Future In Our Hands
International Network

Centre for Community Regeneration and Development

ACTIVITY UPDATE AUG 2016

Education for sustainable development through sports in schools

ccread1aCCREAD-Cameroon in continuation of its Education for Sustainable Development Programme, has mobilized more than 300 children and youths through environmental and conservation leadership camps, with sports as a uniting factor, to educate the children on climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development goals, biodiversity conservation, sexuality and family planning, human rights, leadership and good governance. We need more volunteers for this ongoing programme.

ICT for development programme for youths within poor communities

ccread2a ccread3a

CCREAD has set up a free ICT daily training unit which serves  children, women and youths from extremely poor countries to gain generational skills on computer and ICT skills for development. The facility also trains students daily who are enrolled in schools without computer laboratories so they can be able to take official examinations in computer sciences. This project needs more trainers and those who can support to buy more computers, a projector and more desks for trainees.

Sexual and reproductive health rights education for abandoned teenage and single mothers

ccread4aCCREAD volunteers are currently organizing weekly workshops for 25 single and teenage mothers on sexual and reproductive health rights. The aim is to educate teenage mothers to stay away from sexual and different forms of gender base violence, organizing them into action groups and linking them up with mentors for social and economic empowerment.

Supporting women and widows living with disabilities

ccread5aCCREAD is currently supporting unmarried women with children living with disabilities and who are not employed  through granting of micro financial support to start small micro enterprises which will enable them take care of themselves, send their children to school and meet their health needs. We have identified a total of 320 of such women with pressing needs and have been able to assist 15 of them already. We need more people to help this initiative.

To support any of these ongoing projects, kindly drop an email to: projects@ccreadcameroon.org

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Children helped by the work of HEARTS – case studies

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CASE STUDIES

jagadeeshChild Name:                           Jagadeesh Babu Jonnalagadda

Class studying: Polytechnic final year (pre-engineering – 3 years course)

Age:  17 years

 Family background:  His parents died from HIV/AIDS when he was six years old.  He has two elder sisters and an elder brother.  Three of them are married and working.  His brother used to come to see Jagadeesh but stopped coming since he got married.  Jagadeesh doesn’t like the family because they don’t care for him.  They don’t even invite him for vacations.  Hence he likes to stay in the children’s home even for holidays.  Considering his family background, we had to keep him in the home and send to college.

Education progress 2016:  Jagadeesh is about to complete year 3 in Polytechnic after successfully securing ‘A’ grade in 10th class final exams.  He has joined in Bapatla Polytechnic College in Mechanical branch which is a three years course.  In these three years of Diploma, he obtained 95% marks.  After completion of three years, he is eligible to upgrade to Engineering 2nd year or to get a job.

Hobbies / other activities:    

In the home, as a senior boy, Jagadeesh helps other boys in getting ready to school and related activities.

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sampathChild Name:  Sampath Kumar Guntur

Class studying:  10th class

Age:  15 years

 

Family background:  Sampath’s parents died of Jaundice seven years ago.  He has an elder sister and an elder brother. His sister is married and working in a cloth shop.  His brother also recently married and is working as a Barber since they belong to this particular community.  His grandfather died of a heart attack last year.  He used to be visited by a distant uncle who is working in a bank but he got transferred to a neighbouring district hence he could not come to visit Sampath anymore.  His sister never comes to see him.  His brother and an aunt come to see him occasionally.

Education progress 2016:  Sampath passed 9th class in ‘B’ grade in final exams.  He is an average student but trying hard to improve for the next class.  He goes to Municipal High School in the town by a bicycle provided by Hearts. This year he will come to 10th class which is a public examination.

Hobbies / other activities:    

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bhagyaChild Name: Bhagya Laxmi Manchala

Class studying:  9th class

Age: 14 years

 

Family background: Bhagya Laxmi’s father left the house and mother died of Cancer when she was a small girl.  In the family they are four girls and one boy.  She and her brother Bala Krishna are staying in the children’s home.  Considering their family circumstances,  Hearts agreed to look after them both.  One of the elder sisters is married and died last year. Bhagya Laxmi is visited by her two sisters whenever they can. They go to work for their living.  In the recent floods, their house collapsed.  At present her sisters are living in a small hut which was built with donations from the community.

Education progress 2016:  She has passed 8th class in ‘A+’ grade in the final exams.  In the units and half yearly exams she scored from 95% to 98% marks.  Bhagya Laxmi is a brilliant student in the entire class.  This year she will be studying English.                                                            

Hobbies / other activities:

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balaChild Name: Bala Krishna Manchala

Class studying: 9th class

Age: 15 years

 

Family background: Bala Krishna’s father left the house and mother died of cancer when he was a small boy.  In the family they are four girls and one boy.  He and his sister Bhagya Laxmi are staying in the children’s home.  Considering their family circumstances Hearts agreed to look after them both.  One of the elder sisters is married and died last year. Bala Krishna is visited by their two sisters whenever they can. They go to work for their living.  In the recent floods, their house is collapsed. At present their sisters are living in a small hut which was built with donations from the community.

Education progress 2016:  He has passed 8th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams.  He studies well but due to his interest in sports he got less marks in the units and half yearly exams.  This year for class 9th he will be going to high school in the town.  He will also be studying English.

