Following the 1999 cyclone, which devastated large areas in the state of Orissa, VHAI established Aparajita as a long term aid and reconstruction programme.
Aparajita means “woman with the indomitable spirit”. It aptly describes the indomitable spirit of the people who have survived the calamity.

Aparajita aims at empowering the local community and building their capacity to recover from devastation and prepare for future natural disasters. The programme operates in three main areas of the state: Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri. After an assessment study of the damage and the communities’ socio-economic and health status, Aparajita focused its interventions on livelihood support, infrastructure development, capacity building, savings and credit, and health interventions. This programme has served to establish the basis of a disaster management process, which includes two main components, preparedness and relief. Some of Aparajita Orissa’s main programmes are:

• The KHOJ project, operational since 2004, covering more than 25000 inhabitants in 5 Gram Panchayats of the Kujang block, Jagatsinghpur district. The project has built up the capacity of the village disaster management committees by providing first aid and emergency kits. A team addresses the health related issues within the community through camps, awareness and education sessions and campaigns within schools. TBAs have been relocated and organized through trainings. Adolescents are a priority focus area under the programme as they are active yet vulnerable. Several SHGs and peer educator groups have been formed.

• A Programme on HIV/AIDS, in partnership with Christian Aid and DFID (Department for International Development is functional in Kujanga Block of Jagatsinghpur district and Mahakalpada of Kendrapara district. PRI members, SHGs, community-based organizations and community-level institutions are the stakeholders of the programme. In the both the places, the concept adopted for awareness generation is peer education by adolescents.

• A health promotion programme for adolescents, operational since August 2006, has also been started in three rural and two urban schools of Jagatsinghpur district. The project activities focus on physical exercise, dietary habits, stress management, substance abuse, ISM and the formation of school health committees besides preparing adolescents to manage trauma, primary injuries and nutrition in a disaster situation.

• An AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy) IEC project was implemented by Aparajita in the Kujang block of Jagatsinghpur district under the mentorship of VHAI during 2006-07, with the support of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• The Craft Development Programme has been another significant initiative in the cyclone- affected areas of Orissa, with the initial support of Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. This programme has been further strengthened with the partnership of the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hastashilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY) under the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Two common facility centres of bamboo and terracotta have been started, which provide employment to more than 300 families.