Mandal Facilitation Centre

In the last 3 months the Mandal Facilitation Centre (MFC) took off. Lying dormant for such a long time people might have wondered why it took so long to start this project. Of course this project was never inactive. Most effort was invested in the communities in the form of training and awareness building. There is no rationale to start up a centre if the women did not have an idea of the possibilities that are available to them. The last decennium India has undergone some enormous economical changes. Between 2005 and 2008 the GDP grew with 9.4%, 9.7%, 9.1% and 6.1% respectively. This gave the government the chance to invest in development. In Andhra Pradesh many schemes have been set up in order to help people such as the Indiramma housing project which gives free houses for people below the poverty line. Ration(food) shops have been set up in villages for ration card holders who now get rice, sugar, oil and other basic commodities at lower prices. Different pension schemes have been created for the elder and health services have been tremendously upgraded to accommodate the villagers. Many scholarship funds and insurance programs have been set up. Farmers get subsidised seeds to plant in their fields. Then there is the NREGA that brings employment to the rural unemployed during the months when there is no work on the fields. For these plans the government tries to ensure full transparency with the Right to Information Act (RTI).

Spreading of awareness in the villages

All these programs can bring great benefits to the people but in a lot of cases it fails to deliver. People can be unaware of their rights, there can be lack of interest from the authorities to accommodate the people, corrupt officials divert capital streams into their own pockets, instalments are not being paid and sometimes honest mistakes are made but nobody cares to follow them up. In a sense people lack the acquaintance, knowledge and confidence to take up these problems. Many things can be blamed here. A shortage of awareness, a society that is solidified in hierarchy and an unwillingness to perceive one’s own problems all contribute to a certain apathy that needs to be curbed. As for now there are no institutes that take on awareness and empowerment building in an overarching way, one that brings the Community Based Organisations (CBOs) together and looks at the different problems the community faces. For all these problems solutions can be worked out by connecting them to the answers offered by governments and NGOs. It is important to understand that a community is just as strong as the level of participation of its members. For this the MFC must provide the answer.
For many years SEDS has been delivering facilities and trainings to the CBOs. Now SEDS is trying to phase itself out in the field of delivering these direct services to the community and it wants her members to pick up where it has left off. However, in the process of building up the MFC it became clear that the CBOs, mainly the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Village Organisations (VOs) are a bit stuck at the village level and have a great difficulty transcending this. Yes, there are the Mandal Samakyas who bring the VO leaders of the Mandal together but these government institutions do not take up empowerment roles for the larger community. They just train their own members and divert government funds in different projects.
So SEDS came up with the plan to facilitate the SHGs and VOs to set up a body that would rise above the village level and tackle the issues collectively. In a first stage, as mentioned before, it was necessary to inform the CBOs about all the options and prospects that are out there. Now we have arrived at a point that we know that the community is ready to take it to the next stage, the actual start up of the MFC.
During VO meetings the concept of the MFC was explained to the women. We wanted them to understand that the MFC will be an independent institute run by them and will provide information, services and advocacy for their benefit.

Mandal level meetings to explain the MFC
Concept to the General Body Members

Three main functions are identified.
- Information
o On development programs of government and private institutions
o Possibilities of training
o Education / health / environment
o All other matters that are deemed important for community development
- Services
o Delivering trainings to the SHGs
o Follow up on micro credit scheme
o Facilitate all kinds of services towards government schemes and private institutions, eg. Bank linkages, insurance applications, infrastructure requests etc.
- Lobbying and Advocacy
o Use of free legal services
o Legal advice
o Issues with implementations of schemes
o Issues with the government

A General Body Member explaining the
structure and functions of the MFC

The MFC itself will be governed by the women of the VOs. To get all the women of the five Mandals involved each of the 125 VOs elected a member to be a representative in the MFC. They will be called the General Body Members. From all these women an Executive Committee of 19 members (representing the 19 clusters in our area) was selected. These women will be the main working body. Monthly they will conduct a meeting at Mandal level to gather all the issues and requests from the villages, brought to them by the General Body Members. Then all the Executive Committee Members will come together to discuss these points and work out trainings, help out in legal issues, contact the government, set up rallies, etc…. Also there will be a permanent office in Penukonda where the women of the SHGs can come to receive help for requesting loans or insurance applications, urgent appeals for legal help or other assistance.

