. Practical ... as a UK charity in 1966 and began operating out of a small offi
Small World 50th anniversary year Issue number 61
Celebrating 50 years of taking practical action
CONTENTS Photo: Practical Action
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Photo: Elizabeth Dunn
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Photo: Elizabeth Dunn
12 Small World 61 The Practical Action magazine Editor in Chief: Victoria Cholmondeley Editor: Elizabeth Dunn Design: Right Click Creative Tel: 01767 262858 The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of Practical Action. In some instances, names and photographs have been changed to protect the identity of individuals.
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Welcome
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An influential beginning
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The Observer article
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A celebration of 50 technologies
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Empowering women across Sudan
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Bringing water and sanitation to Rhonda
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Podcasting improves health in Zimbabwe
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This slum is nothing like you’d expect
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Bringing safe water to school children in Nepal
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Reforestation for quality coffee
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New project launched in India
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Knowledge is power
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Interview with Baroness Shirley Williams Supporters trek to visit earthquake-hit Nepal
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Running the Himalayas
Find us on facebook.com/practicalaction twitter.com/practicalaction flickr.com/photos/practicalaction Practical Action, The Schumacher Centre Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby Warwickshire CV23 9QZ T: 01926 634400 W: practicalaction.org E:
[email protected] Practical Action Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales KG, KT, GCB Reg Charity No. 247257
gladesh al Action Ban Photo: Practic
Welcome to your winter edition of Small World.
From our very beginning, we’ve strived to help people to help themselves and we have stayed true to this to this day. With your support, last year alone, together we directly benefitted 1.2 million people living in poverty. And as our work is sustainable, you can be rest assured that these women, men and children have the knowledge, technology and power to continue to improve their own lives. Practical Action was founded by economist Fritz Schumacher, following his article published in August 1965 by The Observer newspaper. The article called for radical change in international development and provoked much debate. You can find out more on page five. Practical Action was registered as a UK charity in 1966 and began operating out of a small office in London with a £100 donation from the Africa Development Trust. From these small beginnings and with the wonderful support of people like you, we have been able to transform millions of peoples’ lives.
Practic al Actio n Sudan
Welcome to your January edition of Small World. This is a truly special time as we’re celebrating 50 years of transforming lives across the world. This is my first input into Small World as the Chief Executive Officer of Practical Action and I feel proud to be able share this important landmark with you.
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Dear Supporter,
Schumacher called for economic development ‘as if people mattered’ and here at Practical Action, people are at the core of our work. The people empowered by our projects are not just beneficiaries; they are our partners and become agents of change within their communities. That is why, in this edition, I am sharing some of their stories with you. I really hope you enjoy reading about the Kassala Women’s Network on page eight. I’ve visited Sudan many times and know just how special these networks are. Make sure you turn to page 12 to hear the inspirational story of Sukia, who lives in the slums of Bangladesh. All of these stories show just what a difference your support makes, and I would like to say a huge thank you. Without it, we would not be where we are today. I’m proud to be leading Practical Action in the years to come and I hope that you will be with me every step of the way. With very best wishes,
Paul Smith Lomas
n Visit our website to find out more about our work practicalaction.org
Small World 3
HISTORY
An influential beginning… Practical Action was founded by economist and philosopher, Dr. Fritz Schumacher, authour of Small is Beautiful. Based around a philosophy of empowerment and sustainability, Practical Action was always destined to be a unique and exciting influence in global development for impoverished communities.
It was in 1955, while on secondment as Economic Adviser to the Government of Burma, that he first became interested in the problems of developing countries, and began to challenge existing ways of thinking.
Dr. Schumacher; together with friends George McRobie, Julia Porter, Alfred LathamKoenig and Professor Mansur Hoda, set up the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in 1965. Their aim was to promote innovative ways of managing changes in technology to help people to work their own way out of poverty. In 1966, ITDG was registered as a UK charity.
He began to formulate his radical ideas of using small-scale development to help people to help themselves. He later expressed this as ‘find out what people are doing and help them to do it better’.
