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| Himachal
Pradesh -
Case
Studies |
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A
Healthier, Happier Life
In Himachal Pradesh, 16 year old Poonam
had been suffering from severe cough and
fever for over a month. Her parents thought
that the recent change in the weather was
the cause of her sickness and kept giving
her home made medicines, all to no avail.
Nisha Sharma, the VHF of the village got
to know of Poonam’s ill-health and
met with her mother in this regard. Sensing
seriousness in the young girl’s condition,
Nisha made a visit to her house. After examining
Poonam, Nisha was sure that the girl was
not suffering from a common cold. She suspected
a case of tuberculosis and advised Poonam’s
parents to take her to the district hospital
for a thorough check-up. The doctor at the
hospital confirmed Nisha’s fears;
Poonam was infact suffering from TB. The
doctor at the hospital started her on the
necessary medication.
Had it not been for the VHF’s timely
referral, Poonam may never have received
correct treatment and may have suffered
needlessly for much longer. Poonam’s
parents are grateful for the VHF’s
help. Poonam is fast recovering from her
illness and has begun participating in normal
day to day activities again. |
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From
subsistence farming to venture capitalist
Dilla Ram was an agricultural labourer by
tradition, but since the last few years,
returns from agriculture had dwindled. Nothing
he did to supplement his income was good
enough. The meagre four thousand that he
earned after travelling 20 Kms each day
were hardly sufficient to meet his family's
needs.
Dilla Ram heard about the mushroom cultivation
training being organised by ACF in Chambaghat
and made the decision to participate. Post
the training, he made up his mind to start
mushroom cultivation. While most other farmers
took cautious steps towards setting up mushroom
houses, Dilla went headlong into the venture.
He contacted the Horticulture Department
and availed of financial help by taking
the entire sum of Rs.50,000/= that it offered.
ACF supported Dilla's endeavour by offering
another Rs.50,000/= towards the construction
of mushroom houses. Following cultivation
instructions accurately, Dilla began mushroom
cultivation. His first batch fetched him
a profit of Rs.25, 000 and from then on
there was no looking back. Dilla expanded
his operations and sold his produce locally
as well as in near by markets.
His family is greatly relieved. Their financial
troubles are over. The children are back
in school and the future is suddenly filled
with new promise.
Ground swell of capacity building This association
was formed under the Alikhad Watershed Development
Project in Sear village. It had a membership
of a mere 20 women. The mahila mandal's
members made a monthly saving of Rs. 10
each. In time they gradually collected over
Rs.28, 000. The group members were very
committed and made certain that they all
attended monthly meetings, discussed issues
and made plans for the future. Active in
village life, the group members additionally
did some excellent volunteer work in the
area of sanitation and cleanliness, working
towards making their village defecation
free. Their efforts towards village development
were well received.
Happy with the proactive group, ACF tried
to introduce them to new income generating
activities. The members willing accepted
the new options that came their way. With
the support of ACF, the group engaged in
diverse activities: group members raised
a nursery of mulberry, engaged in vermin
composting and cultivated horticulture plants.
To allow the group to function to its full
capacity, ACF organised training sessions
that built the capacities of the members
and motivated them further.
Seeing the beneficial work and their sheer
zeal and the zealous manner in which they
worked, the BDO recognized Naina Mata Mandal
as the leader of SHGs in the Block. The
group received a cheque of around Rs.18,000/=
as a token of appreciation.
Receiving the award has given further impetus
to the group to work for village development
from the ground up! |
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‘Know
AIDS for No AIDS’
Creating awareness about HIV has always
been of major importance to Ambuja Cement
Ltd. What better place to start than its
own workplace?
A programme regarding HIV/AIDS was instituted
in July 2005 at Darlaghat, Himachal Pradesh.
Facilitated by the ACF,
ACL pushed forward an idea - ‘Know
AIDS for No AIDS’ - a message
that only more awareness about AIDS can
help fight it.
One of the locals from Darlaghat, was given
an intensive orientation to equip him to
‘train the trainers’. He then
organized a 3-day workshop to train 18 ‘peer
educators’. These people are now actively
involved in creating awareness, at the workplace,
about HIV/AIDS. Our master trainer is also
involved in the Composite Targeted Intervention
Project (CTIP), which spreads awareness
about HIV/AIDS among truck drivers and migrant
workers, one of the largest risk groups.
Youth, being especially vulnerable to HIV,
can play a major role in curbing its spread.