Selection of the Executive Committee Members

On the 6th of August the Executive Committee members came together for the first time in Penukonda. In their first meeting SEDS discussed the features of an institution and the roles and responsibilities of the office bearers. In the afternoon the women selected a president, a vice president, a secretary, a joint secretary and a treasurer.

The Executive Committee Meeting

SEDS will be providing the starting capital for the MFC and give a full year of financial backing. Also In the following three years SEDS will be standing next to these women and guiding them in all aspects of the three main functions of the MFC. The hand over of the MFC as a people’s function will then start taking place facilitated by SEDS.

The Executive Committee

The Five Office Bearers of the MFC

Waste Policy Advocacy

On Thursday 29^th of July SEDS and the community conducted a plastic awareness rally in Penukonda. During the monthly meetings with the Village Health Workers (VHWs) women were voicing their frustrations on the ongoing pollution caused by plastic. Although people recognize that plastic waste is a problem, only a few will take up any action to do something about the problem. So in cooperation with the women SEDS decided to bring the issue forward and raise awareness in the community.

The complaint is that everywhere there is plastic waste. Plastic bags, cups, slippers, bottles and covers are carelessly thrown away by people and cause many grievances. Animals are eating the waste and dying. Water stagnates in the plastic making it the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. Drainage systems get clogged because of the plastic and waste water will be flowing in the streets during rains. Then there is of course the visual pollution caused by the waste. Then there is the rather ominous solution of burning the waste causing air pollution.

The demands of the women are simple. Awareness must spread among the people. In the villages the Panchayat must organise rallies to educate the people to stop using unnecessary plastic. Also they are looking to make policy changes. Panchayats should be able to penalise people who just throw their waste on the street and proper disposal grounds for this waste should be provided. Another suggestion is that linkages must be sought and built for generating an income from this household waste. People can earn a living by segregating waste which can be sold off to recycling centres.

Marching through Penukonda

For the rally nearly 200 women came to Penukonda, VHWS and VO leaders. Together with our staff they marched to the offices of the Revenue Divisional Officer, the Mandal Revenue Officer, the District Panchayat Officer and Secretary and the Circle Inspector. Also letters were written to the Agricultural Minister, the District Collector, the District Medical Officer of Anantapur, the Project Director of DRDA and the Sanitary Inspector of Penukonda.

The Revenue Divisional Officer

The Divisional Panchayat Officer

The Circle Inspector

All the government officials showed great interest in the initiatives and proposals and promised to follow it up with the people.

The Revenue Divisional Officer agreed to a meeting after the tenth of next month with the women.

SEDS in the news: SEDS: story of a green revival

The Hindu 20/07/2010

Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR: The once bald mountains and barren valleys in the five Mandals of Roddam, Penukonda, Chillamathur, Gorantla and Somandepalli in Anantapur district are now teeming with greenery and life. More than 20 years of sincere effort in the direction has paid rich dividends.

Dense forests have been raised and massive shade giving and fruit bearing trees developed into a canopy covering thousands of hectares in what were once forest lands devoid of greenery. As one traverses through the length and breadth of the five mandals adopted by Social, Education and Development Society (SEDS) in the Penukonda revenue division, it is unbelievable that such massive forestation work has been done by a low profile NGO founded by Rajan Joshuva from Kerala and Manil Jayasena Joshuva from Malaysia.

They both met in Anantapur district and by providence got married. Soon after their marriage, they settled in a remote village called Anandapuram in Penukonda mandal and by their hard work and sheer dedication they built a set-up which uplifted the underprivileged on the educational, social and environmental front.