Born in 1911, Dr. Schumacher emigrated to England in 1936 to contribute his skills to the building of a caring, socialist economy. He soon won the admiration of fellow economists and from 1950 to 1970 held the post of Economic Advisor to the National Coal Board.
4 Small World: An influential beginning
Later on, Dr. Schumacher published his first book ‘Small is Beautiful’, outlining his beliefs and philosophies. The book became an international bestseller, influencing a generation and changing how people approached international development.
The Observer article that launched
Practical Action… ‘How to help them help themselves’ Dr. Schumacher’s article in the 29th of August edition of ‘The Observer’ in 1965, paved the way for the vision for an organisation that would change the way technology was used for people to work their way out of poverty. The original Observer article can be seen as the starting point for Practical Action. Dr. Schumacher talked about how western technologies were an outdated and ineffective solution to the problems faced by the most vulnerable in our world.
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Photo: Marga ret Gardner
“[This type of technology] would simply ‘fit’ in to the social context as a whole without depending on the availability of factors which, as experience shows’ cannot be depended upon.” 50 years on, and our message is still almost identical to the vision of Dr. Schumacher in 1965: “If the ‘people’ are left out of development planning…then the final outcome will be disastrous…” n To read the full article, please go to our website practicalaction.org/history The Observer article that launched Practical Action: Small World 5
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the long term, if the communities themselves were involved, and used the resources and materials available locally to them:
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Dr. Schumacher went on to discuss how this style of intervention could only be sustainable in
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“An intermediate technology…would be vastly superior in productivity to [their] traditional technology…while at the same time being vastly cheaper and simpler than the highly sophisticated and enormously capitalintensive technology of the west.”
A celebration of 50 technologies
Photo: Practical Action Peru
Ecosan toilet
Fish cage 1
Aerial ropeways: Used in areas of Nepal where roads
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Blacksmiths forge with rotary bellows: A more
Arsenic and iron removal mini plant: A simple
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Candle-making technology: Candles are a vital source
are scarce and terrain is difficult.
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approach that works on the principle of aeration, transforming the contaminants from unsafe drinking water into an insoluble form which can be trapped in filters. Bicycle ambulance: Perfect for rough terrain meaning that remote communities can access healthcare during critical times. Biogas: A renewable energy source made through the fermentation of organic matter and used for cooking and lighting. Bio-sand filters: Using sand and gravel to make water clean and safe to drink. Photo: Anna de la Vega
Aerial ropeways
efficient method for use in developing countries.
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6 Small World: A celebration of 50 technologies
of light. This technology enables communities to make better and more cost effective candles. Compost toilets: Enable users to reuse the waste as compost and fertiliser to grow crops. Donkey plough: Specially designed to be lighter than many ploughs so that it can be pulled by one donkey across arid land. Earthquake-resistant housing: Simple construction methods to make housing more resistant to earthquake tremors. Essential oil production: A technique has been developed to extract these sensitive oils without damaging or contaminating them. Faecal sludge management: The treatment of human waste which can then be used as compost and fertiliser. Ferro-cement boats: A cost-effective method of boat building using steel wires covered with a sand and cement plaster. Fireless cookers: Simple insulating covering that allows pots to continue to cook food even when they are taken off a source of heat.
Photo: An na de la Ve ga
To celebrate our 50th anniversary, we’ve decided to put together a list of 50 of our most successful technologies. We couldn’t possibly choose a favourite so we want to share some of the technologies that, with your support, have had a huge impact on communities across the world.
Tippy-Tap
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Fish cage: Constructed with bamboo and net and is
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VOTE FOR YOUR
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FAVOURITE TECHNOLOGIES
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SHARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE TECHNOLOGIES hood by emailing
[email protected] Smoke
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Saline-resistant rice:
Developing a saline resistant rice post tsunami in Sri Lanka based on indigenous rice species. Sandbar cropping: Using barren sandbars and land to grow crops such as pumpkins by digging pits and adding compost.