Our master trainer spends a substantial
amount of time interacting with youth clubs
in the area – the young boys and girls
have developed a good rapport with him and
trust him enough to discuss issues freely
with him, rather than leaving them to fester.
Our master trainer’s family has involved
themselves in the cause as well. His daughter
has made a presentation, in her school,
on HIV/AIDS, and has even won the first
prize on a project on the subject. |
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Mushrooming opportunities
Darlghat’s climate was just right for mushroom cultivation. Yet none of the villagers had ever thought of it as a livelihood option. Seeing potential in this venture, through dialogues with scientists from the National Mushroom Research Center at Solan ACF ascertained the feasibility of the project and began motivating people to give it a try and make it an alternate source of income. Most people were skeptical in the beginning and were not wiling to risk their money and time in a venture they weren’t sure was viable. But four persons came forward and took the plunge. With their first harvest profitable beyond imagination, they continued with mushroom cultivation. As the news of their success reached others, more people joined in and soon there were 40 of them. From their sale of 9 tonnes of mushroom, they collectively earned a net profit of Rs.4,50,000. Mushroom cultivation was obviously a profitable one and the number of cultivators continued to increase, reaching a total of 60.
The mushroom cultivators have organised themselves into the Darla Khumb Utpadak Samiti and working as a group now have better bargaining power in the market.
For the Samiti, this is just the beginning. There is so much more that the members want to achieve.
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The
Dairy Story
In Himachal Pradesh, one story was inspired
by the Amul Co-operative Society in Gujarat.
The women from the SHGs in Himachal Pradesh
have always wanted to be independent. They
had the determination and the will to succeed,
but without any direction they didn’t
know what to get involved with.
Then ACF stepped in. A survey was conducted
that showed that the nearby ACL establishment
itself needed 700 liters of milk everyday.
It also concluded that many customers were
dissatisfied with the quality of milk supplied
by the existing vendors. So a dairy set
up was considered a good option. 12 women
from the SHG were particularly excited about
this.
It was Thursday, July 28th, 2005,
when Parvati Mahila Dairy was launched and
milk collection started. With just 17 liters
on day one, the amount steadily increased,
along with the membership of the dairy.
In six months, there were 25 members collecting
about 100 liters per day!
They were doing so well that they even hired
a few delivery boys to deliver milk to peoples
doorsteps. Apart from households, the milk
is also distributed to the ACL guest house
and canteen. The group now does a great
job in maintaining the quality of milk,
and another survey confirms that it now
has satisfied customers with no complaints.
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Turning around village schools
It when 18 children left a local private school and enrolled themselves in Chhamla's government school, that everyone in the village stopped short and took notice. These children had always been studying in a private school and there seemed no reason for them to move to a government school. Yet that is exactly what they had done.
The Government schools in Darlaghat were in a tough spot. The dismal condition of the school and the lack of motivation on the part of the teachers was leaving a serious dent in the quality of education being provided there. Some children had even moved to private schools.
Since it was the quality of education that was either driving the children away or offering them sub-standard education, ACF decided to tackle this aspect on a war footing. Besides working with the teachers to improve and augment their skills, ACF also interacted with parents through Mother Teacher Associations (MTAs) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), the Government, and the Village Education Committees (VECs). The children were everyone’s responsibility and everyone had to work jointly to improve the schools. ACF focused energies to encourage the members of village level associations to regularly organise meetings and take collective, constructive action. Simultaneously efforts were made to make learning joyful for the children. To assist children in learning, support centres run by balmitras village volunteers trained by ACF, were set up at schools.
The work of the balmitras was nothing short of magical. They used a pedagogy different from the school teachers. Not only did the children learn better and faster with their interactive methods , for the first time in their lives their pent up desire to question, experiment and learn was addressed. The teachers couldn’t stay far away from all the excitement and activity of the centres. They gradually began interacting with the balmitra and many ideas they picked up found expression in the classroom, transforming the teaching –learning experience. The co-curricular activities ACF introduced ensured the school was not only about pouring over books and children develop skills such as public speaking, drawing, physical training etc.
The dynamic changes within the school was witnessed by people outside. The parents could see for themselves that their children were actually learning. They were satisfied with the education being offered by the schools now. The PTAs and VECs became visibly active. The children wore broad smiles when they entered the school premises.
With everything going right with the schools, the parents of the children saw every reason to shift them to back to the Chhamla Government school. They knew the that the education being imparted there was of a good standard and it was easily affordable too. Then where was the reason to attend a private school?
School education in the village had indeed come a long way.
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