Training Programmes for SHG Office-bearers
Training programmes for SHG post holders were organised with the support of NABARD in Suwana block of Bhilwara district. The purpose of the training was to orient SHG post holders on documentation and bank transactions. The good practices of conducting meetings and accounts maintenance were shared with them by Shiv Lal Prajapat of CUTS. He also highlighted the importance of conducting regular meetings of the SHG and proper maintenance of records. Three trainings were organised in three different places during August 23-26, 2009. Around 110 members attended the programmes.
Orienting Bal Panchayats on Life skills
One-day orientation programme on life skills education on child rights and role of Bal Panchayat and Bal Sabha for strengthening child forum under project Improving Quality of Elementary Education was organised at village level during August-September 2009. The purpose of this orientation was to develop the understanding of the children on child rights, life skills education and revisit the model of Bal Sabha and Bal Panchayat so that they can express their views on these topics during interface with village and gram panchayat level duty-bearers. 922 children from 28 villages benefited from this orientation.
Reflections: Self-improvement – CHD Mini-retreat
A Mini-retreat of the Centre was held at the CHD premises on August 13-14, 2009. The two-day event was divided into eight sessions. All the 18 staff members of the Centre attended the retreat. In addition to reviewing the ongoing projects, detailed discussions were held regarding the funding strategy, positive developments and critical limitations.
A Major Initiative to Promote Girl Child Education
A Girl Child Education Promotion Campaign was conducted under the Save the Children – Bal Raksha Bharat-supported project ‘Stronger Voice to Excluded Children in Government and NGO Policies and Programmes’. The campaign was launched to educate and inform community members on the importance of girl child education, increasing girl child enrolment, school attendance and bring dropout girls back to school in 28 villages of six gram panchayats of Chittorgarh block.
A meeting was held in the school to discuss the importance of educating girl child, which was addressed by the Head Master and CUTS staff. In the meeting, the goals and objectives of the project were also discussed. After this, the children took out a rally in the village with banners and colourful placards in their hands and raising slogans. These slogans were educative and short like ‘Beti padhne jaayegi, parivaar sukhi banaegi’ (if a girl goes to study, the family will become happy) which helped in spreading the message in a short time. The rally passed through the route that covered maximum number of households in each of the villages. The use of dhol to gather people made it more attractive and catchy.
During the rally, efforts were made to identify children who were not going to school or were irregular or have dropped out. The rally was launched on August 11, 2009, from the village Bad ka Amrana and it continued for about one month and concluded on September 11, 2009 in the villages Sawa and Dhani. The staff then called a meeting of the parents of the children who are not in school and talked to them about educating their children. As a result of this campaign, 69 students joined the schools (40 girls) which include both the dropout and irregular children.
Climate Change: A Strategic Initiative
CUTS, with the support of Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), under the National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC), organised pre-project planning workshop at CHD on August 04, 2009. The purpose of the workshop was to orient participants about the ill-effects of climate change and facilitate NGOs to apply for the project. Anurag Bhatnagar, Block Forest Officer; Devender Mantri, Programme Co-ordinator, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd. (RREC); and L.S. Pandey, Secretary, Sarwa Mangal Grameen Vikas Sansthan, attended the meting as resource persons and expressed their views on climate change. Participants from Udaipur, Rajsamand, Banswara and Chittorgarh attended the meeting.