In Niyamgiri with the Kondhas Tribes

A tribal region is under threat as Vedanta Resources plc, a UK company, proposes to mine the Niyamgiri Mountain for Bauxite.  Mark was commissioned by Resurgence magazine to explore the situation in greater depth:

Thanks for visiting the website of Mark Helyar - author, theatre director and musician.

Mark’s first book, Rising from the Dust, was published in July 2008.  He has recently returned

from India where he was working on a number of research and writing projects.   

‘As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists - Small, sick listless children have long been India’s scourge - “a national shame” in the words of its prime minister, Manmohan Singh.  But even after a decade of galloping economic growth, child malnutrition rates are worse here than in many sub-Saharan African countries, and they stand out as a paradox in a proud democracy”...

New York Times

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‘It is without any shadow of doubt the finest and most enjoyable piece of non-fiction that I have ever read.’

Jack Kelsey, founder trustee of SKCV

A quest for adventure becomes a labour of love as Mark Helyar gains intimate access into the heart of Indian society rarely experienced by the western world.

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rising  from the dust springs

india’s hidden voices

© 2009 empty canvas

*** recently published as a web exclusive ***

The Sanctity of  Land: Money is still deemed to have more worth than natural assets.  

Return to the Tehri Dam

Now that the fifth tallest dam in the world has been completed, Mark returned to the region to discover the impact it’s had on the lives of the many displaced villagers whose homes are now under water.

Update on the projects

in Rising from the Dust

Mark revisited several of the people and projects in Uttarakhand to discover how life has changed for them.

Manihara Norton, SKCV Founder, has died

In the early hours of Monday June 1, following a fall at his home in the boys’ village, Prema Vihar, SKCV founder Matthew ‘Manihara’ Norton died suddenly and unexpectedly in hospital in Vijayawada.

Click here to visit the SKCV site and read tributes to Manihara