DISA, a registered Civil Society Organization, has completed ten years of useful interventions as a catalyst and guide and has been continuing its accompaniment with the lives of the poor and the marginalized for their empowerment. This Organization is expected to be good a tree bearing well fruits of service, participating in the struggles of the excluded for Justice, Equity, Freedom and Love. DI
SA has accompanied the excluded sections of the society with the strategies of Social Animation and Right Based Approaches. The following is the illustration of the fruits and results of DISA during the year 2010-11 which can be the test of the Organization if it is a good tree. Vision:
Communion of Human Communities for an inclusive society and Nurturing the Universal Values. Mission:
To restore the human dignity of the poor, the excluded and the marginalized and achieve their rights as citizens. Strategy:
A process of Social Animation and Right based Approach among the poor, the excluded and the marginalized for enabling awareness, capacities and collective actions. Places of Interventions
Sadar, Captainganj, Harraiya and Bahadurpur Blocks in Basti District. Ikauna Block of Shrawasti District. Utaraula, Rehara Bazar, Sri Duttganj, Gaindas and Balrampur Blocks of Balrampur District. Vishesharganj, Payagpur, Huzoorpur, Nagar Area and Chitaura Blocks of Bahraich District. Gorakhpur City for CHILDLINE Nodal Organization and City Coordination. Programs and activities
1. Building the Social Capital
Awareness, participation and signs of change have been the flow of sequence and the strategy of social animation and are the means to build Social Capital for the marginalized sections. We have used PRA, SWOT Analysis, Focus Group Discussions, one-to-one discussions, Group Meetings; village visits and mass communication media like street plays and puppetry etc as tools to create awareness in the communities. The Students of St. Basil’s School and Jyoti Gurukul continued to extend their support for the reach out and awareness programmes in villages.
2. Savings, Credit and Livelihood Programmes
In Sadar and Harraiya Blocks in Basti District, Ikauna Block of Shravasti District, and Mithaval Block in Siddharthnagar District, DISA has involvement for integrated community development programmes. In these villages Self Help Groups have been functioning for social and financial inclusion. The Group Leaders are taking strenuous steps to make the Groups active, skillful and involved in various collective actions for empowerment. DISA Team of social workers accompanies and facilitates the management of the Groups. We have a total of 158 SHGs functioning in 82 Gram Panchayats of 140 villages. We have financial support from NABARD to facilitate 50 Self Help Groups. All the 50 Groups are formed and linked with Banks by opening their Savings Accounts. Groups initiated inter-loaning among the members and they are in the processes of CCL with Banks. The details of the SHGs as per block wise:
Particulars Sadar
Block
Harraiya
Block
Mithaval
Block
Ikauna
Block
Total
Total SHGs as on March 2013 55 31 58 14 158
Total No of Members on March 2013 698 384 637 151 1,870
Total Savings till March 2013 15,10,535 8,18,643 1069115 1,02,136 35,00,429
Total Interest till March 2013 3,58,684 2,33,806 2,92,852 5,260 8,90,602
3. Women’s Association and Empowerment:
With the name – NAYI DISHA MAHILA SAMITI, we could form 42Women’s Associations in Sadar Block at 32 GPs with 713 Members and 24 in Harraiya Block at 15 GPs with 425 members Total Member = 1138Members for empowerment of Women and gender balance in the society. Besides the village level formation of the Association of Women, there are the Block Level and DISA Central Level Federation. In Mithaval Block, we have Panchayat Level and Cluster Level Federation. The Village Level and Block Level Association have five office bearers each and they have owned up greater roles and responsibilities. In Basti Sadar Block there are 10 CBOs in 10 GPs with 988 members. These Associations have become the platform for the women to come together, share their experiences, joys and sorrows, get some input and learning exercises, support each other and thus build the social capital for their empowerment and gender balance. They have undertaken many collective actions and organized common celebrations. This year DISA celebrated the Women’s Day on 18 March 2012 in collaboration with PGSS Gorakhpur – St. Andrews College, Gorakhpur as a show of strength and demand for their rights. Our women performed group songs on the stage. They had various cultural programmes. All these celebrations could instill greater confidence in them by associating themselves with the Groups and CSOs. Many men and children also attended the programme and the celebrations created great effect in villages. The themes for this year were Safe Motherhood, Accessibility to Govt. Schemes and Increasing the Participation of Women in Panchayats.
