CHANGE FOUNDATION
ANNUAL REPORT - 2011
 

The year was hectic with shift of operational area to Vanukuru village and construction of a one storied training centre there - for the purpose of providing livelihood advancement skill trainings and engaging groups of marginalized women in the village in small scale production units. It is also meant, as part of building ‘knowledge-based community’, for conducting trainings to impart information and skills on various legislations and schemes so as to enable the women to organize and access various rights and entitlements.
 

Shift of Area of Operation

We started the work in the Yanadi colony during the year 2006 – 07. That time, only 6 children were attending the local school, which has rose to 30 to 35 now regularly attending the school. Around 35 to 40 women joined Self-Help Groups and these groups now functioning under government’s “Development of Women and Children in Rural Area” (DOWCRA).

Vanukuru Village President
with children and activists

Until July 2011, the children at Yanadi colony were closely followed up – providing evening tuition, breakfast before school, supplementary nutrition, recreation facilities, etc. During summer holidays from April to June, summer bridge course, engaging children indoors, preventing them going along with their parents for work.

In July 2011, a policy decision was taken to shift the area of operation to move to Vanukuru – Gosala villages where there is higher concentration of marginalized communities, and to organize 8 to 10 evening tuition centers with the same amount of money that we used to spend on one such centre at Yanadi colony. This will, instead of 30 to 35 children at Yanadi colony, help more than 300 children by way of study support after school hours – which goes long way to retain them in regular schools. The families of children are often having only one room which means they are not having enough space to do their home works/study. Almost all the parents are practically illiterate and they are not in a position to help their children in their studies. Most often these parents are not having time for their children after their busy schedule with daily labour to earn day’s livelihood for the family.

Decision was also taken to build a Livelihood Advancement Skills Training Center for the benefit of women.

The activities of the Pragathi Women Society are also shifted to these villages, supporting the students of the marginalized families of the area. The survey we conducted revealed that this relocation will help many more students, especially girls who stopped pursuing higher education after 10th class due to lack of financial support. The relocation will certainly make the Pragati Women’s Society function more effectively like Mother Theresa Society – both technically supported by the Foundation. Fortunately, the Foundation’s upcoming skills training centre is located in the midst of around 4 larger Dalit Communities - at Vanukuru, Modukuru, Gosala and Kankipad villages, all within 2 to 3 kms radius.

Activities of the Year

Evening Tuition Centre & Summer Bridge School

The evening tuition centre was organized from January to June in the Yanadi colony for 35 children attending the local school. Also, in the summer months of April to June, summer bridge school was also organized for the same children. Apart from preventing their parents engaging children in daily labour in scorching sun, the bridge school provided children with much needed food and nutrition, which otherwise their parents were not in a position to provide for lack of work in summer.

Presently, 4 evening tuition centers are being organized in four villages in and around Vanukuru village. Each tuition centre costs only Rs.500/- to Rs.600/- and the rest of amount is mobilized by the respective village community. As noted, there is plan to start more such centers reaching out more number of children with very less costs and with the respective community bearing the rest of the expenditure.

Training in Computer Applications

The underlying strategy is to make any skill training available in the vicinity of the target groups. Accordingly, after a year in Ambedkarnagar at Patamata – Vijayawada, the computer centre was shifted in January 2011 to Vanukru village – nearby to the Livelihood Advancement Skills Training Centre being constructed with the support by Posielek Familien Foundation.

A batch of summer computer course – for 10th class children

Presently, the computer centre function in a rent free room offered by the village panchayath in its shopping complex appreciating the service rendered. It will be shifted to the stated training centre once its construction is over in February 2012.

 Distribution of certificates for a batch of trainees in computer applications

During the reporting year 2011, altogether 41 students were directly supported by the Foundation with education scholarships – with an amount of Rs.234,000/- received from Familien Posielek Stiftung & Menschwerdung Parish – Nuremberg, Germany.

Distribution of Foundation’s Education Scholarship
for the academic year 2011-12 in July 2011
Fr. Thomas Koshy, the Executive Director of Navajevan Bala Bhavan
and Trustee of Change Foundation &
Parish Priest of Vanukuru were also present

Since October 2011, six-month long skill training in tailoring has been organized at Vanukuru village, with 12 girl/young mothers as trainees. The plan is to gradually organize a small production unit along with the training, in collaboration with large scale garment manufacturing units in Vijayawada city.

Education Support through Pragathi & Mother Theresa Mahila Societies

As stated in our previous reports, the education scholarships given directly by the Foundation also generated a chain effect. The families of students who received education scholarships are motivated to contribute back to help other students of the marginalized families. These amounts are donated to the Mahila (Women) Societies (Mother Theresa & Pragathi) formed by the mothers of those students who received support from the Foundation.

