How archery empowered the lives of the Chenchu tribe
Traditionally hunter-gatherers, the Chenchus of Amrabad and NSTR are using their skill with the bow and arrow to gain success as sportspeople
Death and debt by alcohol in Amrabad’s Chenchu community
Easily accessible alcohol from towns outside their forest homes is pushing Chenchu adults deeper into alcohol addiction, making alcoholic liver cirrhosis the major cause of death in this community
When dreams of high-rise apartments mix with worries of increasing pollution
As the tricolour slips off the sewing machines at Total Health’s women’s skilling project, we walk around Aragonda village, talking to people about what freedom looks like at 75
The honey gatherer of the Nalamalla hills
Honey drips down K Siva’s gloved forearms as he squeezes the combs over a thin white cloth, with a satisfying squelch. A resident of Thirumalagiri Chenchu colony in the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve, he is one of the nearly 25 honey collectors from the indigenous tribe. He will soon set this pot of golden honey on a double boiler to prolong […]
Paddy, sugarcane, and now mango orchards – 75 years of changing farming patterns in Chittoor
Aragonda village in Thavanampalle Mandal of Andhra Pradesh is famous for its mango varieties – Banganapalle, Neelam, Imampasand, Totapuri, Kalapadi. But a couple of decades ago, its farmers were known to grow paddy followed by sugarcane. What brought about this change?
The ancient bond between the Chenchu tribe and its forest home
We travel inside the forests of Amrabad, Telangana, to understand how the Chenchu tribe depends on the forest for their survival
Andhra’s dying artform of chekka bhajana is now being used to spread hygiene messages in schools
Students in Chittoor learn hygiene habits via modified chekka bhajanas, traditionally used to tell stories from The Ramayana.
Why is diabetes prevalent in rural India? Lessons from Aragonda
The answer seems to lie in the shift in diet to favour white rice in ration shops, changing agricultural patterns, and an overall reduction in movement.
4,500 hours behind one jute bag
Every product in your house is a culmination of hours of labour. Today, we explore the lifecycle of the jute bag stitched at Total Health’s skill centres
Overcoming the ‘outsider’ barrier in serving tribal communities
A year in, doctors at the Total Health clinic in Telangana’s Amrabad Tiger Reserve have learnt that the key to gaining the trust of people in pentas deep inside the forest, is showing up consistently