analysis by my colleagues at the Martin Prosperity Institute.

There are three main mechanisms through which high-speed rail can help expand the economy, according to the MPI study. First, HSR expands the labor pool available to firms, bringing talented workers from nearby centers within commuting distance and thus expanding the quantity and quality of available employees. Second, HSR makes more jobs available to workers without making them have to relocate and move to a new home. Third, HSR extends the benefits of other expensive, productivity-enhancing infrastructure such as airports across broad regions. International airports, major research universities, and reference libraries are all more financially viable and internationally competitive when they serve a larger population. High-speed rail allows them to build the scale they need to achieve world-class excellence and also spreads their high costs across a wider population.

The MPI report is here.

Main Street Arkansas Calendar February 22 - 26, 2010
**********************************************************************************
MONDAY Susan - Paragould
TUESDAY Quarterly Training – 1st Floor Conference Room 323 Center Street
WEDNESDAY all staff – Texarkana Rypkema’s White Elephant Workshop
THURSDAY all staff – Texarkana Rypkema’s White Elephant Workshop
FRIDAY Caroline – out
**********************************************************************************

IN THIS ISSUE:
Main Street Matters
The Ruse of the Creative Class
Texarkana Workshop Press
Broadband USA & Connect Arkansas
Most Endangered Nominations Accepted
Smart Growth Award

Main Street Matters
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/feb/20/main-street-matters-20100220/
- nice MSA mention.

The Ruse of the Creative Class?
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_ruse_of_the_creative_class

Texarkana Workshop Press
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localnews/2010/02/17/workshop-slated-on-building-rehab-15.php

Broadband USA & Connect Arkansas
http://www.broadbandusa.gov/

Connect Arkansas has been designated as the state lead for broadband stimulus proposals, and we are asking organizations submitting their own application to forward the final submitted PDF to Connect Arkansas to be included in the Governor's review and prioritization of proposals for the NTIA.

Please forward proposals to mstockman at connect-arkansas.gov by March 19th.
Connect Arkansas is writing the collaborative state-wide Sustainable Broadband Adoption application. If your organization is interested in participating in this application, please contact Connect Arkansas by Feb. 24th.

ALLIANCE SOLICITS NOMINATIONS FOR 2010 ‘ARKANSAS'S MOST ENDANGERED HISTORIC PLACES’

The Historic Preservation Alliance requests your help in identifying endangered historic places that reflect our Arkansas Heritage for the 2010 Most Endangered Places List.
The Arkansas’s Most Endangered Historic Places list highlights threats facing historically and architecturally significant properties throughout the state. The Alliance is soliciting nominations from residents and organizations across Arkansas of endangered places to be considered for inclusion in the list. The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, April 16 2010.
The Alliance launched Arkansas’s Most Endangered Historic Places in 1999 to raise awareness of the importance of Arkansas’s historic properties to the state's heritage. The sites reflect threats such as deterioration, neglect, insufficient funds, insensitive public policy and inappropriate development. The Alliance will compile the 2010 list of Arkansas's Most Endangered Historic Places from nominations by the public and the list will be announced in May during Arkansas Heritage Month and National Preservation Month.
Previous places listed include the Johnny Cash Family Home in Dyess, Ray Winder Field in Little Rock, Bluff Shelter Archaeological Sites in Northwest Arkansas, the Goddard Hotel in Hot Springs, the Faulkner County Courthouse, the Stephen H. Chism House in Booneville, and the 20th Century African-American Rosenwald Schools throughout the state.
Criteria for inclusion in the list of Arkansas’s Most Endangered Historic Places includes a property's eligibility for the National or Arkansas Register of Historic Places; the degree of a property's local, state, or national significance; and the imminence and degree of the threat to the property.
For more information or a nomination form, visit www.preservearkansas.org , call Rhea Roberts at (501) 372.4757 or email mostendangered at preservearkansas.org .
The Historic Preservation Alliance is the leading statewide non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Arkansas's architectural and cultural heritage. For more information about the Alliance and becoming a member, contact Vanessa at (501) 372-4757, vmckuin at preservearkansas.org , or visit www.preservearkansas.org .

Smart Growth Award
Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public- and private-sector entities that have successfully used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. The application period is open from February 8, 2010 to April 5, 2010. Up to five awards will be given in the following
categories:
• Programs, Policies, and Regulations
• Smart Growth and Green Building
• Civic Places
• Rural Smart Growth
• Overall Excellence

More information at http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards, or see attached announcement.