The Ant (The Action Northeast Trust)

the ant is an NGO based in Rowmari in Lower Assam. It works directly for village development in Chirang District of Bodoland in Lower Assam. At another level, it works with other NGOs to build up the voluntary sector in the northeast region. the ant was started on 13th October 2000 by Sunil Kaul (who had been a medical doctor in the army and later left to work in villages ) and Jennifer Liang (a trained social worker of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai). We work directly in Bodoland, Assam, with 250 village hamlets across 7 work clusters with around a population of 75,000, and 16 VCDCs (Gaon Panchayats). Over the years, our work involved different spectrum of causes like Education, Women Empowerment, Peace and Justice Building movement and community health. Our strategies include forming women’s collectives, giving village children development and learning opportunities through sports, active science classes etc.; promoting cross-community interactions and nurturing safe spaces for non-violent conflict resolution, promoting livelihoods which are safe and sustainable and also running a community mental health programme. Apart from its direct village work, the ant has also started a weaving organisation called “aagor” which gives work to over 140 women weavers. It runs a training centre for building up capacities of other NGOs in the Assam and other northeast states. We also set up a Craft Trust in Bangalore, now a separate entity called The Ants Craft Trust to promote a positive image of the northeast through selling high quality art and crafts.