About us? Ok, now that’s a good question! So who are we?

We are a group of people with many questions—about why our adivasi, dalit and urban slum communities live in unjust situations, what they can do to change this state of affairs, and how we can enable our people to bring about this change.

In our search for answers, we are constantly reinventing ourselves and entering many fields of action, depending on the needs that people in our work areas express. So, at present, we are involved in organizing communities to claim their rights, in trying to achieve universal education, in skills development for youth, agricultural and ecological development, and child protection and child rights.

In our attempts to enable people to assert themselves in an unequal society, we’ve learned to function as a grassroots worker, trainer, coordinator and most important, a learner and listener, paying close attention to the voices of our people and making sure that they are heard.

 Areas of Work

Established in 2001 by the Salesians of Don Bosco, DBDS works with rural and urban communities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan through our partner organizations in these areas, who have varied expertise, ranging from education to watershed development.

 The communities we work with in rural areas are adivasi and dalit labourers and farmers. In the cities, we work with slum communities, street children and young people in search of livelihoods and skills development.

Approach

Our mission is to enable individuals and communities to promote their own development and secure their rights.

This is because we believe that the people we work with cannot be labelled poor or underprivileged. Rather, they have either been actively deprived of the benefits of development, or simply ignored and left out of it. More important, the concept of ‘development’ itself is usually one that excludes them, and they are not allowed any say in defining it.

Therefore, at every step we take, our approach is to ask ourselves whom our initiatives benefit and who will control the process of change. Quite simply, we are on a path of exploration, with our people and guided by them!