Derechos de tierra

At CCODE we worked with the communities to negotiate for land (greenfield development) with the City of Lilongwe and 193 low cost houses were constructed for community members who had been renting in the high density surbubs and informal settlements. This was also made possible in the City of Blantyre where 465 low cost houses were constructed and in Mzuzu were 89 houses were constructed. Once poeple had moved into the homes we realised that not only did their former shacks get new tenants but in some cases they started dissapearing with new landlords who were well to do coming to take over. In other instances some of the beneficiaries to the green field did not want to move into their new homes that were usually located further away from town and thus faraway from jobs and social networks. The first realisation (of new tenants) made us realise that we needed an upgrading solution for these settlements as Green fields would not scale a people driven land and housing aceess process. The fact that the land that is accessible but still makes sence for the poor (close to the areas of work, social netwroks etc) is becoming scarcer and the City land is finite, a solution was needed on where the people are living. Coupled with the fact that the poor are being evicted from these communities by the better off, a localised solution was needed. We noted that the people are already living in these communities and plots albeit in poor housing conditions and that the improvements would not mean the people being carted off to new settlements but upgrading their homes so that they are still within the communities but living in better homes. The issue of Gentrification provided a solution as it would be possible to support the poor access the land once one landlord decides to sell for one reason or the other. As the poor are the first to know when a plot is up for sale it means that the poor would be the ones getting the land in most instances and thus could then construct better homes. The fact that the poor are already surviving on these stands as multipe families means that it is possible for the homes to be improved and the same number of households accomodated better. The other issue considered was that once a landlord decised to sell, its the poor who get to know first that their plot is up for sale and yet they do not have any option.

The realisation that the planning laws and standards was not geared towards making access to land for the poor a reality tehre was need to combine the process from both the community mobilisation end to that of negotiating with the Local Authorities and the central government.

A series of suicides committed by farmers at Yavatmal, a small town and a district with the same name in Maharashtra, has prompted me to visit the place. When I visited the place and talked to the farmers I began to understand that farmers are deprived of basic information about soil profiles, production guidelines, package of practices, market information, and linkages with the credit system. After this experience I began to design this project. For example, the soil formation at Yavatmal was black only on the surface layer and beneath was morrum unfit for growing cotton. But farmers were encouraged to grow cotton in this region. The repeated failure of cotton crop in the region pushed the farmers to penury.

There have been several football tournaments held in Mindanao a few years ago. These tournaments are implemented by several organizations including Ecolink Philippines for the very same purposes and goals. The positive experiences however have not been translated into a high-impact project.

The Brooklyn Food Coalition was the brainchild of Brooklyn College professor and long-time activist Nancy Romer. It was more an evolution than a defining moment. She says, "About two years ago, after reading voraciously and having traveled in Latin America, interviewing union and neighborhood activists, students, and indigenous farmers, I began to understand the global ramifications of a progressively international food system that was poorly, perhaps dangerously organized. People go hungry all over the world, including Brooklyn, while the poorest people in the richest countries suffer from obesity and diabetes at unprecedented rates. Local farm cultures are wiped out from New York state to the Altiplano in Bolivia. The American people want to eat healthier, pay decent wages to the workers who grow, process, deliver, and serve the food, and make sure everyone gets the healthy food we need without harming the planet.

"Many of us feel that our tax subsidies to agribusiness need revision so that our government supports smaller scale farming and local agricultural systems that are environmentally sound. We'd like to see food as a human right and not a privilege. How else can we expect to give every child a chance at a decent life?"

Romer was on the Safe Foods Squad of the Park Slope Food Coop, and she worked with them to plan last May’s Brooklyn Food Conference, which "aimed to get all the people who care about these issues together in one place—issues related to growing healthy food, access to healthy food, environmental sustainability, economic development, social policy, and culture—and see how we can learn from each other and join together to change the food system so it serves the people who grow it, eat it, and need it. I've been dreaming about uniting all these important forces and ideas and being part of the growing Food Democracy movement—healthy and sustainable food for all."

With a dream so big, the one-day conference could only be a beginning and a darned good validation that she was onto something. She was planning the Coalition months before the Conference took place. Same dream, same defining moment.

Mariam(Not her Actual Name) an old lady with Seven children with the Last Born,Nameless dying in early days of her life.Mariam suffered a severe hemmorrhage afterwards,the cause being retained placenta which was very very difficulty to remove.She was brought to the hospital,exahusted and tired,paper white appearance and it was a weekend and a Doctor on Duty was not available in the ward.Luckly enough i was there visiting my wife who has just delivered a baby girl Eileen.After observing that the Doctor on duty was not there then i thought i've to do something to save Mariam's life.I told the nurse,'i'm a Doctor and i think i can help'.At first she didn't agree with me ,she needed to see my ID Card.Unfortunately i didn't have one.I was just Completed internship in Dar Es Salaam and moved to Shinyanga to wait for posting.Unwelcomed by the nurses i just grabed the sterlile gloves and gown from the Nurses hands and rushed to the Bed where Mariam was gasping,after a series of emergency Procedures Mariam became stable,back to life again.....at that point the nurses realized that i was really a medical Doctor.Nearby Mariam there was a Woman Called Fatuma(Not her real name),she knew Mariam of course and they were neighbours to our suprise.She was just delivered a Seventh baby without any Maternal Complications.After talking to her for some time i discovered that she was poor even more than Mariam,then i kept asking myself 'Why people having the same resources,others make good use of them while others are not???.I asked the same question to Fatuma ....to my suprise the practises she explained are those what i currently call Positive Deviant Behaviors.After some time i attended a Positive Deviant/Hearth Training and started offering technical support to one of our Programme area which was implementing the Nutrition Project among Underfives using the PD/Hearth approaches...very successifully.Then i thought the very same idea can pbe used in Maternal health issues ...of course as ANGELS OF CHANGE PROJECT.