Who We Are
Where people come together, communities discover their own strength-and learn to build their own future.
A Sarvodaya Shramadana Society is a community force that brings people together to recognise a need in their village, share what they have, and work together towards a solution. It is a collective of people who voluntarily contribute their time, thoughts, labour, knowledge, skills and resources for the wellbeing of the community they live in, creating positive change through their own collective strength.
At the heart of this way of working is Shramadana-the sharing of our time, thoughts, labour and energy for the common good. But Shramadana is more than physical labour. It is a way of coming together, dedicating ourselves to one another, recognising the strength within each person, and believing that a community can build its future through its own collective effort. Through this spirit of sharing, people begin to recognise that the knowledge, skills, leadership, relationships and resources already present within their community can become the foundation for meaningful and lasting development.
The strength of a Sarvodaya Shramadana Society does not depend on solutions simply being brought from outside. It begins with the community looking within and asking: What do we need? What do we already have? What can we do? Who can contribute? What can we build together? Through this process, people become active participants in shaping their own development. One person’s contribution becomes another person’s strength, the wellbeing of one family contributes to the wellbeing of the village, and the strength gained by one village can become a source of learning and support for another.
For Sarvodaya, village development is not a single project or a destination. It is a gradual journey through which a village builds its capacity, step by step. It begins by listening to the community, understanding its needs and coming together through Shramadana. As people become organised, children, young people, women, farmers and other groups find their place within community life. The community then moves towards addressing basic human needs and establishing its own institutions, including the Sarvodaya Shramadana Society. As its capacity grows, the village progresses towards income generation, employment, self-reliance and self-financing. The journey continues as a strengthened village shares its experience, knowledge and resources with other communities. This five-stage process reflects Sarvodaya’s approach to the progressive development, or graduation, of a village.
This gradual strengthening of the village creates the foundation for Grama Swarajya-Village Self-Governance, where people become active participants in shaping the decisions, development and future of their own communities. In this journey, development is not simply about having more resources. It is about building the capacity to understand, decide, act, take responsibility and work together. A community becomes stronger when its people have the confidence and ability to shape their own path.
The Sarvodaya approach understands that true development reaches far beyond economic progress. Awakening takes place across six interconnected dimensions-spiritual, moral, cultural, social, economic and political. Together, these dimensions recognise the whole person and seek to nurture human potential while building communities that are compassionate, responsible, participatory and self-reliant.
This awakening also unfolds across six interconnected levels-individual, family, rural community, urban community, national and global awakening. The strength developed within an individual can influence a family; the strength of families can shape a community; stronger communities can contribute to a stronger nation; and the awakening of people and communities can ultimately contribute to a more just, peaceful and compassionate world.
At the heart of this journey are the values that shape how people live and work together. Loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity guide individual awakening, while sharing, kind and meaningful communication, constructive action and equality guide collective life. These values encourage people to recognise one another’s worth, respect differences, share what they have, and take responsibility for the wellbeing of others.
In this way, a Sarvodaya Shramadana Society is more than an organisation established to serve a village. It is a living process through which communities build themselves. It creates a space where people recognise their own potential, share their strengths, develop leadership, respond to basic human needs, strengthen livelihoods, care for their environment, and take greater responsibility for their collective future.
And as one community grows stronger, it does not stand alone. Its experience can become another community’s knowledge. Its strength can become another community’s encouragement. Its journey can open a pathway for others. Through this continuous sharing of strength, the development of one village can contribute to the development of many.
This is how the vision of “the awakening of all” becomes a lived reality-not simply through words, but through people who come together, recognise their own strength, take responsibility, and work for the wellbeing of one another. It reflects Sarvodaya’s broader purpose of building a just, sustainable and compassionate social order in which basic human needs are fulfilled through individual and collective awakening.
Our belief is simple: a community does not change because someone else changes it. It changes when the people within that community stand together and become the strength behind their own change.