“We faced stiff resistance and blind opposition to the forestation drive from the locals. They cut down the trees planted by us and offered no cooperation as we opposed tree felling by the locals; but our persistence, perseverance and patience paid off and ultimately they began to understand the seriousness of our cause,” said Rajan Joshuva, executive director of SEDS.

Environmental police

SEDS was not only able to successfully raise 2.2 million living trees in the five mandals, but were able to transform every villager into an environmental policeman. Today if any outsider came with any ulterior motive , the villagers act as policemen and drive them away, Mr. Joshuva remarked.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2010072053000200.htm&date=2010/07/20/&prd=th&

Stakeholder Feedback Round

Dear All,

We completed the Gold Standard stakeholder’s meeting for the “SEDS Biogas CDM Project for the Rural Poor" on 18/02/2010. We thank all of you who were present for the meeting and gave us your valuable inputs.

In accordance to the guidelines of the Gold Standard, a Stakeholder Feedback Round should be conducted, which covers all issues raised in the local stakeholder consultation meeting and how due account was taken following the stakeholders’ comments.

A report of the stakeholder meeting has been prepared which describes about the stakeholder meeting conducted and the sustainable development indicators. This document can be downloaded from

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B30nvnyZAAs_YTEwZGU5MTItNzQzYy00ZTNlLTgzNjYtODRkOGIyOWNkYTEz&hl=en&authkey=CPXqir4P

Through this email I encourage you to kindly download these documents and give your valuable comments and suggestions on the Local Stakeholder Consultation report. Your valuable comments will help us in achieving sustainable development of gold standards for the project. I request you to submit your valuable comments and suggestion in the next 60 days i.e. by 09-20-2010

Looking forward to your feedback on the Stakeholder Consultation Report.

Regards

Manil

SEDS in the news: NGO brings about a change in lives of villagers

The Hindu, 30/06/2010
Staff Reporter

Social Education and Development Society (SEDS) on the forefront of creating ecological consciousness.
SEDS currently supports 125 villages, with some 12,000 women and their families, and 980 SHGs.
Over the years more than 2 million trees have been planted on the barren lands of Anantapur
Anantapur: Social Education and Development Society (SEDS), jointly founded in 1980 by Rajen Joshua and Manil Jayasena, has made a big difference in the villages in Penukonda revenue division.
During its three decade of service to people in the region, it has created an ecological consciousness to such an extent that the people themselves act as ecological policemen effectively checking tree felling activity by outsiders.
Among the multifarious activities undertaken by SEDS, aforestation and avenue plantation is the most successful programme in the region apart from livelihood, agriculture, education and other training and equipping programmes.
SEDS is working through an integrated rural development approach with an emphasis on women's empowerment, watersheds, reforestation and natural resource management in five mandals including Penukonda, Roddam, Gorantla, Somandepalli and Chilamathur.
SEDS currently supports 125 villages, with some 12,000 women and their families and 980 SHGs. Through its sustained efforts the NGO has made a significant impact on the lives of the people in the area and the local environment.
Vocational Training Centre (VTC) offered training in different trades including tailoring, embroidery, carpentry, welding and fabrication, two-wheeler repair and domestic electrical wiring and were eventually employed in various places.
The NGO integrated all these livelihood activities in a sustainable agriculture programme, with focus on training to farmer groups using Farmer Field School Methodology.
Dr. Rajan Joshua told The Hindu that he and his wife Jayasena and the SEDS team had done pioneering work and today enjoys a sense of achievement and satisfaction that their work has paid dividends.
He attributed the success of SEDS to the active participation of people.
Waste lands development had been undertaken on a massive scale including re-afforestation by planting tamarind, neem, pongamia and jatropha plants that have an additional value.
Over the years more than 2 million trees have been planted on the barren lands of South Anantapur.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/30/stories/2010063057300200.htm

Tank desilting

In the working area of SEDS the desilting of tanks has been a regular feature in its activities since the early nineties. SEDS took up this pioneering role to help the farmers improve their lands. The buildup of silt in the tanks is a result of water erosion. Every year the monsoons wash away tons of earth silting up the precious water bodies. In our region most of the soil end up in the numerous tanks in the area.