Hobbies / other activities:    

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dinesh

 

Child Name: Dinesh Kandiyar

Class studying: Degree 1st year

Age: 16 years

 

Family background: Dinesh’s father left the house nearly 10 years ago. His mother runs a small Tiffin centre left by the father.  The family came to know that the father died of tuberculosis last year. Dinesh has an elder brother who is working and a twin sister who has at present discontinued studies.  She used to stay in the children’s home but left because her mother wanted her to work.

Dinesh is visited by the mother and brother occasionally.

Education progress 2016: He has passed Intermediate and scored 7.5 points out of 10.  He is an average student but trying to improve in college studies.  In 2013 he attended 10th class and passed in all subjects.  He took the group MPC (Maths, Physics and Chemistry).

This year he is studying Degree (graduation) 1st year with the same subjects.  After completion of degree studies, he will be eligible to study university or to get a job.

Hobbies / other activities:

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chennaChild Name: Chenna Kesavulu Maruprolu

Class studying: 10th class

Age: 14 years

 

Family background: His father died from jaundice 10 years ago.  His mother works as a daily labourer.  He has an elder brother who has discontinued studies and working due to mother being unwell.  The mother and brother live in a small hut beside the canal.

Chenna Kesavulu is visited by the mother occasionally.

Education progress 2016: He is a brilliant student in studies and studying English.  He has scored 95% marks in the final exams of class 9th.  This year he is studying 10th class and will be writing public exams.  He has good handwriting and is a role model for students in the school and children’s home.

Hobbies / other activities:

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jhansi

 Child Name:  Jhansi Varadala

Class studying: 9th class

Age:  14 years

 

Family background: Jhansi’s parents are daily labourers. Her father goes to building mason work and mother goes to agriculture works.  She has an elder brother studying at home. They live in a small hut in Bapatla town.  Jhansi’s parents are very poor and often migrate to neighboring districts to work. Jhansi likes to study and continue education.  Her parents also like Jhansi to study unlike them.  Her mother comes to see Jhansi whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Jhansi passed 8th class in ‘B’ grade in the final exams.  She is an average student in studies but showing interest to improve.  She finds English medium difficult this year because until last year she studied Telugu (mother tongue) medium.  She will be studying 9th class this year in English.

Hobbies / other activities:

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esther

Child Name: Esther Jangam

Class studying: 8th class

Age:  14 years

 

Family background: Esther’s mother died when she was a small girl.  She has a younger brother who was given for adoption at the age of six months.  Then the father left the house and married someone else.  Esther was left with her great grandmother who is very aged and could not go to work. Esther is happily staying in the children’s home.  She is loved by everyone.  Her grandma comes to visit her whenever she can.  Recently a distant uncle is also coming to visit her.

Education progress 2016: Esther passed 7th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams.  She is a brilliant student.  Since she joined the children’s home in the year June 2009, she is always coming first in her classes.  Even though she studied Telugu medium until 2012, she picked up greatly to study English in 2013.  This year she will be studying 8th class in English.

Hobbies / other activities:                

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rafi
Child Name: Rafi Shaik Mohammed

Class studying: 10th class

Age: 14 years

 

 Family background: Rafi’s father is an invalid who is suffering from haemophilia.  His mother is a daily labourer who works at a limestone factory.  He has a younger brother studying at home.  His mother has lot of burden to look after the family since the father needs medication very often.  Rafi’s parents cannot come to see him but speak to him over telephone.  His grandmother visits him whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Rafi passed 9th class in ‘B’ grade in the final exams.  He studies well but at the time of exams he gets nervous.  He is studying English and goes to Municipal High School in the town.  This year he will be studying 10th class.

Hobbies / other activities:                

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prasanthi
Child Name: Prasanthi Lingala

Class studying: Intermediate 1st year (class XI)

Age: 15 years

 

Family background: Prasanthis’s father is a drinker and never cares for the family.  A few years ago he left the house and came back recently.  Still now he is torturing his wife and children.  Her mother is a daily labourer who works at the local market.  The mother is suffering a lot by physical abuse of the father.  Prasanthi has two younger sisters who are staying with the mother.  Her father never comes to see her at the children’s home.  Her mother visits her whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Prasanthi passed 10th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams.  She is a brilliant student in studies.  She always secures more than 95% marks.  This year she will be studying Intermediate 1st year and writing public examinations in English.

Hobbies / other activities:                

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sujit
Child Name: Sujit Talatoti

Class studying: 7th class

Age: 12 years


Family background: Sujit’s mother died from tuberculosis when he was a small boy.  His father then left the house and married someone else.  Sujit has an elder brother who is also staying with him in the children’s home.  For several years his father did not care for the family.  Very recently he has started communicating with the boys.  His grandmother comes to visit Sujit whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Sujit passed 6th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams.  He has much improved in education because of children’s home regular tuitions.  This year he will be studying 7th class in local Government elementary school.

Hobbies / other activities:                

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sandeep
Child Name: Sandeep Talatoti

Class studying: 8th class

Age: 14 years


Family background: Sandeep’s mother died from tuberculosis when he was a small boy.  His father then left the house and married someone else.  Sandeep has a younger brother who is also staying with him in the children’s home. For several years his father did not care for the family.  Very recently he has started communicating with the boys.  His grandmother comes to visit Sandeep whenever she can.

Education progress 2016: Sandeep passed 7th class in ‘A’ grade in the final exams.  He has much improved in education because of children’s home regular tuitions.  This year he will be studying 8th class in local Government elementary school.

