Tana Vana: warp and weft of life

This publication by SEWA (Self employed Womens Association), Ahmedabad, India and North South Dialogue, Germany, that examines poverty in a micro context with the methodology of an Exposure and Dialogue Programme (EDP) that is essentially an attempt to understand poverty first hand and record some of the factors that lead to the overcoming of it. The EDPs are used to assist understanding of the situation of SEWA members, appreciation of the womenÆs strengths, and to find strategies to overcome problems. The first part of the publication My home, my workplace: A life of struggle for security presents the story of Kamlaben Koshti, a bidi worker and SEWA leader in Ahmedabad derived from an EPD on Empowerment through organising in 1999. It examines the process leading up to the EDP, with aims of gather experiences that couldbe used for the World Development Report on Poverty, for designing exposures for politicians, and testing the exposure methods for SEWAÆs own purposes. It goes on to give account for the life history of Kamlaben with lessons to be learnt; analyse the relevance of KamlabenÆs life for SEWAÆs policy, programmes and macro policy; and examining the process of meeting Kmlaben and comprehending her life. The second part of the report Struggling for security illustrates the lives of Savitaben Jivanbhai Valand, a midwife in Vihchiya, and Jetunben Razak Sheik, agarbatti roller in Bapunagar, derived from an EPD in 2001. It looks at the life histories of the two women and reflects on exposure, reflection and dialogue as means to understand vulnerability and to learn about risk management.