Small-scale wind turbine:
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river currents to create power.
Floating gardens: Where land is scarce, farmers are
able to grow crops on water using aquatic weeds as a base on which vegetables can be grown. Flood-resistant housing: Built on raised plinths made from sand, clay and cement, the homes are made using concrete pillars and treated bamboo jute. Improved bonfire kiln: Holds heat better and requires less fuel, heats up and cools down slowly, is easy to build and distributes heat more evenly. Improved stoves: Stoves using one third of the amount of firewood to reduce indoor air pollution. Manual rice thresher: A machine that enables the threshing of grain and rice to be done in a less labour intensive manner. Micro-concrete roofing tiles: Small-scale concrete roofing tiles are an affordable alternative to traditional roofing materials and galvanized iron sheeting. Micro-hydro: The use of a turbine which is turned by water to create power. Micro-irrigation: Low-cost plastic pipes laid on the ground to irrigate vegetables and field crops without wasting water. Oil extraction: Manual screw press used for edible oil extraction. Open pan sugar processing: Sugar produced by boiling juice in open pans at atmospheric pressure. Ox trike: Designed to be pulled by an ox to increase efficiency in agriculture. Peanut butter making machine: Small electric grinding mills which improve quality and productivity. Pedal-powered cassava grater: The grater is pedalpowered so that farmers can process the cassava crop more efficiently. Plywood boats: Plywood boats which can be fitted with outboard motors. Podcasting: Disseminating knowledge to farmers through radio. Rainwater harvesting: A water collection system adopted in many areas of the world where conventional water supply systems have been too expensive or failed to meet people’s needs.
River turbines: Using
Photo: Marth a Munyoro
used to farm fish.
Using wind power to create electricity on a small-scale. Smoke-hood: Simple chimneys that reduce the amount of indoor air pollution from fires and stoves. SODIS (solar disinfection): Creating clean, safe drinking water through heat and UV rays from the sun falling on water in plastic bottles, killing germs. Solar cookers: Devices that use the energy of solar radiation to cook food. Solar food drier: Used to preserve food in developing countries. Solar PV water pumping systems: Used for village water supply, livestock watering and irrigation, these pumps harness solar energy to function. Stabilised earth brick construction: Cement or lime is added to the soil which allows the earth walls to take more weight. Timber-less house construction: Mud houses are built without using wood, providing a viable housing alternative for rural areas. Tippy tap: Simple device made from wood and a plastic container for washing your hands after going to the toilet. Tsetse fly trap: This simple trap kills tsetse flies and stops the spread of disease in humans and cattle. Top bar beehive: A unique design that allows bees to be more easily managed and makes honey harvesting easier. Vermicomposting: The process of composting using various worms to create a diverse mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste and worm manure. Wind pumps: Using wind power to pump water. Wind turbines: Using wind power to create electricity. Wood-turning lathe: Making woodwork safer and more efficient. Zeer pot refrigerator: One earthenware pot set inside another, with a layer of wet sand in between. This creates a cool container to keep food fresh.
Photo: Elizabeth Dunn
A celebration of 50 technologies: Small World 7
SUDAN
Empowering women Photo: Elizabet
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8 Small World: Empowering women across Sudan
Photo: Elizabeth Dunn
Zawnab awther
Since 1974, Practical Action has worked with communities across Sudan. Sudan has suffered from devastating conflict and the arid land and hot temperatures makes it one of the most difficult places to live and work in the world.
Photo: El izabeth Du nn
across Sudan Zannab Ab
aker Osm
In these challenging conditions, working with local people is particularly important. Practical Action - with the support of people like you - has been helping women across Sudan to set up networks and associations. They have been trained in vital skills to give them the power to change their own lives. Many of these associations are now operating independently - showing how projects like this can benefit future generations. In the east of Sudan, Kassala, the main town, lies on the banks of the seasonal River Gash. Faced with regular drought, as well as flash flooding, families’ livelihoods are often wiped out and they struggle to earn an income from traditional means, such as farming. But, thanks to you, lives are changing. In 1994, The Women’s Development Association Network was launched to empower local women to become key decision makers within their own communities.