4. Promotion of Good Governance:
We focused our attention to increase the awareness of the communities in the affairs of Panchayati Raj Systems. In the villages the participation of people especially the women is minimal. The Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings are not regular. In all the programme villages we conducted special awareness programme in preparation for the PRI Elections. In 40 % of the villages of Bahadurpur and Harraiya Blocks, under the SURE START Programme we could rejuvenate the Gram Panchayats and make them more participatory and functional. The VHSCs (Village Health and Sanitation Committees) became very active. We motivated the Groups to be more vigilant and watchful to participate in the PRIs and act as pressure groups for their entitlements. One of the themes for the Women’s Day was to focus on the increase of participation in PRIs by women and men. Our aim is to develop leadership among women and men for greater responsibilities in PRIs and their earnest participation.
5. Sustainable Agriculture Programme:
This programme has been initiated in April 2007 with 415 marginalized farmers in selected villages of Mithaval Block and the programme intended to promote good package of practices for safe, scientific, profitable and sustainable agriculture. It is directly benefiting the village communities who find it difficult to carry on with agriculture due to various difficulties they face and make it viable and economic. The Programme is being implemented under the guidance and network of CSOs – ENABLERS under the leadership of Grameen Development Services, Lucknow and is supported by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai. We could develop the Package of Practices after the field-testing and extend the programme to 403 farmers spread in 28 villages and facilitate the formation of 15 Farmers’ Clubs and their Federation. They have developed Common Facility Centres for supporting the membersof the Farmers’ Clubs. We also could arrange for their exposure visits, introduction of compost manure preparation, mushroom cultivation and implementation of the Package of Practices. The same model is replicated in five villages of Basti Sadar, Harraiya Blocks and we would like to mainstream this activity in all the programme areas of DISA. 35 Farmers Clubs have been adopted by NABARD for financial and technical support. We have also facilitated the production of Paddy and Wheat seeds for sale. Working Area Covered Villages Farmer Club Members
Mithval Block (Siddhartnagar) 15 15 403
Basti Sadar Block (Basti) 12 12 161
Harraiya Block (Basti) 08 08 104
Total: 35 35 668
6. CHILDLINE Programme
Considering the involvement with children in difficult situations – the abandoned, truants, the orphans, the children on streets, laboring children, DISA has been the Nodal Organization for the city coordination activities of CHILDLINE, Gorakhpur, which we started effectively from January 2006. We joined hands with PGSS, Gorakhpur and Little Flower Society, Gorakhpur to take care of these children. We got the guidance from CHILDLINE India Foundation from Mumbai for this programme and financial support from Ministry of Women and Child Development to meet the expenses related to this noble cause. Partnership Programmes
DISA is Partner for the implementation of the following Programmes:
1. Community Based Rehabilitation of Physically Challenged Children
DISA is involved in the rehabilitation of 68 Differently Abled children by adopting them for integrated development for which Stichting Lilliane Foundation has extended support through Jan Vikas Samiti, Varanasi. We follow the principles and practices of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) model. The children adopted are given medical, educational, social and emotional support to cope with their disabilities and integrate themselves in the mainstream of the society. 10 children are in the Special Schools in Lucknow and Jeevan Dhara, Kasia. 02 children have been helped for corrective surgery of their bowlegs.
2 SURE START Programme
Ensuring the safe motherhood, with all the aspects of prenatal and postnatal care of Pregnant Women and New Born Children has been an ongoing activity of DISA in Bahadurpur and Harraiya Blocks since May 2007, in collaboration with PATH and PANI Sansthan, under SURE START programme. In Level -1, we cover the whole block, in level-2 we reach out to 40 % of the block and take up intensive interventions and in level-3 in 15 % of the block. System Strengthening in collaboration with PHC, Block, ICDS, Panchayats and the Govt. machinery has been the hallmark of this programme. We could make substantial progress in this field. The monthly meetings of the VHSC and Mother Groups are very regular and active in Both Bahadurpur and Harraiya Blocks. There are efforts for system strengthening and greater collaboration with the Govt. Various innovative programmes are introduced for the capacity building of ASHAs and awards are given for their best performances. Different visual aids are used to create awareness on Safe Motherhood issues and behavior change communications. The women have better awareness and best practices on Safe Motherhood. This Programme was completed in month of June 2012.
