AID has been involved with various campus activities across JHU campuses and was also co-sponsor of the Diwali and Eid celebration of School of Public Health.

      As you might know a devastating floods has hit the state of Uttarakhand, India which resulted in over 10,000 deaths and millions of people losing their livelihood.

       In this challenging circumstances, we have seen a major public health crisis in the region and AID US responded with $90,000 immediate assistance to the region through four organizations. We are in the process of approving few more organizations.

       Although the rains were natural, most of the effects of the disaster were man made with large scale deforestation and disproportionate hydro power plants has put strain on nature. Through our work during Orissa Super Cyclone (1999), Gujarat earthquake (2001), Tsunami (2004), Bihar Floods (2008) and Cyclone Aila (2009), we know that the process of rehabilitation takes several years and we are determined to work with our partners for as long as is needed.

ABOUT THE FILM 

"Have you seen the arana?" explores the effects of a rapidly changing landscape on lives and livelihoods. The film is set in Wayanad, part of the fragile ecosystem of the western mountain range in Kerala, that is witnessing drastic transformation in the name of 'development'. A woman's concern over the disappearance of medicinal plants from the forest, a farmer's commitment to growing traditional varieties of rice organically and a cash crop cultivator's struggle to survive amidst farmers' suicides, offer fresh insights into shifting relations between people, knowledge systems and environment.
Interwoven into contemporary narratives is an ancient tribal creation myth that traces the passage of their ancestors across this land, recalling past ways of reading and mapping the terrain. As hills flatten, forests disappear and traditional knowledge systems are forgotten, the film reminds us that this diversity could disappear forever, to be replaced by monotonous and unsustainable alternatives.

73 minutes. Malayalam with English subtitles

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Sunanda's interest in documentaries is to represent people living on the margins of a fascinatingly intricate and stratified Indian society. Unraveling these layers reveals glimpses of lives that are often far more interesting than fiction. "Have you seen the arana?" is her first feature length documentary. She has spent 6 years in Wayanad, looking for ways to capture and represent the complexity of the people and place.