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gave me training for three days and we’ve had refresher training. My children are more healthy now because I can feed them more and better food. It’s a good project, I will never stop being in the network.” A few years ago, Kawther’s husband became ill and their family income plummeted, life was tough as they struggled to feed their children. She felt utterly helpless but knew that she had to do something. She joined the network and, like Zannab, has benefitted from the training which means she always has money to support her family. “Now I have money in my hand and I never have to rely on anyone to feed my family or send them to school.” When asked about how the Network has changed their lives all women replied “we now feel empowered and strong.” Thank you for working with Practical Action to empower women just like Zannab and Kawther across Sudan.
Dunn
Zannab’s life has changed beyond recognition. She has received training in tailoring, and now helps her family by making and selling clothes. What’s more, she now knows how to manage her income and save for the future. “Before, I did not know anything about management of business and book keeping. Practical Action
Photo: El izabeth
The network in Kassala was established in June 2014 and now has 25 members. Women used to speak of feeling powerless, having to stay at home to look after the family and not having any knowledge, skills or education. Zannab, who has been a member since the network’s inception, said “I had a difficult life. I couldn’t afford to pay for my children to go to school. I had to pay to get water from tanks. But I had no money to do these things. It was hard.”
n To empower more women across Sudan, give a gift today by calling 0800 389 1624 Empowering women across Sudan: Small World 9
KENYA
Photo: Practical Action Kenya
Bringing water and sanitation to Rhonda At the heart of Rhonda, a slum in Nakuru County, near to Nakuru town in Kenya, a building proudly stands. High against the surrounding structures, the building offers toilets and wash facilities located in the middle of the marketplace.
Constructed by Practical Action, along with the Umande Trust, it serves to meet the desperate need for sanitation facilities for traders in Rhonda market. The facility also promotes security for women and girls, and protects their dignity, by providing them with an accessible, clean, and safe place to go to the toilet. The lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities remains a daily reality in many slums across Kenya. Often, as many as 37 people share 1 latrine; and in extreme cases, this number is more than 200. Not only does the centre serve the sanitation needs of the community, but also the human waste is put to excellent use. Joyce Wambui from the project said: “Beneath its surface is a bio-digester that will produce biogas to cater for community cooking needs; this will be provided at a small charge once enough waste has accumulated. Cooking will be done at a kitchen constructed a small distance away from
10 Small World: Bringing water and sanitation to Rhonda
the facility; the kitchen targets small-scale food vendors in Rhonda.” Workers from the market will be required to pay a small fee to access the facility. Use of biogas from the facility, Joyce explained, will reduce use of charcoal by the vendors, an unsustainable fuel with wide negative environmental impacts, and lead to cumulative savings for the vendors. In the future the centre also hopes to begin selling excess biogas and promote the use of clean sustainable energy in the area. This innovative facility shows just how important access to decent sanitation services is for people living in slum communities. The fantastic building has changed the lives of the community in Rhonda over the last 8 months, reducing illness and promoting good hygiene and sanitation practises. It also has huge potential as a renewable energy source. It will continue to serve the people of Rhonda for years to come - thank you for making this work possible.
ZIMBABWE
Podcasting improves health in Zimbabwe
Photo: Practical Action Zimbabwe
Access to information can change the way people lead their lives. In rural areas, health workers and environmental health technicians move around villages, promoting hygiene practises to reduce diarrhoeal diseases. However, community health workers cannot cover all the wards - meaning important information is being missed by some communities.
Photo: Martha Munyoro
At Practical Action, we know just how important knowledge is, and across Zimbabwe, it’s truly changing lives!
This technology has had a huge impact in Gwanda and has helped to change attitudes and beliefs of communities regarding access to sanitation, and good practices of health and hygiene.