Hobbies / other activities:                

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The advantages of cycling

The advantages of cycling
swindon-cycle-track-640Why do so many people feel it necessary to acquire cars in the many parts of the affluent world where there are good public transport systems?  Even though the public transport networks are good in these regions, they could be so much better were it not for the congestion caused by far too many cars on the road!
For many the car is regarded as a necessity for both social and work demands and they would think that giving up the car would greatly diminish their quality of life.  The hope is that the following suggestions will prompt a rethink.

oxford-640Whilst poverty and hunger are major causes of ill health for most people in the world, in the rich countries an increasing number of health problems are related to lack of exercise, over eating, drinking excessive alcohol and the over-use of both proscriptive and prescriptive drugs.  These are often refered to the ‘diseases of affluence’ but are also even more common amongst the poorer sections of the affluent society and often related to pollution and a poor diet coupled with lack of exercise.
Most people in the West have come to regard the car as a basic necessity.  Families without cars are now considered to be poor. Sadly this mentality is now spreading to many so called developing countries, especially in South East Asia, thus making transport a growing cause of respiratory health problems and global warming.
For example air pollution in Beijing has reached a crisis level (2015) .
It is hard to understand this love affair with the car given the stress, health problems, pollution, accidents and congestion it causes.  Yes it is often convenient, especially during inclement weather, but do the advantages of car travel outweigh the disadvantages, which include the initial purchase and running costs?   Has the car now become an extension of the home, like a new summerhouse, rather than just a means of getting around?

Congestion, pollution, fatal and serious accidents, environmental and aesthetic degradation are reasons enough to abandon cars as a means of transport, but to these must now be added new direct and indirect links car transport has to ill health, especially of children, and global warming.

For a very small number of people the car may be legitimately be regarded as a necessity.  However, the purpose of this web site is to urge most people, especially young people, to rethink their attitude towards transport and consider the role cycling has in improving health and reducing pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.

Cycling is good for your health and your pocket and the greater the number of people who give up their cars, or decide not to own one in the first place, the safer will be roads for cycling on and the greater the focus on providing safe routes for cyclists.   Also, public transport will become more economically viable and general efficiency will increase for those who must use vehicles for their business activities. Holiday and leisure facilities will become more pleasureable without the environment being spoilt by the presense of large numbers of cars.   Traffic congestion will also be reduced.

Cycling is good for your health
Most able bodied people should be able to use a bike for most journeys under 5 miles (Most car journeys are under 5 miles). Among the likely benefits of regular cycling are:

Cycling can help make you feel good about yourself
Consider for a moment how much better you would feel arriving at the office after an invigorating morning bike ride, rather than a rushed and busy trip through morning traffic.  Or how about at the end of your busy work day, letting all of your stress melt away as you take a leisurely ride home on your bicycle, avoiding the even more stressful rush hour traffic?  It is likely that your trip home wouldn’t take much more time than traveling by car.  Also consider how much time you’ll save by not having to spend so much of it at the health club.  You may even decide to save some money and not sign up for membership during your cycling months.

If the money saving aspect is not all that important to you, consider the environmental benefits.  Bicycling is very environmentally friendly, and you’d be making a measurable contribution to its preservation.  It takes a great deal less of our planet’s resources to build a bicycle than it does to build and maintain a car.  Cyclists do not pollute the air with toxic gases or leak dangerous oil and antifreeze into the earth.  They also do not contribute to the growing problem of grid lock and noise pollution the UK is facing.   And just think how much friendlier people would be to one another if they were all on bicycles.  Think of how much less road rage there would be!

Cycling does not require so much exertion as jogging and can be carried on well into old age.

This may be too obvious to mention, but cycling will save you a lot of money.  The savings from swapping the car, bus or train for a bicycle are considerable.

Cycling can increase efficiency and profits for employers
Employers should consider the benefits they can gain by promoting bicycling, too.  Employees over-all health improves, the number of sick days that your company pays for are likely to decline (and if your employees do get sick, they’ll recover faster).  Medical costs decrease, your employees feel better (physically and emotionally), and they’ll be more effective and happier at their jobs.
Obesity accounts for about 18 million days of sickness absence each year and 30,000 premature deaths.  On average, each person whose death could be attributed to obesity lost nine years of life.  Treating obesity costs the NHS at least 4 billion a year (2011).  The total cost to the UK economy is estimated at £47 bil per year.  Two bil people in the world are overweight and this is likely to increase to a half by 2030.

Problems for cyclists
For some people the decision to abandon the car in favour of a bike requires some courage.  Probably the greatest disincentive to cycling is fear of accidents caused by motorised traffic.  Lack of consideration and yobbish behaviour on the part some people travelling by car towards cyclists can also be a problem.  However, it must also be said that the behaviour of some cyclists (like night riding without lights and inconsiderate behaviour towards pedestrians) can give cyclists a bad name.
There would appear to be a stong case for promoting the use of the bicycle as the primary means of transport for most journeys made across the world and provide more safe cycling routes in urban areas.

cycleloadIf you have ever struggled from a supermarket or city centre with a heavy load of groceries on each arm you might consider how much easier it might have been to carry the same load on a bike.  The picture on the left shows just how many items can be carried with ease on a bicycle – which can be wheeled around with you as you move from one shop to another.

If you think that using a bike for shopping might be time-consuming, then stop to consider the number of times you spent half an hour or more looking for a parking space and then several minutes to find the ticket machine and take the ticket back to your car.

