Some physical infrastructure problems in the Vanur block communities are very small: from piled trash on the roadside or a need for a fence around a children’s play area, to a communal area that’s poor condition makes it unsuitable for meetings. So small, in fact, are these problems they may be too minute for an outside organisation to address without incurring high overhead costs. Such infrastructure problems are often left unchecked despite their large adverse affects for daily village life.

Villagers can help reduce administrative costs by planning projects and submitting proposals as well as matching up to 50% of the project’s cost by providing labour themselves, an important step in building their own capacity. The confidence and skills women have gained from participation in traditionally “male areas” of work has done much to earn them respect from their male counterparts, a vital step in the gender sensitisation process.

Work camps are simple projects that can often be completed in half a day while micro projects take up to a week to complete.

The AVAG Micro Project and Work Camp programme has attracted the attention of neighboring NGO’s that regard it as a novel approach to addressing the small but persistent infrastructure problems that plague village life.