n October 2005, soon after north Kashmir was devastated

women and children suffered the most from a disaster, particularly in rural areas where their voices don ' t

Social Work students at Kashmir

carry much weight.

University were asked to assess the

In January 2008, Child Rights

immediate requirement of the vic-

& You, a Delhi-based NGO, offered

tims. We found that though much

me Fellowship on Child Rights( Surrelief

was distributed, not all bene-

vival, Development, Protection and

fitted because of lack of coordina-

Participation) in earthquake-hit

tion among government and non-

Boniyar. The primary objective of

governmental organisations. This

the survey was to identify the quanassessment

was sent to local news-

tum of suffering of the disabled and

papers but, unfortunately, it wasn ' t

widows and the government ' s republished

.

sponse to mitigate it.

Sometime later, we were sent,

The survey revealed that 4 to

with the assistance of Tata Institute

5 % of a population of 2,200 in five

of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and Ac-

villages was disabled and 3 % were

tion Aid international, to conduct a

widows. The unnoticed disable and

month-long need assessment survey

widow population is 64 % and 29 %.

in Tangdhar. There, I realised that