Community Ownership and Development - Towards Sustainable Livelihoods!

On 29 th November 2017 Savdhan Samaj Kendra, Manori organized the first interactive meeting with Farmers at St. Padri Pio zone, Manori with a total of seven participants. Ms. Snehal CCO staff gave a brief introduction of the CCO. She specified the objectives that is to provide information on farming and the importance on the formation of groups to address issues. During the meeting, she inquired on the types of crops, the season in which they are cultivated and the difficulties they face. The Farmers replied that it is only during the monsoon they would cultivate rice & vegetables and the rest of the season they are stuck to selling ‘Thadgole’ (A kind of fruit). Mr. Dayanand, CSA staff gave adequate information on crops which could be cultivated with less water usage since the farmers were dependant on the rainy season. There are some institutes that teach farming techniques, effective methods etc. like Krushi vidhyan Kendra (KVK), Dahanu where farmers can get more infor...

Out of the 17 issues in the village unemployed youth was one of the major problems. Ten subcommittee members attended the meeting on 14 th Nov 2017. It came to light that many youths had completed the higher studies or did Hotel management courses but were still finding it difficult to search for a job. After a quick survey taken in the meeting in order to know the requirement of the youth, it was decided that courses on English communication will be conducted and sessions on career guidance would be organized. As some are even clueless with no guidance to help them choose a career path befitting them. CCO has already begun giving English classes to the youth and the session on career guidance is being planned. A seed of hope for a better future has already been sown.

The input session on the Indian Constitution and its importance was held at Church Hall, Pali on the 23 rd of November 2017 for 41 Bal Sansad children. The resource people for the session were CCO staffs Sr. Nisha, Ms. Carol and CSA staff Ms. Rasika. The session began with an ice breaker game. An introduction and basic information on the Preamble of the Indian Constitution was shared. Furthermore, the topic on election & representation was explained in a simple manner with adequate knowledge of who and where one can vote, what is the democracy procedure to elect a good responsible and sincere candidate. An interaction session was held with a set of questions being asked and exercises were given in order to help the children remember the important terms in the Preamble and ensure they understood the subject matter. Children took keen interest in preparing posters and charts during this activity. With the help of this session Bal Sansad learnt the importance of the Preamble...

The three main issue at Pali are Health & Uncleanliness, lack of information on rationing and irregular water supply. On 23 rd November 2017 at Church New Hall Pali a meeting was arranged with 26 youth to explain the concept of the project, involve the youth in creating awareness through street plays and guide them on the prioritized issues. The subcommittee member Mr. Rajesh Patil explained how these issues pertains to the present situation, the effect it can have in future and the measures as responsible individuals each must take for a positive result. CSA staff, Mr. Dayanand also the resource person explained in brief the Project Concept of Centre for Social Action and gave an introduction to Sahajeevan Social Centre. He guided the youth to present the play in a simple yet noteworthy manner. The youth decided to begin  practice every day from 24 th November at 8.30pm, and the CCO staff Sr. Nisha would attend the practice sessions, guide them wherever necessary an...

The subcommittee follow-up meeting to discuss the issue of septic tank & Public toilet at ward no.4.was held on 20 th  November 2017 at Church Office Pali. Ten members were present for the meeting. The agenda for the meeting was to draft an application letter to Nagar Sevak regarding the issue of septic tank & public toilet, at ward no.4, visit families and hold a signature campaign and plan a common place to keep the waste dustbin. The following day on 21 st  November 2017, one of the CC members took the responsibility to write the application letter. The CC members along with committee member visited forty-five families in ward no.4  explaining the purpose of their visit and people willingly gave their signature to support the action plan. Even though the plan was to discuss waste dustbins at ward level, majority members felt that the committee will not take a decision since it’s an issue of searching a commonplace at ward level. Therefore it was dec...

On 14 th November 2017, at Church office, Pali, the subcommittee had a follow-up meeting on the issue of water irregularity. Five members were present for the meeting a few couldn’t make it for some reason. The agenda for the meeting was to plan and write an application letter to M.B.M.C. office regarding irregular water supply at Pali village, to choose a person and a date for the submission of letter, visiting families at wards for signatures and selecting nine volunteers for the signature campaign. These points were discussed and decisions were taken to follow the responsibility. The meeting ended with the ward level CC members along with the leaders taking the responsibility to visit families and get their signatures. Three of the CCO staff took the volunteered for writing the letter to M.B.M.C. and submitting it.

On 30th October 2017, 16 subcommittee, 12 society, CCO and CSA  members held a meeting at, Pali Ice Factory, Uttan to increase the number of tempos and solve the rising tempo fare issue. The meeting began with making a list of the total numbers of tempos existing and needs to be added. And these tempos would be sent to the bigger fish markets to deliver fishes. A request for additional small tempos was put across to which members did not agree as it would consume more manpower and require extra time. The timings of the driver for the bigger tempos are fixed whereas the same cannot be possible for smaller tempos as the stock of fishes arrive at any time of the day. The subcommittee stated their concern of the high prices of the tempos and not receiving a receipt in return. As the society members were now aware of the receipt system they demanded for the receipt henceforward. The members decided to list down the prices of the tempos across the society so that they won’t b...