Community Ownership and Development - Towards Sustainable Livelihoods!

After the Cleanliness drive held at Manthanpada village, Manori, the Core Committee (CC) and the women’s took leadership to fill the application forms at Manthanpada for accessing the new toilet facility at every house. On 14 th June 2018 2 CCO staffs and 13 CC members visited the Solid Waste Department, P North Ward, Malad to submit applications. A total of 15 applications were submitted to the BMC office at Solid Waste Department. The BMC office bearers sorted the forms, in which they verified the required documents such as Pan Card, Aadhar card, pass book Xerox and one pass port size photo. The BMC officer gave a following week’s appointment as well as informed everyone to submit their application forms to a concerned person at the BMC Maintenance Department for a next step verification. He informed them about a sight visit which will be done by a Civil Engineer at Manthanpada. Based on the draft of the report the Engineer will start the construction of toilet work and the...

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.

Ration card holders were disturbed and tensed for not receiving their monthly ration from the ration shop. The shopkeeper instead of giving them the full information on the issue or the actual reasons for denying them their rights of Food Security demeaned and sent them empty hand. The men and women from Pali-Uttan flocked to the CCO office where the members contacted the ration shop secretary of Chowk and informed them about the misbehaviour of the shopkeeper. The authorities called up the shopkeeper to know the reason. They were told that in the Bio metrics the meter number of the 283 BPL (below poverty line) card holders were not showing. Therefore they needed to submit all the required missing documents whose names were in the ration card. The CC (core committee) and SC (subcommittee) members along with CCO staffs collected documents and registered 185 BPL beneficiaries since their income was below Rs. 59000/-. After submitting the required documents and receiving an...

  Chowk at Uttan celebrated women's day on the 13th of March, 2018 . Around 400 women gathered for the celebration which was planned and organised by the community animators under the guidance of CSA & Centre for Community Organization (CCO). The women put their best efforts to make this program a success which was seen through their brilliant performances.  Women were welcomed with a tilak on their forehead – a mark of respect. The program mainly consisted of skits, songs and dances. The core committee animators prepared and sang a song based on the three social problems of the village. The first part was based on the unemployment of youth, the second on sewage mess around the sea shore and the third on exploitation of ignorant fisher folk by middle men. The chief guest encouraged the women to help their children study as far and wide as possible. He also provided knowledge on beneficial bank schemes and asked the women to involve themselves in these financi...

A session on Physical Exercise Yoga & Meditation was held on the 1 st Feb 2018 for 35 Bal Sansad children at Pali. The Input session for Bal Sansand group began with HathaYoga meditation for ten minutes by the resource person Sr. Nisha, CCO staff.  The objective of the session was to foster a serene and cultivate an awareness of the present moment in the minds of the children. The objective was also to help the children understand the importance of physical exercise as a part of life. The topic was briefly explained. The resource person emphasized on Physical exercise, its importance & benefits that Yoga is one of the best techniques and practices, which can help a person to integrate mind, body and spirit, to achieve a state of enlightenment with the universe. She focused on how Yoga can help improve their concentration. Sr. Nisha first explained the importance of physical exercise and its ten benefits. Daily Physical exercises can help to decrease fats in the bod...

On 17 th Jan 2018 CSA organized a training program on Paper bag Making & Basic Sewing for fourteen Community Centre women at Muktisagar Prabhodan Kendra Hall, Uttan. Ms Anthiya Dias, a freelance artist and designer from Vasai was the resource person for the session. The main objective was to teach & provide guidance to women for promoting an alternate livelihood. Fr. Peter D’cunha Director of Snehjyot CCO, Uttan motivated the women through his speech. The first half of the session covered topics such as; the effect of plastic on the environment, to make different types of bags and envelopes from scratch, places to source the material and sell the product. In the second half, women learnt to use scrap fabric for make bags and duvets, to make flowers from fabric clippings, to cut and make basic garments, and places to source different fabrics. Next these women plan on having an exposure visit to the place from where the materials can be purchased. 

CSA trained SHG members conducted training on SHG Module II ‘Training the Trainers’ on 15 th Jan 2018 at Pali, Uttan. Self-help is a self-guided improvement - economically, intellectually or emotionally. The trainer explained the difference between an ordinary group & self-help group and its objectives through a game. Through this exercise the participants understood the benefits of an SHG and importance of team work. The functions of a SHG are regular monthly meetings, participating in solving social issues of zones /areas, increases in interaction, SHG benefits, decision making and networking with other NGOs. The members were further explained how an individual plays a vital role in the group for areas of development, leadership, motivation, and engaging in social inter-mediations benefiting the community. It is also important to build confidence, respect, and mutual understanding amongst each other and being patient to hear everyone’s views and ideas. Through a ...

On 17 th October 2017, a session on Food Security was conducted by Ms. Nassim, CCO staff at Gorai. Food security basically means the availability of food and one’s access to all. Thirty-five children from the Bal Sansad was present for the session and were explained about food security, and its importance. Food is a basic requirement throughout life. Eating healthy and consistently with a balanced diet is very essential. Ms. Nasim explained to the children that its important to eat nutritional fruits and vegetables for one’s proper growth and development. Eating healthy benefits the body by stabilizing the energy, improving the mind and helping maintain a healthy weight. Children were engrossed right through the session, actively participating and eager to learn the Human right to Food. Ms. Nasim encouraged the children to adopt healthy eating habits and recognize the impotance of food security at home.