With increasing concerns about global warming and the growing numbers of people with diseases related to obesity and lack of exercise, does it not make sense to use a bicycle for getting around whenever possible?

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Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch

Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW)
cameroon.camgew. Environmental education2CAMGEW works to see social and environmental justice put at the centre of development.  It works with all age groups.  It works to see that the social welfare of children in Cameroon is improved, especially the girls who in many communities are deprived of opportunities to grow up to be future leaders.
It sees it necessary also to work to improve the lives of children in many rural and urban areas who lack the means to go to school and to meet their needs.  It does this by trying to meet their basic needs, instilling in them the spirit of positive thinking and encouraging them to strive for excellence.
cameroon.camgew.school.environmental.education.programme. School children weedingIt seeks also to build the capacity of women especially those in the rural areas where most women are poor farmers.  These women lack the agricultural skills and inputs to increase farm yields.  They also lack crop storage techniques and facilities.  This means they are unable to gain an income sufficient to meet their basic needs and pay for the education of their children.  They need to be empowered to be economic and social leaders.  Many of them are bread winners of their families.  CAMGEW also works to provide women and children with basic needs like water, food, education, energy and shelter.
It works with children, youths and the old to create environmental awareness. and works with children through environmental education to instil in them the spirit to grow up to live in harmony with nature.  It educates children about ecology e.g. rivers and lakes; marine ecosystems like the Atlantic ocean; land ecosystems like natural forests, botanical gardens, Zoos; pollution and waste management; gardening and tree nurseries.
It fights poaching, the bushmeat trade, illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, bushfires and climate change by trying to bring about a positive behavioural change in people involved in activities that are environmentally unfriendly.  To bring this change CAMGEW carries out sensitisation, lobbying and advocacy at various levels of the society (policy makers, private sector, civil society and grass root populations).
cameroon.camgew. Reforestation in Oku, NW region 2015CAMGEW encourages organic farming by improving on soil fertility with organic matter and encourages household organic waste sorting for use in farms to increase crop yields and also as a means of managing household waste.  Agroforestry is another way CAMGEW promotes ecofarming.  This was a traditional method used to improve the soil.  It promotes integrated organic farming, horticulture (flower, vegetable and fruit farming) and apiculture (bee farming).

Beehive complete DSC01762 cameroon.camgew. Honey harvesting in the forest,Oku
To discourage the use of plastic papers which are known to be non-biodegradable and to reduce the aesthetics of our environment, CAMGEW promotes the use of bags and baskets made from locally available materials like bamboo, jute, rattan etc that are biodegradable.  These bags and baskets have been used in the past when plastics were not yet common.  CAMGEW is building a campaign to see how biodegradable materials could be used for packaging instead of plastics.
The availability and affordability of modern energy is paramount to every development.  Many rural areas lack this energy because they are far away from the national grid and also because they cannot afford it.  Another, problem faced by Cameroon is the shortage of power due to dependency on one energy source – hydropower that is always affected by droughts brought by the changing climatic.
It promotes decentralised and diverse energy systems like small hyro, solar, wind and biogas systems exploited from the available natural energy sources like river fall, sun, wind and animal waste or plant matter respectively.  It also engages in a campaign to reduce dependency on environmentally unfriendly energy sources like fossil fuels.
It takes part in fighting climate change from four key perspectives – mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology as identified in the global Climate Change Conference that took place in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007.  During the Bali conference, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki moon said “no one-rich or poor-can remain immune from the dangers of climate change”.
To achieve all of above, CAMGEW uses media, gatherings, posters, newsletters and organised events like workshops.  It therefore, sees creativity and innovations as a way forward to solve the global problems that plague humanity.
These innovations and creative ideas therefore need to be replicated and/or scaled-up to tackle global challenges.  It believes that through partnership, networking, research and volunteerism this shared vision for long-term cooperative action among the people of the world to improve on lives and promote sustainable development, can be achieved.
A video showing activities at its vocational training centre in Oku can be seen here:

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Future in Our Hands Womens Co-operative, Oku

Future In Our Hands Cooperative Oku
cameroon.shumas. FIOH womens cooperative, Oku 2008FIOH Oku is a women’s farming cooperative made of over 5 Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) representing over five villages in Oku Subdivision.  It was created on the 22nd of September 1999.  It encourages the spirit of hard work, cooperation and togetherness in women.  It is called a women’s cooperative because 95% of members are women.  Her creation was thanks to the interest SHUMAS NGO and Future Our Hands had to empower women and the vulnerable in the Oku community.  It has as motto: educate a man, educate an individual; educate a woman to educate a whole nation.  This is because of the socio-economic importance of a woman in the purely African village community like Oku.  Some of the projects realised by FIOH-Oku:-

Oku is located in Bui Division of the North West Region of Cameroon.  It is made up of 36 village communities mostly living along the slopes of the Kilum Mountain.  The people depend mostly on forest resources, subsistence agriculture, cash crop farming, livestock production and local artisan work for their livelihood.  The Kilum Ijim Forest found in the community is a naturally preserved moist montane forest with a surface area of about 20,000 hectares.  It is located in the Mount Oku Ridge in the Bamenda Highlands and forms part of the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone of Cameroon.  The geographic location of the area is latitude 6°07’N – 6°17’N and longitude 10°20’E – 10°25’E.  It has very important and threatened Afro-Montane endemic animal and plant species such as Prunus africana amongst others.  It is an internationally important biodiversity hotspot and a critical zone for carbon sequestration within the High Plateaus Agro-ecological Zone.
The Kilum area is one of the highly populated locations in Africa and Cameroon in particular, accommodating 144,800 people occupying about 328 km2 (439.3persons/km2); hence, high pressure on resources is inevitable.  There has been progressive deforestation and degradation mainly due to agricultural expansion, forest fire and overgrazing.  Fuel wood harvesting has also been a major cause of deforestation and forest degradation.  The late 1980s decline in coffee prices triggered many farmers to migrate further up the slopes in search of new land to increase income through alternative crops.

