Just Published by UNESCO!

 

We  wish to share with you a link to the recent e-publication on UNESCO's UNITWIN website of a gender case study update in Shantiniketan, West Bengal!  Brenda McSweeney, along with Krishno Dey and Chandana Dey, had an opportunity in November 2010 to visit and write on one of the nine original ‘Srihaswani’ (Creative Manual Skills for Self-Reliant Development) villages to capture the impressions of many of those, both women and men, who had participated in the program for several years. Since 2008, eight of the villages had also created a specific ‘Gender Group’ in which there were 127 girls with their mothers. Please find the full publication at:

Srihaswani: Five Years On

We now gearing up here at Boston University for the Spring Semester, and as well as our next research initiatives in Ireland, South and West Asia, and beyond. 

A Letter from Yaaminey Mubayi on Livelihoods in Punjab and Orissa

"Gurmeet [Rai] and I are busy with our crafts village in Amritsar- this is the one I "discovered" while doing research for another project- a settlement of traditional metal workers who had migrated from Pakistan in 1947. We are developing the area as an Endogenous Tourism destination.



I am also doing a project in coastal Orissa- Tourism as an alternative livelihood to combat the problems of overfishing of Chilika Lake, in 8 villages along the coast. The gender issue to flag here is the fact that women have lost their traditional livelihood as the sellers of the fish, now that commercial interests have reduced the fishermen to wage labour, rather than individual owners of boats and other assets. Think of the plight of widows and wives of retired fishermen, who are literally starving, no traditional safety nets for them! Am working with some Self Helf Groups to develop crafts- some excellent bamboo and golden grass weaving done by fisherwomen!

Here are a couple of photos of the region, including of an old lady who lives off temple offerings.

Cheers and Best Wishes for a marvelous year ahead."

Yaaminey