Darpana for Development

D-D creates grassroots projects using live performances as entry points to stimulate discussion and action among varied audiences related to issues of development and social change. Some of these initiatives have involved training traditional itinerant folk performers to become change agents (e.g., by performing shows in the hinterlands of the Dangs and Valsad that deal with issues of infant and maternal mortality); other projects have focused on bringing together groups of people from tribal areas and training them as actor-activists to go back into their own villages with new ideas of change. D-D also has an advocacy focus, as some of the performance pieces it has created are specifically designed to reach the policy maker or the politician. Some projects have grown out of our the Academy's own initiative; others have been created for the government or funding agencies or for other NGOs.

A few specific examples highlight the various communication strategies D-D uses. For instance, working in partnership with The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Anadshala schools, D-D actor/activists and local actors from Valsad (already trained and oriented by D-D) are instigating activities and projects in 10 schools to make the children information bearers on issues such as HIV, breastfeeding, and hygiene. Simultaneously, 4 teams trained by D-D will take performances on the same issues into 200 villages in Valsad.

In November 2004, D-D activists travelled to the impoverished village of Fatehpura in Gandhinagar to work toward change in the areas of education, economic development, and cleanliness and nutrition. As part of this Fatehpura Model Village Project, women are using discarded plastic bags and converting them into boutique-quality bags, coasters, table runners, pouches, blinds, yoga mats, office folders, and cushion covers. The women were introduced to the polyloom in an effort to empower them economically and otherwise, as well as to address the problem of litter in the village. D-D began by linking up with a village woman, which facilitated the entrance of Darpana volunteers into the village to perform plays tackling issues like hygiene, education, and healthcare. Two local women were then sent to Coorg and Delhi, where they were trained in how to use the polylooms, 2 of which were set up in the village. The women work from 8 am to 6 pm and generate about 8-10 products a day, earning between Rs 500 and Rs 750 a month. They have also set up savings groups. To celebrate having reached the 6-month target, an event was held in which children sang and danced, women displayed and took orders for the products they have begun to manufacture, and other women offered rural food at the cafe. The project has also helped set up a cooperative through which women collect milk; collection increased from 50 litres per day day in November 2005 to 560 litres per day in April 2007.