Around the world, it is often taken for granted just how easy it is to receive information, but to the villagers of Gwanda, this isn’t always the case. With your support, podcasting has been introduced in these remote and rural communities and used since 2011, to ensure that they get vital, and high quality health and hygiene lessons. Podcasting is a method of publishing audio files via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed to receive new files automatically. Practical Action innovated by using an audio MP3 player and speakers to disseminate recorded messages in local languages, targeting rural communities where communications infrastructure is poor or non-existent.
Communities are now aware of the positive effects of handwashing, and because of this, many have installed tippy taps in the villages. Precious Mutema explained how her life had been transformed: “I never knew the importance of washing hands after using the toilet, but now I have been empowered. From the knowledge I gained from the recorded messages I have constructed a tippy tap just outside my toilet and I am protecting myself from diarrhoea and other diseases.”
Photo: Lawrence Gudza
The podcasts are not only used for providing hygiene information, they have also been used to provide farmers with important agricultural training, helping to improve their techniques, grow more food and improve their income. Our founder Dr.Schumacher said, “the best aid to give is intellectual aid, a gift of useful knowledge. A gift of knowledge is indefinitely preferable to a gift of material things.” Podcasting Improves health in Zimbabwe: Small World 11
BANGLADESH
Photo: Elizabeth Dunn Photo: Elizabeth Dunn
This slum is nothing like you’d expect… Walking along the small, clean paths, you would be forgiven for thinking that you had got lost and weren’t actually visiting a slum. The houses are well cared for and the people are warm and welcoming. It certainly doesn’t feel like you are in an informal settlement well known for overflowing latrines, no running water and impoverished people. But this was not always the case. The community in this slum in Jessore, Bangladesh has been supported by the Safer Cities project, run by Practical Action in partnership with the UK Government Department for International Development. The difference is astounding. Sukia explained “Previously the ground here was covered in waste, water, mud and urine, now we have a paved walkway with drainage. Before we collected water from a dirty source, now we have clean water from our deep tube well.” Before the project, the community only had 2 toilets for the 30 households living there, and the health of many families suffered. They now have one toilet for every 10 families, which has made a huge difference. The slum also 12 Small World: This slum is nothing like you’d expect
has drainage now so that heavy rainwater runs away, and waste management services so they no longer have to live with rubbish lining their streets. The community has received training in useful skills, such as tailoring, and now understands how to improve their income. Sukia is a widow in her late thirties and was chosen to be a community leader of her area. It is a small community and the streets are narrow – suitable only for pedestrians and bicycles. Because of you, we’ve been able to work with people living in slum communities to transform their lives, people just like Sukia. Sukia is proud of what her community has been able to achieve, she said “with Practical Action we can make things work together” She has noticed a change within the families she has grown up with, they feel empowered and their lower-cast Dalit status no longer means they can’t get work. It’s a slow journey but they are already feeling more accepted. They’re excited and are looking forward to a better life for generations to come. n To find out more about how we’re working with slum communities like Sukia’s, visit our website practicalaction.org/urban-watersanitation-waste
NEPAL
Bringing safe water to schoolchildren in Nepal
The head teacher, Ram Chandra Paudel explained “we had a water filter but it did not function after the earthquake, the children had to walk at least for half an hour to reach the nearest tap for drinking water.”
With your support, we were able to deliver lifesaving immediate care and relief to those in desperate need, and were able to provide vital access to water and sanitation. Many school buildings were sadly destroyed by the earthquake, which has had a damaging impact on education. In the Gorkha district, the epicentre of the earthquake, almost all school buildings were unsafe. Shree Saraswati School in Borlang village suffered greatly as most of the classrooms were completely destroyed. Thankfully, temporary shelters have been constructed to continue to run classes. However, along with the buildings, other facilities like the availability of safe drinking water for the schoolchildren were also wiped out after the earthquake.