The benefits of tank desilting are twofold. First it increases the water holding capacity of the tanks. Tanks that are heavily silted lose out on a lot of stored water. This water is needed to irrigate the fields of the farmers and a decrease in the holding capacity results in fewer lands being irrigated This means a smaller harvest and a direct reduce in income for the farmer. So by doing the desilting, SEDS is directly contributing to the livelihood of the farmers who live downstream of the tank.

A previously desilted area in Mavatur

Secondly - and the mean reason for desilting - the excavated silt is applied on the fields of the farmers . The silt is much more fertile and has better water retaining capacity than the common red soil on which the farmers cultivate. All this helps in increasing the yield of the farmer.

Silt in the field of a farmer

In Mavatur there was a strong interest of the people to remove silt the tank. SEDS already worked here in 2007/2008. A village meeting was conducted with SEDS and it was decided that digging would take place during the second and third week of May in three different places. 106 people in the area benefitted from the desilting. They divided 2109 tractor loads of silt between them. The local contribution of the community was Rs. 209820, while SEDS contribution was Rs. 195198.

Mavatur tank

Excavating the tank

In Cherukur the tank silt went to the people in Budipalli. 42 people divided 1258 loads of silt. The local contribution of the community was Rs. 130680, and SEDS contribution was Rs. 164136.

Cherukur tank

Demarcation of the site

A Puja before beginning

Work in progress

Silt in the fields

SEDS training of rural youths

One of the projects of SEDS’s education programme is the schooling of rural youth. In order to give them employment opportunities outside the agriculture environment we offer them a wide range of activities from which they can choose.

VTC Penukonda
This year we have eight students, for domestic wiring and for mechanics. SEDS provides these courses free of cost but a registration fee Rs. 100 is charged– so that the students (and parents) will feel themselves inclined to complete the whole course instead of walking away in the middle of the semester. The boys sometimes come from far away to the VTC they reside in the SEDS hostel on top of a hill in Penukonda. There they stay the whole week and receive their meals, also free of charge. The courses in Penukonda will take three months to complete. By then the students will be thoroughly educated in electrical wiring and motor mechanics. The students of the motor mechanics classes get educated in fault finding, electrical wiring of the bike, general maintenance, changing components of the bike and repairs. In the Electrical training courses the pupils learn general things. They see how to repair common household appliances, detect faulty wiring and learn how to wire a house.
The students attend class from nine in the morning till five in the afternoon with a lunch break for one hour. This is from Monday to Saturday, Saturday evening they go back to their villages. After class it is time to relax and what is better than a game of volleyball!


Campus Anandapuram
In Anandapuram the computer and tailoring classes have been running non-stop. At this moment Lilani’s production centre is providing tailoring classes for six girls. They begin their education with stitching on brown paper to learn how to use the machines. After that they get taught in how to take measurements, patterns making and cutting and stitching. They make long Indian skirts(called langas), long blouses, sari blouses, churidars and other women’s clothing. Their training lasts about three months and the girls come from the surrounding villages. Girls who are located further away can go to the tailoring centres in their neighbourhood, see http://sedsngo.blogspot.com/2010/03/tailoring-centres.html.
Above the production centre there is the computer class where momentarily a total of eight youngsters receive training. There are three different courses. First there is basics for the ones who do not know anything about a computer. Here they learn how to type and the basics of handling a computer. This course takes three months. Then there is a Diploma in Computer Application (DCA) where the students receive an introduction in MS-DOS, the operating system and learn how to use all the MS office applications. This course also takes three months. Finally we offer them an extra two months course, Post Graduation DCA where they get a deeper understanding of networking and internet usage.
By providing these classes SEDS wants to give the village youth an additional skill. Employment is scarce in the region and each extra skill they posses can help them in their lives. These skills will not only assist them in their future but also dissuade them from anti-social activities. In this way SEDS hopes to contribute in a non-violent way to support the countrywide problem of the government against disruptive forces of youth joining up with anti social elements and political factions.