3 . SEAM (Skill Training for Employment in Apparel Manufacturing)
In collaboration with the Technopak advisors Pvt. Ltd we have implemented a skill training Programme for the persons of BPL families who are of the age group of 18-35 years with the financial support of the Ministry of Rural Development. This was an intensive theory cm practical training in which the learners had the opportunity to learn tailoring, cutting and stitching were taught and facilitated their placement in apparel manufacturing companies for employment. Till May we have trained a total – 213 learners and the programme will be going on till May 2012.
4. Capacity Building Programmes
During the Year 2012-13 the Staff of DISA received following trainings:
Subject Date Resource Team / Facilitation Participant
Training on CBCI CARD 27 – 29 June 2011 CARITAS INDIA, New Delhi Mr. Shiv Bhusan Srivastav – Cordinator Basti Sadar
Annual Meet 21 Oct 2011 APMAS Lucknow Mr. Satish Kumar – Cordinator – Bansi
One Day Workshop on NRLM 30 Nov 2011 NRLM, Lucknow Mr. Shiv Bhusan Srivastav – Cordinator Basti Sadar
SHG Federation Training on Concept & Management 05 to 09 Dec 2011 APMAS Lucknow Mr. Rajendra Prasad
Mr. Kesh Kumar
Mr. Mantram
Mr. Laluram
Training on RRA Survey 10 – 11 Dec 2011 PGSS, Gorakhpur Mr. Raja Ram
Mr. Laluram
Mr. Patiram
Mr. Ram Gulam
Annual Meet of DISA Staff 15 Jan 2012 DISA – Basti All Staff
Training on Baseline Survey 24 – 25 Jan 2012 PGSS Gorakhpur Mr. Kesh Kumar
APMAS Exposure Visit – SHG & Federation Concept & Management 29 Jan to 02 Feb 2012 APMAS, Hyderabad Mr Shiv Bhusan
Mr. Satish Kumar
DDC Course – Bhopal 10 Feb to 29 Feb 2012 CARITAS INDIA, New Delhi Mr. Shiv Bhusan Srivastav – Cordinator Basti Sadar
CARITAS INDIA 50th Silver Jubilee 10-11 Feb 2012 CARITAS INDIA, New Delhi Mr. Romansuh Linda
Training on First Production Company 18 – 19 Feb 2012 GDS, Lucknow Mr. Santosh Kumar
Mr. Om Narayan
During the Year 2012-13 the Following Community Meetings Completed:
Subject Date Resource Team / Facilitation Participant
DISA Level Federation Qtr Meeting 15 May 2011 DISA, Basti Block Level Federation Members
DISA Level Federation Qtr Meeting 21 August 2011 DISA, Basti Block Level Federation Members
DISA Level Federation Qtr Meeting 04 Dec 2011 DISA, Basti Block Level Federation Members
DISA Level Federation Qtr Meeting 25 March 2012 DISA, Basti Block Level Federation Members
Little Flower School and Community Centre, Harraiya
The Primary School at Harraiya established with resources mobilized partly by DISA is picking up fast and growing as prestigious institution in that area. There were 734 Students and 23 Teachers in the school in the academic year 2011-12 with classes from Lower Kindergarten to Class X. They have all the curricular and extra curricular activities to impart integrated education and personality development of the children as envisaged. The Rural Development Programmes got great impetus with extension of DISA activities in the entire Block and specific activities in about 100 villages under the IDEA and SURE START programmes. They have also promoted the education of the poor by facilitating 05 Balwadies with nearly 152 children & 05 Balwadies teachers in the villages as pre-schools. The School students also participate in the village reach out activities and this is a new model we have tried to develop under DISA. Supporting organizations
1.Peoples Action for National Integration (PANI), Faizabad (U.P.)
2.CARE INDIA, Lucknow (U.P.)
3.Jan Vikas Samiti, Provincialate, Christ Nagar, Varanasi (U.P.)
4.Purvanchal Gramin Seva Samiti, Gorakhpur (U.P.)
5.Grameen Development Services (GDS), Lucknow (U.P.)
6.NABARD, Lucknow (U.P.)
7.CHILDLINE INIDA FOUNDATION, Mumbai.
8.TECHNOPAK PVT. LTD. , GURGAON
9.CARITAS INDIA, New Delhi.
10.Little Flower Mission, Gorakhpur (U.P.)
11.Credibility Alliance, New Delhi
12.St. Basil’s School, Basti
13.CHAI Secunderabad
14.UPVAN, Lucknow (U.P.)
15.CASA, Lucknow (U.P.)
16.SATHI Forum, Basti (U.P.)
17.SATHI Faizabad (U.P.)