With your support, Practical Action was able to work with Ram to help begin rebuilding the school. But importantly, we also helped with enabling the children to access clean and sustainable energy and basic water and sanitation. A water filter is a simple yet vital solution for the many people affected by the earthquake as it is crucial in preventing waterborne diseases which are rife after such disasters. A solar powered water purification system was installed at Shree Saraswati School, which benefitted 705 students as well as the teachers and staff. Kalyan Shrestha, a grade four student feels happy to drink the water from the new filter “we don’t have to go far to drink water now, I really like this new filter.”
tha Photo: Swarnima Shres
We’re looking forward to working with these communities in the coming years to build back better, and truly rebuild their lives, and with your continued support we know this will be possible.
n You can find out more about our work in Nepal and how with your help, we can continue to change lives into the Spring. Visit our website practicalaction.org/disaster-risk-reduction
Bringing safe water to school children in Nepal: Small World 13
Photo: Swarnima Shrestha
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal on 25th April 2015 affected the poorest people. Aftershocks continued for another three months, meaning that the recovery has been a long journey for the women, men and children hit by the devastation.
PERU
for quality coffee
Carlo Magno lives in the village of San Francisco de Assisi in Cajamarca. He lives with his wife and children in a small home with two beds. They have lived in poverty their whole lives, earning a small income from coffee farming. The family owns a small plot of land where they grow cassava, sweet potato and coffee. The quality of the coffee Carlo was growing was poor, as the crops were scorching due to the lack of shade. This meant that he and his family were earning less money for the coffee they were producing. Carlo was not aware of the importance of reforesting their land and did not know that the branches of laurel trees can create the ideal shade to grow coffee of premium quality. Thanks to you, today he tells a different story; Carlo has sown seedlings on his land, with the help of his wife Juana and friends and laurel trees have been planted, vital for shade and a species that produces wood for 12 years. Carlo talks about how Practical Action have helped him. “My life has changed a lot since I received the training from Practical Action, they taught me how to plant trees and shared a formula to prepare organic preservatives, I was taught
to think long term. Many people still do not understand the need to gradually reforest and you can take the raw material while preserving the ecosystem. It was not easy to understand the importance of reforestation.” 35 members of Cajamarca own a hectare of land and have 200 laurel, cedar and eucalyptus trees and everyone in the community is responsible for looking after the trees. “The nicest thing is that the project is not just benefitting me, my friends in the village also manage a community plot. It’s very beautiful and also the community is united and that’s good for everyone.” “We have trained and now we work in order. We are applying irrigation techniques, prepare our fertilisers, but most importantly, we are preserving the ecosystem with the planting of trees. Here we are very excited,” said Catalino Chanta Neyra, a member of the community. It’s thanks to you that communities across Peru have been able to understand how vital reforestation is enabling them to preserve the environment and improve their lives for generations to come.
14 Small World: Reforestation for quality coffee
tañeda Photo: Ana Cas
Reforestation
INDIA
Photo: Warwick Franklin
New project launched in India What better way to celebrate our 50th year than by sharing the fantastic news that H&M Conscious Foundation and Practical Action have launched a brand new project that will bring clean water and safe sanitation to one of the poorest parts of India. Khurda city, Odisha, has a population of 45,000. In its slums, a staggering 94% of households don’t have a toilet. There is no city sewerage system and sludge waste collected from septic tanks is tipped into the public drains. Open defecation is common. Women and children are forced to walk to dark and dangerous locations, where they are vulnerable to attack. It is also a major public health risk. Rabi Sahu and his wife Tillotama live in the Khurdha slum community of Gurujany Jabardastpur with their 16 year-old daughter Saraswati and seven year-old son Laxmidhara. Tillotama earns a small income from weaving work on a hand-loom in the house and Rabi works as a day labourer. Their small home is made of brick and mud and has an earth floor and a roof of rice straw. It has no piped water. Instead, they share a well with other families for their cooking, cleaning and drinking needs, carrying 35 to 40 bucket loads of water a day. Life is incredibly hard.
