Social activists and researchers Drs Abhay and Rani Bang founded the 'Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health' (SEARCH), a non-profit organization involved in rural health service and research, which has substantially reduced mortality rates in one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the world, the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, India. They are recipients of many honors in India and abroad, including one from Britain's prestigious medical journal The Lancet as "pioneers of health care in rural India".

Raj Jayadev, lawyer, activist and founder of Silicon Valley De-Bug is a MacArthur Fellow and Ashoka Fellow. A community organizer, he created a model of grassroots collective action that gives individuals facing incarceration, their families, and their communities an active role in their defense. Participatory defense is spreading beyond California across the United States. Collectively, these efforts have saved nearly 4,000 years of potential prison terms for defendants through cases won or reduced sentences.

Lijo Chacko has been to the depths of the ocean as a submarine commander, and to the heights of the earth when he scaled Mt. Everest. A few months ago, on level ground, he was struck by COVID-19. Lijo, who is Executive Director at The Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Foundation, shared his harrowing experience with ICA.

"The support of family and friends is important. If you are one of those unfortunate ones to be severely affected, it is normal that all kinds of ominous thoughts will creep in. There are times when one feels that giving up is the easier route, and that is when one should think what our closest family members will go through if we gave up and passed on, that should help strengthen our resolve to stay strong mentally. Our mental well-being makes so much of a difference."

At ICA, we are excited to launch the ICA Youth "LEAD" (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Action, Development) program in the summer of 2021. The Youth Internship program under ICA's umbrella is a new 3-week-long summer internship opportunity for High School and College students. Our two informational meetings held in September and October were well received by the 60 registrants. Two special guests from Lok Biridari Prakalp (LBP), the NGO where the first program will be held in 2021, attended the second meeting.

Our orientation meeting will be held in the first week of January 2021. Please visit here for updates. Hope to see you there!

Unlock 1 - was the name given to the cautious reopening of movement in India after the country wide 'lockdown' to stop the spread of the coronavirus. As migrant workers returned to their mountain homes in Uttarakhand, many villages began reporting COVID-19 cases. MCF's mission is to empower children through knowledge, training, and the power of collective action to change their communities from the ground up. The young people found a way to meet and continue their work even during the pandemic.

Cyclone Amphan made a calamitous landfall on India's eastern coast on May 20, 2020, causing intensive destruction across the state of West Bengal. Sundarbans, one of the world's largest mangrove deltas, has been hit the worst. In the aftermath of the cyclone, loss of livelihood and home has affected millions of people who are urgently in need of help and support to restore their lives. In June 2020, Destiny Foundation, whose mission is to educate, employ and empower vulnerable children and women in Kolkata so they can avoid sexual exploitation, reached out to some severely affected areas of Sunderbans to support the affected communities resume their livelihood activities.

Previous Issues

• President: Reshma Nigam
• Vice-President and Sponsorship Chair: Abhay Bhushan
• Treasurer: Jayashree Desale
• Secretary: Smita Patel
• Project Committee Chair: Govind Desale
• Partnership Chair: Bhupen Mehta
• Golden Jubilee Chair: Kirit Shah
• Content Chair: Mayuranki Almaula
• Marketing Chair: Sharmila Kumar
• Women's Leadership Chair: Lata Patil
• Strategy and ICA 3.0: Prakash Agarwal
• NGO Community Chair: Anju Sahay
• Infrastructure: Padma Chari

Indians for Collective Action (ICA)
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CA 94306-4565
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