Joe madiath biography

Joe Madiath is an Indian social entrepreneur.
Biography.
Joe Madiath (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian social entrepreneur.

•

Joe Madiath Biography

Joe Madiath has spent 30 years working in development among the poorest communities in Orissa, India. Drawn there in 1971 to help communities that had been ravaged by a cyclone, Joe stayed on as an activist focused on sustainable development projects. He founded Gram Vikas in 1979 and has served as executive director ever since, growing Gram Vikas into one of the largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Orissa. Gram Vikas originally focused on providing renewable energy for rural communities, building more than 54,000 biogas units. Over time, Gram Vikas developed its more holistic model of development, based on Joe’s conviction that every family in a village must have healthy living practices and an improved quality of life before total development can occur. This model has transformed at least 1,000 villages and has proven that the rural poor can and will pay for better sanitation and water facilities.

Book Joe Madiath Now!

As a renowned expert and highly sought-after speaker, Joe Madiath's expertise is in high demand. To book Joe Madiath for yo

•

Joe Madiath | Toilet training and hygiene lessons for Orissa’s rural poor

Standing in the middle court of India Habitat Centre, one of New Delhi’s best laid-out environment-intelligent spaces, Joe Madiath asks, with a mischievous grin, if we’d rather take him to a nearby toilet and photograph him there.mobAds

add_main_imageThat wouldn’t be a bad idea because Madiath is the man who has helped build

And he has built them where it matters—27,000 toilets in 361 very poor and mainly tribal villages across 21 districts of Orissa. This year’s target is another 10,000.

The subject of toilets certainly gets 58-year old Madiath going. “Ever seen the stuff the government builds? A pan, a tank and three walls with a thatch roof, without a water source. By next monsoon, they’re either stinking, full, or being used as a shed. Why build a toilet for poor villagers you yourself can’t use? Aren’t they human beings? Or is it that poor people don’t deserve anything better?” he asks. thirdMAds

Madiath thinks they do.

The toilets in and around Mohuda village in Berhampur in the

•

Since 1979, with Joe Madiath serving as Executive Director, Gram Vikas has worked mostly with Adivasi communities in rural Orissa on a number of development projects, including biogas promotion, community forestry, rural habitat development, and education. The bulk of Gram Vikas efforts have been on water and sanitation solutions for the rural poor of Orissa. Gram Vikas uses the “universally important needs of drinking water and sanitation” to bring villagers together and realize how collective action can lead to gains for the community. The fundamentals of Gram Vikas approach are 100% participation from all villagers, with “clearly defined stakes and mechanisms for institutional and financial sustainability.

Joe focused on water and sanitation as the entry point in the village development work, partnering with village communities to regenerate thousands of hectares of “wasteland,” eliminating open defecation, significantly reducing waterborne disease incidences, building disaster-proof houses, enabling thousands of women to lead