This family, like the rest of the community, have no choice but to use a scrap of land as a toilet. Tillotama and her daughter only go there in the early morning and evening to avoid being seen by the men, a round trip of 30 minutes. This brings with it the danger of insects and deadly snakes. Together with the H&M Conscious Foundation, Practical Action will tackle the sanitation crisis in Khurda by supporting communities to build toilet facilities. Rainwater harvesting and water filtering technologies will be introduced to provide clean water, and a sludge treatment plant will also be built to turn faecal waste into biogas for cooking and farming. Rabi Sahu and his family look forward to being a part of the project as it will mean that they no longer will be forced to openly defecate, and will have access to clean, safe water. This will dramatically improve their health, and the safety of Tillotama and Sarawati. n To support more families like Rabi’s, make a donation today practicalaction.org/sw61 New project launched in India: Small World 15
Photo: Amel Abdulla Awad
Photo: Practical Action Peru zeer pot
Knowledge is power
Practical Answers: empowering people for nearly 50 years From our very beginning, Practical Action has been about sharing knowledge and providing advice on appropriate technologies. Our Technical Information Service started answering questions officially on 31st May 1968. The first question recorded was about animal-drawn toolbars for Tanzania, written in a large ledger. At that time, enquiries were predominantly sent to Practical Action by post. Our founder, Dr. Schumacher once said “The gift of material goods makes people dependent, but the gift of knowledge makes them free – provided it is the right kind of knowledge, of course. The gift of knowledge also has far more lasting effects and is far more closely relevant to the concept of ‘development”. It is this philosophy that continues to guide us in our work. Practical Answers has grown dramatically since its inception in 1968 when it operated from a single office in London, and now operates not just from the Practical Action offices around the world, but also from many resource centres across countries such as Kenya and Bangladesh - making information more accessible to rural communities, enabling them to change their lives. The major change seen over that time is in communication technologies, such as mobile phones, which have rapidly spread to nearly all locations. We can make use of these developments to link up with farmers and 16 Small World: Knowledge is power
others, literally, in the field. s me, Last year, Practical centre help fe.” “The call ttle sa ca y m g keepin Action responded Joardar Anima Rani to 121,299 enquiries and people downloaded 1,730,541 technical documents from our websites. You can find those documents at www.answers.practicalaction.org.
To help improve on the successes of providing the best information, Practical Action is now collaborating with other organisations through Knowledge Point. You can find out more about this here www.knowledgepoint.org/en/questions. Through Knowledge Point and other initiatives, we aim to expand our range of services and increase the number of people we work with to bring the best information to those that need it most. Knowledge truly is power - thank you for making this work possible and for empowering people around the world. n Visit the Practical Answers website here: answers.practicalaction.org
An interview with
Baroness Shirley Williams, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, is incredibly inspiring and influential, and we are proud to call her a supporter.
Shirley is the daughter of writer and feminist Vera Brittain and political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin, She began her impressive career as a journalist, working for the Daily Mirror and the Financial Times. In 1964, she won a seat in Parliament as Labour MP for Hitchin in Hertfordshire. In 1981, Shirley left the Labour Party to form the Social Democratic Party, which later merged with the Liberal Party to become the Liberal Democrats. Baroness Williams has long been a supporter of the work of Practical Action and for the 50th anniversary edition of Small World we were invited to the House of Lords to find out what inspired her to become a supporter. “My original link with Dr Schumacher (Practical Action’s founder) was reading and writing about him and being very impressed with the
whole idea of ‘Small is Beautiful’ but also breaking away from the kind of technology that required huge investment sums. You see the devastating effect of very sophisticated very big international companies from the west coming into countries where it’s not the answer.” Understanding just how important working with communities is to creating lasting change, Shirley explained: “what you were doing was complimentary to what I was doing in government. There has been in the past, a very top down attitude towards development. And that means that people interact with those in higher levels of government but very little with local communities. And that is one of the great contributions that you’ve made, you’ve interacted with local communities in a way that’s really important.”
