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Tamil Nadu:
The Banyan Long Stay Home, Chennai ·
Project Aim: Rehabilitation of
homeless mentally ill women ·
This 9 year-old organization runs a
transit home to rehabilitate mentally ill women and has helped about 1000
women over the years. ·
Women suffering from psychiatric
conditions are frequently forced to live on the fringes of society and
subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
The Banyan has a three-fold program which includes: *
crisis intervention by addressing
the physical and psychological health of homeless mentally ill women *
de-institutionalization and free
care through an outpatient facility *
awareness
generation on mental illness. ·
Impact: Through its activities, The
Banyan has been able to return over 500 women to mainstream society. ·
This project supports the work
carried out by the social worker to enable the beneficiaries to learn to be
self-sufficient and to live a life of dignity and empowerment in society. Gram Seva Trust ·
Gujarat: rural and tribal areas of
south ·
Project Aim: Health, Nutrition, and
Education of 0 - 5 year-old Children ·
This project addresses the health
and nutritional needs of over 2000 rural and tribal children. This area
is not easily accessible by road or transport, medical facilities are
unavailable, and malnutrition is widespread (~50% of the children are
severely undernourished). The government has opened 40 new anganwadis (child care centers) in the area and has asked
the organization to manage this aspect of the work based on the
organization's past successes. ·
Villages with populations of 800 to
1000 have an anganwadi where the local children
receive free medical check-ups, medications, and dietary supplements (e.g.
vitamins, milk powder, ·
Impact: In 2003, early reports from
the Gandevi area showed that there was a marked
improvement in the nutritional status of the children. Over half of the children from the area
were rated as nutritionally normal compared to only one-third just 3 years
earlier. The project workers also
identified village groups in the Gandevi area and
began to educate and empower the girls in the area, including the
introduction of income generating activities.
The project expanded to the Chikhali area,
which is very remote and isolated from the general population; preliminary
work involved doing health check-ups of children, most of whom
do not go to school. Halo Medical Foundation ·
·
Project Aim: Bharat
Vaidya Training
and Monitoring program ·
Impact: This organization believes
that it is possible to treat over three-fourths of the prevalent diseases
locally in the village itself through a trained paramedic, which then makes
available basic health care to the rural poor at low cost. The goal of this project is to train 15 Bharat Vaidyas (i.e. village
paramedics) in the next year, each of whom will be identified by the local Gramasabha, Mahila Mandal, or Bachat Gat. The trainees will be selected based on
their level of education (8th to 12th Standard) and
interest in social work; in addition, preference will be given to widows and
divorcees in order to empower them.
The training will be given by a team of trainers from HMF first for 21
days and then through refresher courses for two weeks. HMF anticipates that each Bharat Vaidya will serve
populations of 1000-1500. Being a part
of the village community, they are expected to have easy access to the
people, in particular, the women in the village. Their new knowledge and abilities will give
them tremendous confidence and will result in an increase in their status. ·
HMF has already trained 200 women
to act as Bharat Vaidyas
and has had great success with this program in other villages. HUM (Handspun for Urban Market) ·
·
Project Aim: Income generation via
Gujarati handicraft ·
Impact: This organization tries to
make its beneficiaries self-reliant.
The women are trained in the production of handspun handicraft and
provided with initial supplies, as these (particularly yarn) are expensive. The project will help the women to market
their products and to eliminate the middle-man. ·
The project also addresses other
issues of importance to the beneficiaries, such as hygiene and health. Lok Satta
(Foundation for Democratic Reforms) ·
Andhra Pradesh: ·
Project Aim: Support of activists
for democratic/governance reform ·
This 6-year-old organization is
dedicated to electoral reforms, empowerment of panchayats,
accountability, and judicial reforms.
Since its inception, Lok Satta
has worked on diverse projects ranging from advocacy of toilets in every
household to empowerment of water users, education committees to election
watch, and screening of candidates for criminal record. ·
Impact: The current project focuses
on people’s watch as means for citizens to fight corruption and misgovernance, swarajaya (e.g.
right to information, empowerment of panchayats,
and speedy justice), and election watch (e.g. nomination of better
candidates, prevention of electoral irregularities, and monitoring of
elections). This project will support
the activists who will carry out these activities. Manav Khidmat
Foundation ·
Uttar Pradesh: Marufpur ·
Project Aim: ·
Tamil Nadu:
Kuthambakkam ·
Project Aim: Training of villages
on how to form a panchayat and its functioning in
village governance ·
Impact: Although villages are
encouraged by the government to set up and use panchayats,
many villages are unable to take on the task.