Within two years of its formation the activities of the co-operative had a profound positive impact on the lives of the women:

Former situation

  1. We were scattered and never cared to come together because we did farming far away from our homes because of the eucalyptus trees that were planted around our homes by men.
  2. We thought that only men had the right to inherit the property of parents.  We never attended seminars and training programmes.
  3. We were shy to express ourselves among men and only played the part of listening.
  4. Our opportunities for income-generation were very limited.
  5. We thought HIV/AIDS was a curse from God and an opportunity for white people to sell us condoms.
  6. We thought that bread and cakes production was the duty of men.  We did not know the importance of business – buyam sellam.
  7. If a woman was illiterate when she married we thought this was the last chance for her to become literate.
  8. Single parents had to resort to work on farms just to feed the family. They had insufficient income for their children’s education.
  9. Women believed that only men had the right to determine how many children they should bear.
  10. Husbands decided which political party their wives should vote for in Elections.
  11.  Only men had the right to erect buildings and got the credit for doing so despite the help of women.
  12. Men brought in second wives without the consent of the first wife, claiming it is their right.
  13. Women thought only of their own needs and rarely discussed problems together.  We did not engage with women from other villages.
  14. Widows used to sleep on bare floors in very smokey houses that constituted a breeding ground for germs and diseases.

cameroon.shumas. Womens cooperative savings and credit scheme, Oku 2008

Current situation

  1. We now farm around our homes and have enough time to come together.  Children now attend school as they do not have to come with us to distant farms.  We have gained experience by coming together e.g. joined savings and credit groups with small interest charged on loans. We now have small businesses that help to solve some of our problems like paying for school fees and drugs.  We are healthy and do not have to rely on our husbands for money.
  2. We have attended many seminars organised by SHUMAS and the Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace, Bishops House, Kumbo, Human Rights agent and the International Federation of Female Lawyers in Cameroon.
  3. Now we express ourselves freely because of the lectures from SHUMAS and human rights agent who told us that every person is the same before the law and has the right to express his/her views freely.
  4.  We now produce tablet and powder soap and hire a hand cart for transporting items.
  5. Through seminars we have learned that HIV/AIDS is real.  We go out to schools and talk on the rural radio about the dangers and the precautioins that must be taken.  There have been significant changes in sexual behaviour as a result.
  6. We now have our own small bakery and members can take part in bread making and poff poff production.  We sell what we make and employ male youths to carry to far distant places by motorbike to sell.
  7. The eucalyptus replacement project has enabled women to have more time to engage in adult literacy classes.  These include married women who were once illiterate.
  8. FIOH Oku has encouraged single parents to join the co-opertive and learn how to engage in income generating activities.  The co-operative has provided them with small loans and they are now able to sell items in the market.  Some have been able to send their children to school and have given testimonies on how their lives have improved.
  9. From the lectures and seminars women became more aware that men and women should jointly agree the number of children they should bear.
  10. Through the education of the human rights agent and messages from Mike Thomas of the FIOH UK Fund, women now know their rights to vote in their own right.
  11. Women now realise that they can take the initiative in putting up a building.  Our women have bought a plot of land and have erected their own meeting hall.
  12. Through the co-operative we have taught women the importance of marriage certificates and various types of marriage .  If monogamy is the choice then men have no right to bring in a second wife or mistress.
  13. We now have exchange visits with other womens co-operatives in our network.  We exchange ideas and learn from each others experience.
  14. Now most women, especially FIOH women, do not now sleep in such houses.  When their husbands die they sit in a special room with friends who comfort them.

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Poverty alleviation in the Thar Desert

pvdp6Poverty Alleviation in the Thar Desert
pvdplocplan

 

 

For the people living in the Thar Desert region of Sindh, drought is a frequent threat and one of the major causes of poverty and deprivation.
This project (June 2004 – Nov 2008) involving the following activities helped 1,100 families (6,600 people) in 20 villages cope with this situation and build up resilience for the future:

This video gives an indication of what life is like for people living in the region:

pvdp17

 

Training was also provided for the families and the community as a whole in HIV/AIDS awareness, controlled grazing practices and management techniques.

 

Water harvesting tank
water-tank

pvdp12 pvdp11 pvdp10 PVDP3 PVDP2

The outcomes of the project included:

The project managing partner, Participatory Village Development Programme (PVDP), was well established before this project started.

fioh.fund.pakistan.participatory.village.development.programme. Poverty alleviation in the Thar Desert. Eddie Thomas with Dominic Stephen and PVDP staff 2005 fioh.fund.pakistan.participatory.village.development.programme. Poverty alleviation in the Thar Desert. Joanna Heaven with PVDP staff 2008

The project was visited by FIOH Fund assessors, Eddie Thomas in 2005 and Joanna Heaven in 2008.

