Community Ownership and Development - Towards Sustainable Livelihoods!

CSA with its networking partner has organized a course on Retail Associate Training for the youth at Dongri. It is a 2-month course which covers modules on Personality Development, Spoken English and Retail Management. As a part of this course, twenty-eight youth headed for an exposure visit to Big Bazaar, Bhayander on 22 nd  May 2018. The domain teacher of retail marketing, Mr. Siddhesh Sarvekar introduced them to different segments of the store such as electronics, grocery, cosmetics etc. to get an in-depth knowledge of its functioning. They got an idea of displaying products, price tags, discounts etc. The exposure visit and practical learning has tremendously helped their theoretical understanding.

On 18 th May 2018 two ration officers, two sub inspectors and one secretary paid a verification visit to the needy card holders whose application had been submitted in month of March 2018 to the ration office at Bhayander. They came to ward number 7 at Pali and visited the homes of 10 card holders and verified if they all were indeed eligible for the BPL stamp. They informed the CCO staffs that they were now sure that the rest who are in need of BPL stamp are eligible too so they could call the beneficiaries with their ration cards for verification.  Then two CCO staffs and the four Subcommittee members made phone calls and personal visits to call all those who were available. Those beneficiaries who came, the ration officers asked them a few questions regarding their family status, gas cylinders and incomes etc. saw their ration cards and verified them and enrolled their names for the BPL stamp.  The beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the CCO staffs for their initiati

On 17 th May 2018, 7 Para professional social workers from Nirmala Niketan visited CSA’s networking partner Sahajeevan Social Centre   Pali. The objectives to this exposure visit was to give a historical background about the Centre, to orient the objectives and goals of Pali CCO, to share the administrative hierarchy, various activities and programmes, to share the difficulties and barriers, to explain the strategies and skills used for implementing activities and the role of a social worker. An interactive session was held where discussions on health issues, irregularity in water supply, uncleanliness and lack of information on rationing issues were carried on by the core committee members. At the end of the interaction our social worker described the role of social worker. He added that a social worker is a professional who works with the people to help them, so that they can manage to live their life with respect and dignity. This is achieved by creating awareness and empl

To divert the minds of children and adolescents for better learning of life skills, a summer camp was organized by CSA’s networking partner Sahajeevan Samaj Kendra, Pali. The summer camp was attended by 285 students of Std.1-10 from 16 th April 2018 to 14 th May 2018. The participants were divided into four groups and through various games and activities the children learnt values such as respect, sharing and compassion for another. The children were very active and cheerful throughout the camp. A cultural dance competition was held towards the end of the camp as a finale and children from each group took part. The locals were chosen as judges.   The children expressed positive changes in their behavior. They developed leadership skills and showcased their talents to a large number of people. They were happy and content by the end of the camp. The camp was well planned and executed by the CCO staff and volunteers.

Shortlisting form for BPL stamp for most desrving card holders On 14 th May 2018, a visit to the ration office was held at Bhayander. CCO staff member and 4 CC members were present. The objective of selecting the remaining 47 forms for most deserving card holders to avail the Below Poverty Line (BPL) stamp and to get cooperation from the ration officers to solve the ration issue for the most needful beneficiaries at Pali Village was to be fulfilled.   CCO staff & CC member in ration shop The people below the poverty line lack access to many facilities as well as basic needs, most importantly food. The ration officers had decided to give 120 beneficiaries the BPL stamp. This will help them gain certain basic provisions provided by the government. The CCO staff along with four CC representatives visited the ration office and selected the remaining 47 deserving forms eligible for the BPL stamp. It is estimated that by the end of May, 120 beneficiaries will acquire

An interactive session was held between the (PSI) and the Bal Sansad members on 10th May 2018. 22 participants from Pali and 10 from Chowk attended this session. The Police Patil of Pali Village. the CCO & CSA staff were also present for the meet. The structure and law pertaining to remand home and information about the activities carried on in the remand home were briefly discussed by the PSI. He explained with examples about the remand home and the reason of their establishment for a Juvenile delinquent. He said that a Remand Home is a place where a person who has been arrested and charged with a criminal offence until their trial is detained. It is an observation home for the Juvenile Delinquent where changes are brought in the behavior of these juveniles. He further said that the Juvenile Delinquency is participation in illegal behavior or the habitual committing of criminal acts or offences by minors below the age of 18 years. He also explained the protection against

The pleasant morning wake up sound will get far if we do not conserve birds. A session on helping birds was held at Pali on 8th May 2018. Twenty six children from the Bal Sansad attended the session. The objective was to create  awareness  for  a bird friendly environment among the children and to provide safe facility for the birds. CCO staff Carol Munis was the felicitator of the event. She reviewed the activities done with the children. Children who studied Environmental Studies in school shared that with increasing expansion of cities, birds struggle to find natural water sources. They have proposed the idea of making this summer bird friendly by providing clean bowls of drinking water, facilitating nests and providing shelter to the birds. The outcome was such that the children have prepared 3 nests on their own with mutual cooperation and have built up the value of team spirit among them.

To evaluate the activities of the three sub committees and follow up with it, a monthly CC meeting was held on 7 th May 2018. The quarterly review was evaluated where one of the members shared her experience working with CCO. The work at Pali through the approach of a People Led Empowerment with the cooperation of Bishop Barthol Barretto was shared by her. The work taking place at the grass root level by them was appreciated by Fr. Mario Mendes, Mr. Cletus Zuzarte and the DI staff members. Activities related to public issues were evaluated. The supply of water was very irregular and so 2 common wells were cleaned on 7 th and 8 th May 2018. The follow up for digging up a bore well has been taking place with the official of MBMC. The repair of the broken pipeline at ward number 2 will be in process. The common public hall is locked by the ex local co-operator who isn’t allowing the opening of the hall. This complaint was taken to the current local co-operator. CC will be visiti