Photo: Liz Bates
When asked about what her favourite technologies are, she said just how impressed she was by a simple smoke hood. She added that indoor air pollution is a huge problem that is not often discussed. She thinks that a chimney is a straightforward and effective solution to a huge problem. It is these simple, appropriate and cost effective solutions that bring about real change in the developing world. Thank you to Baroness Shirley Williams for sharing why she’s proud to be a Practical Action supporter.
Interview with Baroness Shirley Williams: Small World 17
Photo: Office of Baroness Willia ms
Baroness Shirley Williams
Supporters trek
to visit earthquake-hit Nepal Aiming to undertake the huge challenge of a 100 mile trek through Dhading and Gorkha districts in Nepal, Practical Action supporters Jon Gregson, Tim Sanders and James Taylor plan to do just that. themselves! Their journey will take them through many of the rural communities that were affected by the earthquake that hit Nepal in April 2015, and they will visit the epicentre in Barpak during the last part of the trek. Hoping to raise £5,000 for Practical Action, Jon and his team want their trek to focus not only on the challenge element of the walk itself, but also on finding out about the people living at the heart of the affected areas. “What we really like about Practical Action’s work is the commitment to engaging local people at a community level; building on knowledge and skills to create sustainable futures,” explained Jon, who also has a keen interest in the use of innovative solutions and technology justice in the developing world.
On their return to the UK, they seek to use their new-found knowledge and first-hand experience to raise awareness of the work Practical Action is doing to help the affected communities. We wish Jon, Tim and James all the best on their adventure, and look forward to hearing their exciting stories in the spring! You can find out about how their trip went by visiting their event website www.nepalepicentre.org.
n If you are keen to challenge yourself and support Practical Action work, get in touch with our Groups Fundraising Officer at
[email protected]
Tim is looking forward to the challenge: “To visit Nepal and to make this journey with two friends, Jon and James, into the heartland of those impacted by the earthquake will be a physical and emotional challenge, but I hope a rewarding one too.”
Photo: Practical Action Nepal
18 Small World: Supporters trek to visit earthquake-hit Nepal
Looking back…
Running the Himalayas
for Practical Action
It has been over 30 years since the Crane brothers took on the challenge of a lifetime - running the Himalayas to raise money for Practical Action.
It was 1983 when Adrian and Richard Crane decided to make a difference. They were young and passionate about the work of Practical Action, then known as the Intermediate Technology Development Group. They strongly identified with Schumacher’s philosophy and wanted to do something to help. The brothers ran a staggering 2,000 miles in 101 days along the length of the Himalayas - from Darjeeling in India, via Kathmandu in Nepal, to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. They crossed some of the toughest terrain and some of the most dangerous routes in the world. Their efforts raised an incredible £50,000 to support our work across the developing world. When asked about the experience, Adrian shared: “It is hard to believe that over 30 years have passed since ‘Running the Himalayas’. Rarely does a day go by that I do not say a silent ‘thank you’ for the lessons learned from that run and for the experiences with the people of the Himalayas. My brother and I were greeted with such openness by everyone that we met between Darjeeling and Srinagar. Every villager, monk,
yak herder and subsistence farmer offered us a meal and a place to lay our heads. While we had little at the time to offer them it was an honour to represent Practical Action, which in the longer term were able to provide some measure of help to those communities. I have returned to the country of Nepal several times and have always enjoyed the enthusiasm and optimism that their people have shown. It is my hope that they have gained in some measure and perhaps our example encouraged others to travel, to understand the problems of those countries and work to improve the conditions.” Adrian and Richard’s challenge was groundbreaking and paved the way for more supporters to challenge themselves in aid of Practical Action. A huge thank you to them on behalf of all the people we have been able to work in partnership with to lift themselves out of poverty. n Find out more about how you could support Practical Action by visiting our website practicalaction.org/support/fundraise Running the Himalayas: Small World 19
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