Governance and Leadership
The Story of Vivar
Vivar used to be so negatively perceived that even the government didn't work there. Two groups in the villages had had a dispute since 1962, stifling any development. In 2014, Vivar approached Grampari to help them with their water problems. They were facing an acute water shortage and the water they had access to was causing health problems. Grampari agreed, and began working with the villagers to build a springbox. This work not only brought clean and abundant water to the village, but also brought village unity, as all of the warring factions participated in the work.
Vivar villagers coming together to build a 49 foot spring box
At the same time, youth from Vivar attended a Grampari residential program, and they returned prepared to contribute to village development, helping build waste management infrastructure and fighting forest fires. Vivar was soon 'adopted' by Grampari, and we have done transformational work, including starting a women's federation, developing a holistic waste management system, covering gutters and building a soak pit.
Vivar youth fighting forest fires
Vivar's Waste Management System: Vivar's community run waste management has both transformed their village and served as a model for others. Each house has a green tin for biodegradable waste, which is brought to a pit for composting, as well as a red tin for non biodegradable waste, which is brought to a large pit outside of the village, rather than being strewn in the streets and gutters.
Our Local Governance programme promotes one of the most sustainable forms of development – self-governance. This programme seeks to strengthen local institutions, develop ethical leaders and empower the voiceless. We take an active role in motivating villagers to develop love and appreciation for their villagers so that they invest themselves in village development.
We seek to facilitate leadership development through offering trainings in Panchayat Raj institutions, values trainings and community building. Among our activities, Grampari facilitates community events on village and personal development at the request of Gram Panchayats (Village Councils).
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Grampari Adopted Villages
After working with villages for many years, we realized that the many hardships villagers faced called for a robust and holistic development model. Thus, in 2015, we started the 'Grampari Adopted Villages' scheme. Danavali, Akhegani, Vivar, Pachputewadi, and Jawerwadi were the first five villages that were adopted. After seeing immensely successful results, five more villages have been adopted.
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Achievements 2015-2018
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Waste Management: The first five GAVs are separating biodegradable and non biodegradable waste. In Vivar, over two trolleys of organic waste has been produced.
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Gutter Cover: In the first five GAVs, 3800 ft gutter has been covered by cement cover and piping.
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Waste Water Filtration: Vivar has constructed a waste water filtration/settling tank. In Akhegani, Grampari built a reed bed filtration system to make waste water usable for irrigation.
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Women Empowerment: Grampari has formed six women federations comprising 415 members to increase women's participation in village development.
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Training: Conducted 3 trainings for Grampanchayat members, which were attended by 40 villagers and 130 village functionaries. Conducted 8 trainings on village development for GAV members, in which 200 villagers participated.
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Impact on other villages: All Gramsevak from Jaoli block visited Vivar to learn about their waste management model. Inspired by this, 7 other villages did waste management work in their villages, for which Bhelloshi won a prize in Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan.