Achievements of the Project for 2014-15

Facilitation of Community Led Development

CCO Directors and Core Team have begun to meet at least once a month to review the progress of planned programmes and how to contribute more effectively in terms of time, resources and facilitation of the target groups.

Human Resource Development:

The CSA Staff have understood the process of implementing a project as per RBM methodology – Problem Tree Analysis, Goal Setting, Bal Sansad, Financial Inclusion (Financial Literacy Sessions), Community Organisation and Conflict resolution.

The CCO staff gained a deeper understanding into the concept of Bal Sansad and the process of strengthening of SHGs, Financial Inclusion (Financial Literacy Sessions), Confidence building and Project Planning.

Women’s Development:

5 CCOs have successfully completed all programs on women leadership. Except for Uttan CCO; they were unable to complete one program.

5 women from Gorai along with Morning Star Mahila Mandal along with S.H.G women’s group registered a police complaint against rickshaw drivers in Gorai village who did not allow the fisher women to travel in their rickshaws with fish baskets. The auto rickshaw drivers would also demand more fare and hesitate to take them in the rickshaw. The result of the complaint was fruitful. It was agreed that the Gorai rickshaw drivers will not only accept tourist but also allow villagers and fisher women with fish baskets to travel at the agreed reasonable fare. First priority is now being given to villagers and fisher women to travel in rickshaws.

2 Women Leaders from Uttan (Sheralde) Parish identified and enrolled a drop out girl into the school.

Two SHGs from Chowk who have regularly attended the women leadership program have initiated Income generation activities, the SHGs are Sukar Mauli SHG and Ramedi Mata SHG group. These two groups have purchased fish from Colaba and after drying the fish they sold it and earned a profit of Rs. 25,000/-The SHG group is now self motivated and is motivating other SHGs as well to start this kind of IGP in near future.

Maria Mata Mahila Mandal has completed 30 years. It was formed in the 1984. The main objective was the development of Chowk parish. In these years they have worked on various social issues. Mainly they have worked on water issues, alcoholism issue, solving matrimonial problems, etc. In 2013 they have constructed a small duplex building which helps to remember 30 years of their journey and the premises is now utilized to initiate new programs and activities in the Mahila Mandal.

A Morcha (=protest march) was organized by the Machimar (Fishery) Co-operative society, Gorai. The Corporator (=people’s elected representative), Mr. Shivananda Shetty and Suryodaya Community Centre, Gorai had taken the initiative to intervene and resolve; the acute water problem which is being faced by the people of Gorai village. This rally was on the 20^th April, 2015, more than 300 women participated and took the initiative to raise one of the local issues successfully. To fight against the system, majority of the women were holding banners with various slogans and even carried clay water storage pots to this rally. The Suryodaya Community Center staff and women also encouraged the men to participate in the struggle. More than 1500 people got together at Babhai Naka, Borivli by 10 a.m. and walked towards the BMC office, Borivli ‘R’ ward.

Mrs. Maria Bhoku is 35 yrs old married woman staying in St James Zone from Manori parish where she stays with three daughters and a mentally disturbed husband. She is the only earning member of the family and she sells fish door to door on a daily basis. Mrs. Maria is illiterate but she regularly attends leadership training programs organized by CSA and Manori CCO. At one of the programs on Financial Literacy conducted by CSA at Manori; she realized the importance of saving and the need of having an SHG. She took an initiative to start a SHG at her zone by bringing women together. She formed two SHG groups that is ‘Bible SHG’ and ‘St. Anthony SHG’. She then visited the BMC office and the bank which was a major step for her because earlier she hesitated to even talk to officials as she was illiterate. Being motivated to start an SHG she didn’t bother about anything and now she has registered her own St. Anthony SHG with the Community Development Officer (CDO) of the BMC office. Now her next initiative is to start one SHG group in the name of Fatima from St John Zone of Manori parish. She has also initiated IGP activities in her SHG that is St. Anthony SHG. It’s really commendable since she is the only earning member of the family and all household responsibilities on her own shoulders. She has a clear vision to bring some change in her own life as well as the lives of other women by motivating them.

Mrs. Sunita Andrat from Pali zone number 9 is 38 years old. In her family she stays with her husband and three children. All 3 children are studying in an English medium school.  Mrs. Sunita belongs to a very poor family; her husband is a cancer patient and the only earning member of their family. He is an electrician and works on daily wages. As a result the family income was not sufficient to meet their daily needs. Being an SHG member of Nazareth SHG she expressed her financial difficulties to the Pali CCO. This women was also a member of income generation group engaged in Candle making. Since the rate of candle wax was very expensive the IGP was not viable. The CCO staff then suggested that they start a small snack stall in Pali mainly in the morning and evening since there is no such facility available in the vicinity. Five women from the Nazareth IGP group have taken an initiative to grab this opportunity and one of them was Mrs. Sunita as she also wanted to support her ill husband and share equal responsibility to reduce family financial burden. Since April 2015 they have started snack stall which is set up twice a day. Through this enterprise Mrs. Sunita is able to earn Rs 300/- which certainly makes a huge difference in their life.

Mrs. Justina Naik a parishioner from Dongri who in her early thirties agreed to volunteer for the Dongri CCO She has devoted almost 4-6 hours a day in the CCO and even though she is very lean, she is full of energy and the sparkle in her eye to assist the poor was notice by the Parish Priest of Dongri. He decided to take her as a part time worker for the Community centre as she was working as a Domestic Worker in the morning at 2 homes for cooking food. Since she was new to the field of systematic social work and the process of empowerment she was directed to join the annual capacity building program held by CSA at Dadar for the training and empowerment of the grass root workers. Juggling between the CCO work, her daily domestic work in 2 houses, her house responsibilities and that of her brother’s kids and her elderly mother she managed to complete the course and received a certificate for the same. The ongoing training has assisted her to excel in her work and she has since then empowered and energized many people in Dongri. She is very friendly and can interact with the children, youth, adults and the senior citizen with such ease that it is worth commenting upon.

24 SHGs women raised their voice against Alcoholism at Patan Bunder. This included some leaders who created awareness among people about the effects of alcohol in the area and about serving alcohol during weddings and other functions. This initiative lead to the closure of 2 bars out of 16 in Patan Bunder locality.

Total 4429 women have participated in Women’s day celebration from 6 CCOs, 639 women has expressed that their confidence has improved through planning for the program and performing in the  women’s day program. A total of 193 women experienced an improvement in public speaking.

This year 6 CCOs have been able to form 22 new SHGs.

18 Women Leaders from Chowk Parish took up the issue of putting a stop to the beer bar that was planned to be opened in the area.

21 Women Leaders from Uttan (Devtalao) Parish passed a resolution that no liquor will be served by families during weddings organized in the area.

772 (approx 80%) Women from 81 SHGs met regularly every month and have started maintaining documentation as per guidance provided in the training provided to the office bearers – attendance, minutes, accounts and have updated their pass books.

Youth Leadership:

5 CCOs have successfully completed all youth programs and exposure visit except Dongri CCO.

As per the work assignment given the youth from Chowk planned for a Youth Event themselves and implemented it as per plan and Gorai youth have register 80 application forms for the Government minority educational scholarship program.

Kishoris (Young Girls):

Ms. Triza Bendomar is a 28 yrs old. She studied up to 6th standard. She is a part of the Kishori group from Manori. She lives with her parents and 7 siblings. Her father is a bed ridden and mother is not healthy. Her two elder sisters are married. She and her elder brother are the earning sources of the family. She regularly attends monthly meetings of the kishori groups. Once she expressed that she and her brother doesn’t know anything about the bank and its processes. In case of emergency, she takes his thumb impression to withdraw money from the bank. She faces difficulty especially when he goes for fishing. The CCO staff gave her information on bank facilities and procedures. When they examined her passbook, it was noted that she had saved a large amount in her brother’s saving account. The CCO staff then explained to her about the need to open a Fixed Deposit and a Recurring Deposit account. They also encouraged her to open her own bank account in a nationalised bank and gave her an orientation on how to handle an ATM card. After receiving information this information she immediately opened her own individual bank account and she saved some money in Fixed Deposits and the rest she has saved as a recurring deposit in the bank. Now Triza is not hesitating to visit the bank as well as she manages to deposit and withdraw  money from the bank through the ATM machine. Presently Triza has started an SHG group in her zone named Bible SHG group and she herself along with one of the SHG member visited BMC office to register their SHG group and open the bank account in name of the SHG. Triza now can independently take responsibility to handle the bank account related matters being a secretary of the SHG.

The kishoris have dispelled their misconceptions and doubts due to lack of knowledge on the Abortion Issue.

Their confidence level has increased and they now speak in front of others. Their self esteem and self image has improved.

Family Development – Senior Citizens & Couples:

Total 199 Senior Citizen ID card has prepared by 6 CCOs.

In Dongri CCO staff networked with a local hospital for a free check up which was done and two cataract operations were successfully conducted.

At Dongri a senior citizen wrote a letter and met the mayor twice since Senior Citizen and Student’s half ticket was cancelled by the local Municipal Corporation - MBMT. The outcome was that the bus fare was rolled back and it has benefited the Senior citizens and the students of Dharavi Island.

At Dongri there is an accident prone area near Anand Nagar with no safety wall. The same Senior citizens, CCO Director and staff followed up the issue with the Senior Police officer of Uttan from Oct 2014 onwards. The outcome was that a Safety wall and Railing was built by the Municipal Corporation - MBMC during the end of December 2014.

Five CCOs have celebrated Senior citizen day, picnic, and have had an exposure visit except Manori CCO.

In two parishes - Uttan and Dongri, the Sr. Citizens themselves maintain documentation and take a lead in organizing & facilitating their own meetings and activities.

Six Cases have come to the CCO for counselling and two cases have been referred for psychological counselling to other organizations.

Five CCOs (except for Uttan CCO) have successfully completed the Couples Program on improvement in family life education for 122 couples.  

Fisherfolk Trainings:

They are able to address minor boat engine problems and save costs.

The motivated local resource person (Sr. Citizen from Uttan) – Mr. Lawrence Landgi played an important role in imparting practical training to the students.

Participants expressed that local mechanics were charging Rs.  2500 to 3000 every time just to change the oil from the machine, which had to be changed at least twice a year. To change the oil from the boat engine is very essential since after changing the oil from engine give smooth functioning as well as it increases the life of the engine. The result of the basic engine course is that the participants of the program are now able to change the engine oil by themselves and now they themselves changes the engine oil in once a week  or sometimes once in a two weeks.

From Uttan Mr. Giden Sambrya and Mr. Lipson Kemu the participants of the basic course conducted in 2014 were able to put their learnings to use. When their boat machine had broken down, they were able to repair it by themselves and they brought back their boat along with the catch of fish. Earlier when break downs occurred at sea, they would have to request other boats in the area to come to tow them ashore. As a result they would return home without catching fish and as a result both would suffer a loss of diesel, fish and their time too.

Mr. Simon Pascal Padu,

a 39 yrs old fisher folk from St. Andrew zone, Manori village attended the basic boat engine maintenance course in 2013 and the  advanced boat engine maintenance course in 2014 from CTI, Dadar. Simon Padu expressed that he has gained a lot from the course which helped him in his daily fishing life. In the course the practical session he liked the most where each participant has learn various types of parts used in the boat engine and its role and functioning. Everyone has to learn how to open engine and repair it. Once Simon experience major technical problem in the boat he has attempt to repair the own boat and he was succeeded in that. If he would have to come again to the seashore and he would have called   local mechanic which could have cost him minimum Rs. 6000/- and he would lost that days earning but after repair he also continue with his fishing in the sea and that they he got fish of Rs. 50,000/- which mean he saved Rs. 56,000/- one that day. Mr. Simon from his own experience He has taken initiative and personally visiting houses to enrolled names for the basic engine maintenance course batch 2014 has succeeded to encouraged 16 men from Manori.

From Chowk Mr. Remi Patil and Mr.  Denis Itur Noon had enrolled them in Janshree Bima Yojana. Mr. Remi Patil had a natural death (when he was sleeping) and Mr. Denis Noon met with an accident and died. Both the families received Rs. 30,000/- as per the policy of Janshree Bima Yojana.

Bal Sansads:

A group of children from Patanbunder, Uttan have taken up an issue from their area. There is a well which is close to the drain and it was ignored by the MBMC workers. The children of Balsansad came together under the guidance of CCO and wrote a letter to the Corporator; before giving the letter to the Corporator they informed the worker who was closely working with Corporator about the letter. In the letter they have mentioned that ‘if the workers are not going to clean the drains, we children will clean it by ourselves and in case anything happens to our health Corporator will held the responsible for it’. This message was reached to the Corporator and before the children could send the letter they cleaned the drain.

The Millennium Development Goals for Children from 2015 up to 2030 (for 15 years) are being formulated by the UN and the Nine is Mine Campaign is initiating a National interactive session with the children from India. Towards formulating and fine tuning these goals an interactive session was held by, ‘Nine is Mine’, Campaign in collaboration with Centre for Social Action along with 39 Balsansad children from 3 CCOs that is Pali, Uttan and Gorai.

At Uttan (Patanbunder) the children have started maintaining minutes of the meetings themselves.

Pali CCO conducted a session with Balsansad children on Child rights in their Zone number 6. After the session, 5 Children (Sonali, Rex, Sanio, Esther, Savio) discussed the case of one boy from their zone who was not attending school regularly. ‘Fleming’ from Pali village is 14 yrs old drop out from the school. He lives with his family along with 5 siblings and his parents. Fleming was not attending regular school as he had lost interest in education. The Balsansad children spoke to him and made him understand the important of education and that the ‘right to education’ is a must for all children. The CCO staff started involving him in the Balsansad meeting. He took a liking for the Balsansad and he started participating in their activities. Now he has understood the importance of education and enrolled himself in the NIOS open school at Muktisagar Prabhodhan Kendra.

Ploid Dinis is a boy from Pali who is 15 years old belonging to a family of 7 siblings and parents. Due to a lack of attention and care of the parents two of the children dropped out from school. The Pali CCO staff took an initiative to speak with the family and the children were counselled on the importance of education. Finally he was enrolled in St. Joseph School - 8^th std. He appeared for his examinations and has cleared his Std 8^th with second class. He is now admitted into the 9^th standard. His parents were unable to pay the fees of both the children, hence the CCO staff spoke with St. Vincent DePaul representatives and with the God parents who have both agreed to help him by paying his school fees. Presently Ploid is a very active member of the Balsansad group of Pali village.