Volunteering and donating opportunities

Study Support Center

The literacy rate in Pune is much higher than the state and national average and is currently estimated to be 90%. This suggests that basic literacy is not the core problem in Pune. School-going children living in slums are deprived of an environment conducive to studying and of mentoring in studies. It is proposed that a study support centre or ‘Abhyasika’ can heal this problem. Children will perform better in studies and that shall eventually help them get admissions to quality education and later in earning livelihood.
Academic tutoring alone does not ensure overall development of a child. It is necessary that physical and emotional development is also taken care of. Proper coaching and offering a playing space for sports - is proposed for physical development of children. Value education or Sanskar is proposed to be imparted through story-telling sessions, patriotic songs, and through tours of historical places/forts etc.

Role of Volunteers:Supporting the semi-voluntary teacher in tutoring, mentoring 1-2 children in high school studies, teaching English, story-telling, coaching a sport, arranged treks and excursions.

Library and Art of Reading

Reading a lot strengthens a child’s capacity to grasp written word, enhances its capacity to visualise and be creative. Children in slums seldom get good books to read. They are deprived of the joy of reading. Seva Sahayog’s free library movement, called ‘Akshar Bharati’ has already crossed a century and has provided libraries in 120 locations including slums in Pune, villages in Pune district, Rajasthan, Kashmir, and Meghalaya (Northeast). It is proposed that such library be attached to every Abhyasika (study support centre) in around 100 slums in Pune city.

Roleo of Volunteers:Procuring books, making sets, packing books, delivery to the slum centre, reading aloud for children, story-telling, discussing books with children, fostering a culture of reading.

Family Councelling Centre

A counselling centre plays a soft role in developing a community. Family problems like behaviour of children, quarrels between husband and wife are common to all classes of the society. These problems can be solved without violence or without harm by soft methods. Family counselling centre brings these methods to the people in slums. A mother and child or a husband and wife can be counselled together as well as separately in a family counselling centre.

Learning to solve family problems by softer conciliatory methods is a part of community education. The family counselling centre shall have professional as well as voluntary counsellors and it will be provide free or minimal-cost services at the hours suitable to the community.

Role of Volunteers :Learn counselling, assist main counsellors, maintain records, maintain notes, manage registration counter etc.

Health Care

Early detection often prevents worsening of diseases. Easy access to primary referral is a good guarantee of early detection and cure. Periodic health check camps – especially for children and women – shall be conducted to ensure early detection and cure. A mobile clinic with a doctor, a nurse, and an attendant-cum-driver can effectively cover 12 slums every week.

Vaccination is extremely important for securing a healthy generation-next. Municipal Corporation is not able to reach every child despite its efforts. Project Samutkarsha mobile clinic shall complement government’s efforts by identifying the unreached population and vaccinating every child in selected slums. This effort will involve various local community groups (e.g. Ganeshotsav Mandals, Mahila SHG, Anganwadi workers etc.). The parents will be given child health cards with educative information and vaccination calendar. This will ensure regularity and also measure the reach of our efforts.

Role of volunteers: Door-to-door awareness campaign in slums, assisting doctors in documentation, managing the crowd at health camp, providing water, procuring low-cost or free medicines, recording the stock of medicines etc.

Health and Hygiene Awarenemss

Awareness about basic hygiene and sanitation can help prevent many diseases. Community groups can be inspired to motivate their members follow hygienic practices in cooking and eating. The awareness campaigns shall cover simple issues like cutting nails, washing hands, using a mosquito-net etc and can also take up severe issues like HIV and TB.

Project Samutkarsha’s awareness campaign shall not generate media material if it is available from other organisations or government bodies. Activities like street plays, competitions, exhibitions, health fairs etc shall be produced by the project’s professional as well as voluntary teams. The issues of an awareness campaign shall be decided after consultation with local groups, local medical practitioners, and subject experts.

Role of volunteers: write/direct/perform in street-plays, design and conduct exhibition, conduct competitions, participate in a health fair etc.

Malnutrition (Prevention and Eradication)

Malnutrition in infants and expectant mothers is observed in many slums. It is often a result of imbalanced nutrition, unavailability of regular food intake, ignorance about low-cost home-cooked nutritious food. There is also a role of social beliefs that prevent pregnant women from eating sufficient food.

Malnutrition eradication hence needs a multi-dimensional approach. Distribution of clean and nutritious food on daily basis is the first step in this regard. It however does not ensure sustainability of a good diet over a long term. Distribution of food needs to be coupled with activities for awareness about low-cost nutritious diet.

Certain food items shall be taught to young mothers for a certain period. A cooking competition of ‘low-cost nutritious food for infants’ shall be conducted to encourage women cook such food. A public ‘dohaal-jevan’ (a traditional function celebrating pregnancy) shall be another occasion to bring families together, where the entire family can learn about importance of healthy diet for the would-be mother. Similar activities with social appropriateness shall be conducted to introduce nutritious and affordable diet.

Counselling by visiting gynaecologists and lectures shall be arranged for young mothers. Local community groups and SHGs shall be involved in implementation of this activity.

Role of volunteers: conducting a survey to identify pregnant women, conducting community activities, cooking and distribution of food, conducting cooking competitions, teaching nutritious low-cost cooking to small groups of women, contact gynaecologists for their participation, procure awareness material etc.

Self Help Groups (SHGs)

Self-Help Groups is a proven tool of empowering the poor. The project shall cover three vital aspects of SHG working.

• Involvement and commitment of participants is the foundation of an SHG. This shall be achieved by intensive working with the community for formation of SHGs.
• The capacity building of SHG participants shall be a continuous process. The Project shall conduct capacity building activities for: money-management, learning of production and marketing skills, and picking up an enterprise
• Market access and maintaining a marketable quality and packaging is a challenge before entrepreneurs from SHGs. The project shall use its network to ensure initial market access to all SHG enterprises. It will help SHGs select the right enterprise and also connect them with buyers.

SHG is not just a tool of economic improvement. It is an activity that lets women come out, come together, and have the confidence to earn. Being an earning member changes the woman’s status in family. SHG becomes the accelerator of social change at micro-level. A woman in SHG is supported by her fellow group members even in her family emergencies. SHG is an institution of community cohesion. It is much more than just a micro-credit group.

Project Samutkarsha shall build a network of SHGs truly empowered and in a sustainable mode. As mentioned in the Approach, the project shall not form new SHGs where local NGOs are already running SHGs. The project will collaborate and provide capacity building inputs. The project will identify unreached populations and develop SHGs from square one.