Date/Time: Friday, October 14. 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Location:
Room 500, JHU Bernard Offit Building
The Paul H. Nitze, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
202.663.5600
Hosted by: South Asia Studies Program, SAIS
Sponsored by: Asha for Education, DC and Association for India's Development, University of MD.
***RSVP is required. RSVP to southasiaforum@gmail.com, with Pandey in the subject line, by Thursday (October 13). Attendees will need to present an identification to the guards at the institute.
The scope of these discussions will be of special interest to university students, socially conscious people in academia, international development and policy making.
On Sandeep's return to India after his Ph.D., after some initial work at Ballia in rural U.P, his work since 1997 has focused in the villages around Lalpur, 60kms from Lucknow. The fundamental basis of the work there has been community ownership. Sandeep does not see the work he does as something an organization "does" for the community – in his view the community is the organization and there is no line between the two.. The community owns and directs the work, resulting in empowerment of the community to make changes in their lives. The work, which has included initiating educational centers and developing income generation options, has centered around awareness campaigns and is gaining momentum with the Right to Information (RTI) activities in the area. The RTI movement has resulted in openness and transparency of the operations of the pradhans (village heads) and other administrative officials in the area, resulting in better functioning of a variety of services from borewell and road construction projects to primary health care centers and government schools. The impact of the villagers' awareness over the last 8 years of their rights, and the changes they can bring about, has been such that in the current atmosphere in the area, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a pradhan (chief elected village official) to win an election without pledging to have open accounts and meetings involving the villagers. Democracy is being strengthened at the grassroots giving people a voice.
The best phrase to describe Sandeep Pandey's work is that it is pro-poor. His objective is to empower the marginalized so that the poor can have a voice. His actions - from education to grassroots democracy to peace to promoting local ownership of resources - are all guided by that basic philosophy, and governed by an ideology that is Gandhian and humanitarian.
Asha for Education was established in the summer of 1991 at the University of California (Berkeley) by Sandeep Pandey, Deepak Gupta and V.J.P. Srivastavoy. Their vision was to provide education to the underprivileged children in India. Their belief that education is the catalyst for bringing about social and political change in India has resulted in the formation of a world-wide organization that raises awareness of issues and supports children's education projects in various parts of the country. Asha for Education is registered with the US Federal Government as a non-profit charitable organization under the category 501(C)(3). More at www.ashanet.org
Association for India's Development Inc. is a voluntary non-profit organization committed to promoting sustainable, equitable and just development in India, by working with grassroots organizations and movements in India. AID supports and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women's empowerment and social justice. AID, Inc. is registered with the US Federal Government as a non-profit charitable corporation under the category 501(C)(3). More at www.aidindia.org
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