Folder: kalviikendra100822011a DSC 9569 Breakfast seller An elderly lady selling idlis, the south Indian breakfast dish

of steamed rice cakes, in Kongampettu village. DSC_9652/ DSC_9656 Bicycle mechanic Dasarathan Kannan, 26, at his bicycle repair shop, set up with support from Kalvi Kendra. His grandmother Varnamaligai in the background. ________________________________________________ Folder: KalviKendra10082011b DSC_9679 Bridge and wall An elderly lady walks along in the backdrop of a bridge across the river Malattaru under construction at Kongampettu village. The disaster risk reduction managing committee set up by the local women's self help groups lobbied with the government for its construction along with a retention wall to save the riverbank DSC_9692 Grandmothers petty shop Susheela M, 66, at a petty shop that her family runs in Kongampettu. Such small retail outlets are common in Indian villages, selling provisions and snacks DSC_9856

Lady with the sickle An elderly lady going home with her sickle, carrying weeds collected from a paddy at Rangareddy Palayam village. Local women's self help groups promote cultivation of single-reed paddy that grows faster, withstands flood and aids easy weed removal

DSC_9864 Land reclamation Plants grown beside a paddy field to reclaim degraded fields at Rangareddy Palayam village

Folder KalviKendra11082011 DSC_0001 Lifted handpump A local woman operates a handpump that has been lifted as part of disaster risk reduction measures spearheaded by local women's self help groups of Vadavambalam village. When it floods these drinking water outlets can get polluted and dysfunctional if they are at a lower plane. DSC_0039 Senior workman Razu Gownder, 75, takes part in government work to broaden the bunds that line the dry riverbed of the Malattaru before the northwestern monsoon Vadavambalam village. During the heavy rains of November-December the river gets filled and tends to change course, devouring nearby fields. The National Rural Employment Scheme of the central government aims to ensure 100 days of manual labour a year for poor people in villages.

DSC_0068 Cattle rearing Kaliammal Rajaraman and Sivaganavalli Bhaskar of Vadavamballam village take home heifers distributed by the local panchayat (self governance body) with aid from Kalvi Kendra

DSC_0087/ DSC_0089 Mapping Local women of Chinnamadam examine the vulnerability map of the village that list spots, houses and families that would be the most affected in the event of a disaster DSC_9898 Milk Society Sitting in a building damaged in an earlier flood in Vadavambalam village, Arulmozhi Venkitesan, 46, a widow, manages the local milk society. Local women pool in 40 litres of cow's milk daily and distribute it in a business aided by the self help group

DSC_9936 Girl at the petty shop Leelavathi, 11, cannot walk around due to her disability. But she helps her mother run a grocery shop that Kalvi Kendra help them set up in Vadavambalam village DSC_9986 Goat rearing Vairamani Ranganathan, 39, walks with the help of a long stick, but that does not prevent

her from rearing goats that he got with a Kalvi Kendra aid

Folder KalviKendra11082011b DSC_0229 Organic farmer Subramani K, 50, shows his vermi-composte enclosure at Kallipattu village. Apart from making and selling compost naturally processed from farm waste by earthworms, this organic farmer grows rice and bananas, rears cattle, sell milk and produces biogas fuel.

Folder: KalviKendra12082011

DSC_0253/ DSC_0256 Check dam A check dam in a tributary of the river Malattaru built in Villiyanur village saves water for upstream fields and reduces flood damage downstream. Village women's groups encourage local self governing bodies called panchayats to build such water conservation and disaster reduction measures

DSC_0275 Mask maker At Villiyanur village, Rajalakshmi Ramamurthy, 36, makes papier mache masks that are hung above the main entrance of houses to ward off evil eye as a local tradition mandates. Rajalakshmi was trained under a Kalvi Kendra programme to make papier mache toys and her husband and colleagues sell her products in different states

Folder: KalviKendra12082011B DSC_0304 House at a higher plane

Chinnaponnu Devaras, 55, a widow, used to live in a low-lying hut close to a canal bracing for flood every rainy season. Now she has got a concrete house on a higher plane thanks to a little help from Kalvi Kendra and her youngest son, Ezhimalai, 38, whose family shares the house.

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Mushrooms Amudha Madhiyazhagam,38, shows how she cultivates mushrooms in a shed in Sorappur village. Her husband lends out tractors, but the family cannot cultivate their own field due to waterlogging. DSC_0633 Chicken and paddy A chicken coop placed over a paddy field at Sorappur village. The waste from the pen becomes food for the fish that lives in the field, in turn, nourishing the paddy. ___________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Folder: KK13062011b-more DSC_0717 Milk society A young woman collecting cow's milk at the milk society of Sornavur Melpathy village managed by the local self help group ___________________________________________________________

Folder: KK13082011c DSC_0760 The leader Sreedevi Kalaiperumal (right), 30, managing a fodder shop run by the women's self help group in Soranavur Melpathi. She is the leader of the group, with people always keeping her busy asking for credit and advice.

DSC_0768 Pond The water harvesting pond in Soranavur Melpathy collects excess rain water and drainage from a nearby canal. _________________________________________________________________ Folder KK14082011 DSC_0794 Remembering floods Parvathi Dhanapal, 65, collecting firewood from her farm beside the dried riverbed of Malattaru in Veeranam village. She can recall some 20 floods here since she came here as a young bride about 50 years ago. During the floods people often go to highlands and spend upto three weeks in public buildings or others' houses DSC_0846 Women with cattle A group of local women of Veeranam with heifers that they bought with aid from Kalvi Kendra. DSC_0852 Fruit vendor Soundhariam M, 62, sells fruits and nuts at the village square of Veeranam. She could set up a shoestring shop with a small load from the local women's self help group.