First attempt for micro-project implementation.

A&D Team with their local partner PRAXIS conducted a PRA meeting in Aruthankanvilai village for 5 days. This PRA meeting was held to understand the problems that exist in the village and prioritize them to find the solutions. During these days, they have conducted few exercises with the people to find the information about the village. Those exercises are as follows,

1.Chapatti Diagram - The specific objective is to promote awareness and motivation in the community about the establishments relevant to their lives in and out of the village, relative important regarding their practical and emotional proximity. The general objective is to help the community to understand the relationship with such establishments and discuss about how they can improve it. The result of this chapatti diagrams exercise enabled the villagers to understand their relative relationship with the establishments.

2.Village mapping. - Through village drawing the community should understand and engage in an enriching discussion about the relative importance of the elements and features of their village. This will help A&D to find the common places where they can implement some micro-projects. This helped them to find out the problematic places. The result of the village drawing exercise fulfilled the wider concept of understanding about their village location (includes houses, water taps, roads, temples, drainage etc). This transect analysis accomplished the focused target.

3.Resource Mapping - To highlight how the village resources are organized in the communities’ view and to discuss about the nature and the potential of such resources. The exercise should encourage the community to find out ways to increase resources and make better use of the existing ones. The result of the resource mapping exercise was aimed at en-lighting and divulging the village resource to the community and to augment their nature and potentials. The first part of the aim was attained

4.Resource flow - To define the outgoing and incoming resources in the village; the main aim is to discuss and plan strategies (such as building their capacities) to balance such flows in favour of the community and help them improve where they lack. The result of the resource flow exercise was easier to forecast their real strengths and weaknesses, where they have to enhance and what they have to do. Similar to resource mapping. Resource flow also achieved the specific aim to find the outgoing and incoming resources in the village.

5.History of the village - To share and discuss about the history of the village, by an elderly person, within the village and to learn about the roots and origin of their culture. The result from this exercise had given few interesting information about the previous incidents that have had happened in the village.

From this PRA, A&D and PRAXIS found few important needs that should be solved as soon as possible. From those needs, the people prioritized drainage problem as an immediate need. A&D and PRAXIS have started working to solve this problem.