The PVDP poverty reduction model, which involved establishing Village Development Organisations and an Integrated Management Committee, was used in the Eucalyptus Replacement Project in Cameroon and proved to be a very effective method of involving all the stakeholders.

Poor people benefitting from the project:
Three case histories

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Health, Education, Awareness, Rehabilitation and Treatment Society, India

india.andhra.pradesh.hearts. Childrens homeBackground
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HEARTS is an indigenous registered charitable organisation established by a group of committed citizens from various fields with a strong desire to uplift abandoned, runaway and destitute children.
Despite the UN Convention on Child Rights and various policies of member countries and their Acts, the problem of street children looms large, worsening day by day.  Street children congregate mostly at railway stations and bus terminals where they have a place of shelter and can beg for their livelihood.  Also children prefer railway stations where free travel is possible.
Railway platform children in India have made railway stations their home, a place of living, eating and sleeping.
They live in a situation where there is no protection, supervision or direction from responsible adults.  The main reasons these children leave their homes include poverty, lack of love, alcoholic parents and family disputes.

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The main problems they face as street children are lack of food, shelter, harassment from antisocial elements, police, drug abuse, etc. Hence it is essential to rescue these children who are in the utmost danger.  They have no access to education and information to help them grow as normal, healthy and happy children. Begging is their first occupation for survival.  In addition to struggling for food, street children are not bothered about dress, health care, washing, bathing, etc.  Because of their lifestyle they have a very poor health condition. There is no one to care for them in times of emergency or illness. They have no savings to pay for medicines and doctors fees.  When injured they leave wounds unattended.  Thus they learn to live with diseases.
Children who left home for relief might in fact face abuse, harassment, exploitation and deprivation.  They often undergo oppression from officials or older boys and their behaviour often becomes submissive.  With such abnormal situations their lives are slowly destroyed.

The experience of this boy, Tangavelue, illustrates the severe problems that street children face.  This boy was beaten by a ticket collector when he tried to enter a train carriage.  HEARTS director, Mohan Rao made a complaint to the station inspector and sought to trace the offending person.
The next day a sub-inspector from the Railway Police brought 11 children to HEARTS requesting that they be taken care of by the organisation. HEARTS is now working in close association with this official to help children who arrive at Guntur station.

Objectives

  1. To reach out to street children found begging and living on the railway stations in and around Guntur City, Andhra Pradesh
  2. To provide need based services for their growth and development.
  3. To offer facilities for literacy, numeracy and life education.
  4. To arrange facilities for vocational training for better living.
  5. To improve the children’s self respect, self confidence, voting opportunities and dignity through the provision of love, care, concern and friendship.
  6. Health care
  7. Nutrition
  8. Formal and non-formal education
  9. Vocational training
  10. Counselling
  11. Recreation
  12. Outings and camps
  13. Referral services
  14. Services for saving

indiabeatenA terrible accident occured at midnight on 23rd September 2002 in Guntur railway station.  Chandu, a 12 year old boy, fell from a moving train and lost his right hand and seriously damaged his right leg. He was taken to hospital by some of the other street children and HEARTS staff were informed of the accident.  HEARTS immediately took steps to arrange blood and medicines for him.

indiaheartsoneleg indiaheartsinjuredHe was operated on and put in plasters for several days.  His mother was then called to stay with him.  He is seen here with HEARTS director, Mohan Rao Dasari.

Initially HEARTS operated from lock-up garages situated near the Guntur railway station, but now has a home for street children and orphans with better facilities for education and accommodation.

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HEARTS has also assisted with:

Tsunami relief in Andhra Pradesh in December 2004

Cyclone relief in Andhra Pradesh in November 2013

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Cyclone relief in Orissa

new-hope-children-nursery-640Cyclone relief project – the green eye club
This project was started after the severe cyclone that hit the coast of Orissa in 1999 to involve children in (i) growing tree seedlings and green vegetables to reduce vitamin A deficiency (the main cause of night blindness) and (ii) the identification of old people with eye cataracts.

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A red mark on the side of the school in the coastal village of Kiada, Ersama Block, indicates the level at which the water settled on the 29th Oct 1999 after a 9m tidal wave generated by a severe cyclone caused devastation along the Orissa coastline.

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Women, most of them widows as a result of the tidal wave, were provided with vegetable seeds to establish their own kitchen gardens.

Children started planting tree seedlings in March 2,000 and helped with a simple procedure to identify old people with cataracts.

If you would like to support the work of the FIOH Fund please make  a DONATION:

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New Hope Rural Leprosy Trust

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Probably the best way of introducing the work of New Hope is to recount some of the early experiences of the founder of the Trust, Eliazar Rose, in the introduction to his book “The Ring of Capital L”:

leprosy-colony-640I was in a leprosy colony taking skin biopsies when one day a woman came in and sat on the broken step of the small temple which a local businessman had built.  He had in fact encroached on a piece of Government land allocated to the colony.
The land was barren and stony – wasteland except for one corner of approximately one acre.  That piece was almost prime rice land as it had a small spring fed irrigation canal at one point.  The businessman owned the adjoining land and simply encroached on the piece that would at least have given the patients a few bags of rice.  The temple was an appeasement to the colony to get them to back off with their constant appeal to the local government land revenue officer. The temple of course was built with sun baked mud bricks bonded with a mortar with very little cement.  The building, not surprisingly, started crumbling with the first monsoon rains.
Jokingly I told her not to sit on the cracked step as the wall behind her might collapse and fall on her.  She asked if that happened would she be killed?
I didn’t answer.