Prgathi Mahila Society Members

Distribution of education and other emergency loans by Pragathi Mahila Society in Vanukuru – out of the revolving fund raised by the contributions by those families received support from Posielek Foundation

The amounts thus received pooled together to have a revolving fund, from which these Mahila Societies provide loans to students of the marginalized families – with a very minimum interest of 4% to 6%. The amount saved via interest is being used by these Mahila Societies towards meeting the administration costs. The Change Foundation has no control over these revolving funds, except the technical support of providing training in book keeping.

Helping with the applications for houses

Mother Theresa Mahila Society, in the reporting year, has begun to address other issues affecting its members and other families of the village. As part, during the reporting year, conscientized the poorest of poor families of the housing scheme of the government and facilitated them to apply for houses under the scheme.

Domestic Workers’ Fraternity

It was an initiative originated out of a contextual need. Vijayamma and Padma, hailing from Christurajapuram (which was Foundation’s operational area in the past), both in their late thirties, were working in a middleclass household as domestic aides. One day they were accused by the mistress of the house of stealing her gold chain. Having received the complaint, the local police started harassing them with physical torture and verbal abuse, their husbands and their other family members. When the ordeal went on for a week, the families approached Mr. Nagaraj, the Foundation’s coordinator, and requested him to use his influence and official contacts to prevent further harassment and humiliation. Mr. Nagaraj along with the leaders of “All India Democratic Women's Association” (AIDWA) put a complaint with the higher-ups against the local House Station Officer against harassing the innocent victims, falsely accused in the case. The impact was on the spot, and the unwarranted and humiliating harassment of the victims and their families was immediately had an abrupt end. In fact, the lost gold chain was found by the employing household – misplaced by the mistress, who falsely implicated the victims to save her own skin from her husband and other family members.

                                                                      Domestic Workers’ Fraternity Meet

The afore-mentioned incident brought to the fore the need of having a platform for Domestic Workers in and around the village who work in the nearby middle class housing colonies. Often these domestic workers, including child domestic workers, are grossly exploited without just wages, but with long number of working hours – at times, physically tortured and sexually abused by the members of the housing holds. Under the leadership of Mr. Nagaraj, a gathering of the domestic workers was called and a Fraternity for the Domestic Workers of the village was formed with the objective of safeguarding and advocating the rights of the domestic workers of the village.

Often, when these women along with their husbands, most of them illiterate and unskilled, go for work, their children are left alone. There is high rate of school dropouts for lack of proper follow-up. Taking these factors into consideration, the Foundation plans to organize Evening Tuition Centre in Christurajapuram village, primarily for the study-follow-up of the school going children of the domestic workers.

Construction of Training Centre

The construction of the training centre has been undertaken with the objective of building ‘Knowledge-Based Communities”. A place primarily, apart from livelihood oriented trainings, such as, in computer application, tailoring, etc., for conducting awareness creation workshops to provide information and skills to the families/communities (children, youth and elders) on various legislations, government orders and schemes. These workshops will provide them with not only mere information on these, but also the skills to avail benefits under each one of them. Most of the poor families are not aware of the very existence of these legislations and schemes meant for their development. Even if they know, they never make use of them as they do not have the skills – meaning to whom to approach, what form to fill and how to fill them; what they should write on these forms and what they should not write; whom to approach and whom not to approach so that they may be able to get benefits without paying bribes.

Symbolically speaking, so far NGOs used to give ‘fish’ (here meaning for example, the provision of food, clothes, education support, medical support, etc.) and sometimes even “fishing rods’ to catch fish (here meaning the provision of skills trainings). These days, all these they get under various legislations and schemes of the government. What a NGO has to provide now to the most marginalized families is information and skills thereof to obtain benefits under these schemes and make people themselves to organize into groups, demand and access these benefits without providing bribes or getting themselves trapped into bureaucratic delays.

Different stages of construction of the Training Centre

The training centre will have facility to organize even residential workshops for around 20 people at a time, not only to the people nearby but also to those from far away villages. Also, we may make use of the space for conducting Evening Tuition Centers for around 60 children from the nearby communities. The building also can be used as an office of Change Foundation and office of the Pragati Mahila Society. It will be also used as an “Information Center” as well as the meeting point for the “Youth Groups” who will provide information on various schemes to the people; also, help them in acquiring skills to obtain benefits under these schemes. These Youth Groups will be trained to monitor the running of local schools, effective and transparent (without bribes and misuse of funds) implementation of these government schemes in their respective villages, etc. They will also mobilize the extra resources for the activities like Evening Tuition Centers from the respective communities.

We take this opportunity to thank the members of the “Familien Posielek Foundation” for supporting the construction of the training centre.

FCRA Santion Letter – Dated 27th April 2011

Change Foundation received 12A Exemption from the Income Tax Department making it eligible for tax exemption for the income it receives hereafter to carry out its activities. Also, during the reporting year, the Foundation received the sanction letter, dated 27th April 2011, from the Home Ministry - Government of India, registering the Foundation under FCRA (010260353) - making it eligible to receive foreign donation directly into its account.