This organization has set up a model village panchayat,
which serves as a teaching tool to other villages about panchayats. ·
In this project, panchayat leaders from villages attend week-long programs
and learn about topics such as Panchayati Raj, leadership skills, network economy, how to address
social issues (e.g. casteism, illicit alcohol
brewing, and violence against women), and rural technology (e.g. housing, water
technology, organic farming, sanitation, etc.). Samaj Parivartana
Samudaya ·
Karnataka: Haveri
and Devangere districts ·
Project Aim: Environmental
awareness/Income generation ·
The area includes 26 villages
consisting of 3,924 families ·
Over 50% of the people in this area
are below the poverty line. The area
is drought prone, and about 40% of the people are forced to migrate for
employment for nearly 6 months out of every year. Natural resources are being degraded by
overuse/misuse of forests and common lands. ·
The objective of this project is to
help the beneficiaries by providing training in income generation activities
while protecting and improving the local forests and natural resources. ·
Impact: The project encourages the
beneficiaries to find alternatives to timber for firewood, housing,
agricultural equipment, etc, and to focus on non-timber forest products such
as gum and fruit. The beneficiaries
will be educated on effective use of natural resources with respect to vermi-culture, organic fertilizers (i.e. compost),
alternate sources of energy (e.g. bio-gas), and income generating activities
(e.g. fish rearing and sale of gum and fruit/pickles). The project will also promote adult
literacy and health care awareness for both humans and livestock. ·
The organization has a strong
history of advocacy for environmental issues, so the project also addresses
legislation for the protection of the environment and natural resources of
the area. Social Action for Manpower Creation (SAMPARC) ·
·
Project Aim: Support for health
awareness and personal hygiene of villagers, especially women. ·
For this, Dr. Bhujbal
was recruited to manage a ·
Impact: Dr. Bhujbal
visited the following villages in the past six months: Ganpatwadi,
Akole, Bhambarde,Tapwadi, Ambedkarnagar, Mazgaon, Gutka, Adgaon, Ramwadi, Barpe. He impacted more than 600 families by conducting
discussion on the following topics by using charts, diagrams from medical
books, photographs and flash cards: *
First Aid and its importance *
Vitamin A and D deficiency and its
effects *
Purification & Storage of
Drinking Water and Water Borne Diseases *
Diseases like Amoebic Dysentery,
Gastritis, Asthma, Influenza, Leprosy, Leucoderma,
Skin Diseases, Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS *
Causes of Hyperacidity, Bodyache & Fever *
Safe Baby Delivery & Pre- and
Post-natal Care *
Breast Feeding and Child Health *
Male-Female Equality *
Superstitions ·
In July 2003, Dr. Bhujbal attended a Training Program at ·
With the health awareness generated
in the past year, villagers have gained confidence in the Utthan ·
Gujarat: 6 villages in ·
Project Aim Water resource
management and prevention of water salinity ·
Gujarat has one of the largest
coast lines in ·
This organization has been working
in 32 villages since 1981. Utthan has dealt with issues such as natural resource
management for sustainable livelihood, drinking water resource management,
salinity prevention, formation of self-help groups and women’s
empowerment. ·
Impact The current project will
benefit about 13,300 villagers. Utthan holds a meeting with the villagers and trains them
in methods for rain water harvesting, recharging and conservation of water
stores, and better agricultural practices.
The methods involve roof water collection tanks, well recharging by
diverting rain water through filtration systems, construction of check dams
and nala and gully plugs, installation of micro
drips to improve judicious and efficient use of water, and demonstration of
improved agricultural practices with different seeds, mix crop, organic
manure and pesticides, etc. Vidnyanvahini ·
·
Project Aim: Science education via
a mobile science laboratory ·
Rural schools often have inadequate
resources to teach science to the children.
These children do not have the opportunity to pursue higher studies
due to lack of proper education and/or encouragement. Lack of knowledge also promotes ignorance
of the unknown, superstitions, and belief in magic. ·
Impact: This project targets
science education at the high school level in rural ·
The goal of this project is to
build a science center, which will serve as a resource for teachers and
students. Workshops will be held at
the science center, and teachers will be trained there to maintain science
education. Summer camps will also be
held for students at the science center to further encourage the study of
science. Vinay
Vihar Kelavni Mandal ·
Gujarat: Palitana
taluka in ·
Project Aim: Vigyan
Vahini - mobile science laboratory ·
Impact: The project serves 91 primary
and 39 high schools in the Palitana taluka. The aim of
the project is to expose the students to science by giving them the
opportunity to perform simple experiments.
The villagers will also benefit as they will also be educated about
health and hygiene as well as science in order to help them break away from
superstitious beliefs. Tsunami Projects ASA (Activists for Social Alternatives): http://www.asadev.com |
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(sort by state)
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HUM -
Utthan -
Vinay Vihar Kelavni Mandal -
SAMPARC -
Vidnyanvahini -
The Banyan -
Bhoomika Trust -
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