Her story was simple.  She had leprosy for many years, taken treatment and stayed in her home because her husband was the village leader.  He believed it was his responsibility to care for her against the social norms of the time.
He died and the village turned her out with the threat that, if she didn’t go, they would burn her house down.
She left alone and her married family stayed behind in the village.

In the same colony a year later a woman came in while we were distributing rations.  It was mid summer and simply too hot for the old people to go begging.  This was long before we started a programme of custodial care by having people sponsor the aged.
At the end of the long queue an argument started.  I stopped helping the two paramedics weighing out rice to see what had happened.
The argument was about this woman who had been in the colony for a couple of weeks and was not on our register.  The elders of the colony had said that she couldn’t get a ration because they feared that one extra would mean a fraction less for them.
Life in a leprosy colony is tough – Life in India for the poor is tough.
She argued that she had a piece of paper like them.  Everyone had been issued with a ration medical card.  She did have a piece of paper.  It was a hand-written notice certifying that her husband had divorced her because she had contracted leprosy.

In the same year I watched from a small first aid post we had constructed in a colony as a bullock cart wandered slowly down the dusty track in the middle of the afternoon.  The wind was hot and it had been a long day dressing ulcers.  I wasn’t really in a good mood.
The cart creaked to a halt and a woman slipped off the back and squatted on the ground.  Three men climbed down and came over.  They announced they had decided to send her away as she had leprosy.  They of course said they were doing a kind deed bringing her to a colony instead of simply sending her away with nothing.
One man was her husband, another was her eldest son and the third was from the lowest caste in the village.  It had been his job to help her climb onto the cart.
They nodded when I asked if the ‘well conditioned bullocks and cart were theirs.  They smiled with pride.
Something cracked inside me.  I had the colony men drive the three of them out of the colony without their bullocks and cart.
They went to the local police station and tried to register a case.  A lone constable came to the colony, or should I say as near as he dared; to the path leading to the colony.  I told him that indeed the colony did have a cart and two good bullocks and that two men had come into the colony and tried to steal them.  Did he want to come into the colony and verify it all?
The police inspector saw me in town that night and stopped me.  We made a deal that the cart and bullocks should be sold within three days and that I should report that there were certainly no bullocks or cart in the colony.
The proceeds built the outcast woman a small mud-walled hut with a grass roof.  Majji lived there in the colony for almost twelve years.  She died in 1996.
I don’t know how often she smiled, but whenever I visited the colony she would nod and smile as I passed her hut.
It was during this time that I was employed to visit 13 leprosy colonies to see more than 2,500 patients on a monthly basis. Things seemed to happen when I was in the colony.  I know these experiences have influenced the policy of our Trust to adopt an ‘open door’ approach.
One cold winter’s morning I cycled from the town where I stayed to five surrounding leprosy colonies.

The turn into one colony was at a junction on the highway. There was a tea shop on the corner where I went each month. The owner asked me where it was that I went when I visited. I told him ‘To the leprosy colony down the road’.  He did not smile.
After that, whenever I stopped he would take a cup down from the top shelf and wash it out with hot water before pouring my tea.  When I had finished he would pour hot water over the cup and place it back on the top of the cupboard.
The fear associated with leprosy is not something that is described in words, but rather by the actions, of others.

One month later I arrived at Jigabur leprosy colony.  I was late because the monsoon rains had caused a river to flood. Thirteen houses in a small colony on the bank had been washed away when an embankment upstream had broken.
We got no sympathy from the local government flood relief officer.  He considered it a blessing that the houses and people had been washed away in the night as it meant they were no longer ‘polluting the river’.

I didn’t know what to say when a new patient appeared before me for an ulcer dressing.  I asked her name.  She began to cry.  She had been warned by her family never to mention her name even when they forced her to leave their home and village.
She showed me a two rupee note her husband had given to her.  He gave it to her with the advice that the best thing she could do with the money was to buy rat poison for herself.

I am not very fond of speaking at service clubs in India.  I have the feeling they are out of touch with the social fabric of our society.  A few times I have not been able to come up with excuses quickly enough and have felt obliged to attend.
At one such meeting (it certainly wasn’t at a Rotary Club), a member asked if I could please visit his home the next day.  I knew by the way he spoke there was ‘leprosy in the house’.
His brother’s wife was in what I will simply describe as border line leprosy trauma.  She was pregnant with her third child. The husband was a lawyer and the brother, incredibly as it seems, was a doctor.
Money was not the problem.  Their request was simple – could I find a place in one of ‘those places’ where ‘they’ lived and build her a ‘nice place’.  The end of this story is too sad for me to write about, even after 15 years.

It is my belief that if we can change the attitude of people in India towards this now curable disease, we can make other social changes.
If we can change the attitude to a disease whose name strikes terror just by its utterance, then getting other social changes will be easy.  This policy, this belief, is happening in areas where we work.
Nowadays we see fewer and fewer people being turned away from their families, their homes and their villages because of the stigma associated with leprosy.

Some people allege that young people become leprosy paramedics simply because they can’t get a job elsewhere, or because it pays reasonably well (at least today it does).
I disagree, because you need to have a heart in the right place, you have to have a depth of compassion and courage, to write LEPROSY PARAMEDICAL on papers, that goes far beyond the negative comments that some people still make.

Although New Hope was established originally to help those suffering from leprosy, its work has expanded to include tribal people in general, street children and victims of ‘natural’ disasters.
Since its foundation New Hope has carried out health inspections on over one million people in western Orissa.  Over 6,000 people have been identified with leprosy and most have received treatment. Over 5,000 have been cured.
In addition to the hospital, the only one of its kind in western Orissa, the Centre accommodates:-

· a hostel for children with physical and mental disabilities (mainly polio) –
· calliper and shoe making units
· administrative block, and staff and patient accommodation
· accommodation for visitors, surgeons and students
· a weaving unit
· a shop for the use of patients
· laboratory
· vegetable gardens for patients
· occupational therapy unit
· savings and credit facility

New Hope also has homes for old people, disabled children and for street children.

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Leprosy Colonies
In the leprosy colonies it serves, New Hope treats 2,500 patients on a monthly basis and has extended its work to the 76 villages of a remote hilly and forested tribal area named Raghubari.
In all its areas of operation New Hope provides anti-tetanus and polio immunisation, iron and folic acid supplements and safe delivery kits for pregnant women.

Street children
Street children are a manifestation of societal malfunctioning and an economic and social order that does not take timely preventive action.  Today, street children command a great deal of attention because of their sheer numbers and high visibility.  Street children are found in large numbers in all Indian cities.  They are forced onto the streets because they cannot cope with their family situation.  A street child is forced to be an adult at an early age.  He/she has to struggle for survival and earn an income for day-to-day living. By running away from their families, these children are making a major decision and even displaying their anger towards their irresponsible parents.

The need for systematically observing and deeply understanding the behaviour of street children must be emphasized.  These children are not substandard ignorant kids.  They have acquired the valuable knowledge, attitudes, emotions, abilities and skills that are necessary for their survival on the street.  Though self-esteem is the answer to all childhood problems, street children have a weakly developed identity.  This identity is derived from their interactions with their peers on the street and with adults who often abuse or deceive them, instilling in them fear or rejection.

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Although each child has a different story to tell, most of them have irresponsible parents and experience poverty and marginalisation. Parents are models, whether they want it or not.  It is in the give and take of the parent-child and other relationships that the child finds a sense of security and self-esteem and the ability to deal with complex inner problems.  But in the context of street children, the parents’ behaviour is often so cruel that the child makes a heroic decision to walk out on them into urban uncertainty.  Poverty often overwhelms and infuriates the child rummaging through a garbage bin for discarded food.  Ironically, food becomes an escape for street children.  Their ravenous appetite and the fear of hunger compel them to eat every scrap they can get their hands on.  Thus the street children have a combination of different characteristics.  In varying proportions they can be emotionally vulnerable, physically resilient, naïve, wary and street-smart.

In spite of the increasing visibility of India’s ‘overall’ development on the international scene, the ‘inner contribution’ has been that the enrichment of a few is accompanied by the marginalisation or exclusion of millions of others.  The real issue is that development continues to benefit some people, while many others are left out and pushed out.  The phenomenon of street children has its roots not just in what meets the eye (poverty, family problems, etc.) but also in this whole gamut of development itself.

Child labour
Working children are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops or hotels or on hidden from view plantations.  Millions of children who work as domestic servants and in unpaid household help are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.  Millions of others work under horrible circumstances.  Child labour is a pervasive problem throughout the world, especially in developing countries.  It is prevalent in rural areas where the capacity to enforce minimum age requirements for schooling and work is lacking.  Children work for a variety of reasons, the most important being poverty and the induced pressure upon them to escape from this plight.  Though children are not well paid, they still serve as major contributors to family income.  Working children are the objects of extreme exploitation in terms of toiling for long hours for minimal pay.  Their work conditions are especially severe, often not providing the stimulation for proper physical and mental development.  Many of these children endure lives of pure deprivation.

Despite restrictions on child labour, children do work. This vulnerable state leaves them prone to exploitation.  The International Labour Office reports that children work the longest hours and are the worst paid of all labourers.  They endure work conditions which include health hazards and abuse.  Employers take advantage of the docility of the children, recognizing that these small ones cannot legally form unions to change their condition. Such manipulation stifles their development.  Deprived of the simple joys of childhood, these children are relegated to a life of drudgery.

However, abolishing child labour has its own limitations. First, there is no international agreement defining child labour.  Countries not only have different minimum age work restrictions, but also have varying regulations based on the type of labour.  This makes the limits of child labour ambiguous.  Most would agree that a six-year-old is too young to work, but whether the same can be said about a twelve-year-old is debatable.  Until there is global agreement which can isolate cases of child labour, it will be very hard to abolish.
Child labour is a significant problem in India.  The major determinate of child labour is poverty.  Even though children are paid less than adults, whatever income they earn is of benefit to poor families.  Some parents are of the opinion that formal education is not beneficial and hence children learn work skills through labour at a young age.  Another determinate is access to education in some areas.  Education is not affordable, or is found to be inadequate. With no other alternative, children spend their time working.
Child labour can’t be eliminated by focusing on one determinant, be it education or brute enforcement of child labour laws.  National and state Government must ensure that the needs of the poor are fulfilled before attacking child labour.  If poverty is addressed, the need for child labour will automatically diminish.  Children are growing up illiterate because they have been working and not attending school.  A cycle of poverty is formed and the need for child labour is reborn after every generation.

If you would like to support the work of the New Hope Rural Leprosy Trust this can be done through its sister organisation in the UK: The New Hope Rural Community Trust.

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