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 Services |
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| Our Services include: |
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 Education |
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| Objectives |
- Assure basic education to all children in our focus villages
- Assist the poor families who are unable to afford for the education of their children
- Help the rural children to cope up with their studies through evening schools
- Motivate and award scholarship to the Tribal and Dalit youth to pursue higher education
- Activate the Parent-Teacher Association to ensure proper functioning of schools and quality education to children.
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| Activities |
- Education Campaign
- Education Assistance
- Supplementary School
- Monthly Scholarship / Stipend for higher Education.
- Vocational & Career Guidance
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| Achievements |
- 100% enrolment in schools in 175 villages
- 4602 Children have availed educational assistance
- 433 Youth have completed higher studies with our scholarship
- 26 Supplementary schools are run in remote villages
- 3000 young men and women have made right choice in education and employment
- Drop out is reduced to less than 10% in tribal and dalit areas.
- First generation of tribal communities is in the school in several tribal villages.
- Healthy habits are practiced by the tribal and dalit children.
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| Scholarship |
| Youth who have completed high school and higher secondary school education were given scholarship at the very beginning of academic year, so that the students can get the educational materials early and start learning very easy.
Scholarship include books, notes,bags, other study materials including sweaters.They are also provided with cash.Students receive their scholarship materials and cash in a function conducted by Island Trust. Students from various criteria i.e Schools, Colleges, Polytechnics, Technical Training Institutes, Medical, Engineering, Law Courses also receive Scholarship under this trust. |
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| AIDS Awareness and Intervention |
| Objectives |
- Prevention of HIV/AIDS through education, medical camps, counseling and referral services
- Promote Holistic health among the target communities
- Prevent Infant and maternal mortality through safe health practices
- Prevent disability due to lack of immunization
- Ensure hygienic surroundings in villages
- Elimination of denial, stigma and discrimination of PLWHAs and creation of supportive community structures
- Ensure nutritious and chemical-free vegetables and herbs at home and in the farm.
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| Activities |
- Preventive Health Education
- Formation of Health Clubs
- Health Awareness through children (Child to Child Approach)
- HIV / AIDS – Preventive Education & elimination of denial, Stigma & Discrimination
- Income Generation Activity for PLWHAs
- Promotion of Herbal garden and Indigenous system of
Medicine.
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| Achievements |
- Serving as the District Health Resource centre for a state level health network organization called ‘Tamil Nadu Voluntary Health Association’, Chennai.
- Appointed as the District Facilitation Centre for HIV/AIDS and Indian System of Medicine Projects in Nilgiris District.
- Facilitated a district level network for the People Living With HIV/AIDS
- Hygienic health practices introduced at the individual and community level
- All Children and Pre and post natal mothers are immunized.
- Kitchen garden is maintained in majority of the houses.
- Village Health Clubs organize health camps and trainings.
- Education on HIV / AIDS is given in all villages among all sections of people.
- Campaign and advocacy initiated for prevention of stigma & Discrimination
- 84 People living with HIV / AIDS receive solidarity, care & support and counseling services
- Native Medicare is practiced by the families.
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| Housing |
| "A House is not only a physical structure to protect the inhabitants from sun, rain and dangerous animals but it is a symbol of Dignity and Assertion of one’s Rights" |
| Objectives |
- Build houses in partnership with the Donor agencies (fund), the people (land) and the NGO (technology).
- Liberate the displaced people from semi-bonded condition (low wages, extra hours of work, compulsion to do domestic works, no freedom to work anywhere because of provision of shelter by the employers)
- Restore the Dignity of women from sexual exploitation
- Motivate the people to demand housing as their right from the government and other financial institutions.
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| Activities |
- Establishment of Communities (Settlements)
- Provision of House site
- Construction of Houses
- Repairing of Houses
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| Achievements |
- 60 villages (community living) have been established.
- Constructed 2200 houses in Nilgiris District
- Distributed 40 Acres of land as House site to the poorest of the poor.
- Won the National Award for the Best Rural Housing in 1997.
- Inculcated the habit of using latrines by the target communities for the first time.
- Smokeless chulhas installed in all houses.
- The middle class people among the repatriates have been guided to avail loans to build houses.
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| Tribal Development |
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There are 6 primitive tribes in Nilgiris with whom we have developed our partnership.
A Brief History of those Tribes: |
| Todas |
| The Todas are the original inhabitants of The Nilgiris Hills and they are one of the most picturesque tribes in India. Even though, there are six major primitive tribes in the district, the Todas have attracted far greater attention both here and abroad, than any other single tribal Community. Today there are only about 1,100 Todas left. They believe even today that their ancestors inhabited The Nilgiris Hills from the beginning of mankind. Todas are pastoral people and to a certain extent, nomadic. |
| Kotas |
| The Kotas, live in Seven settlements, generally known as Kotagiri or Kokkal. They are village artisans, who are good in carpentry, black smithy and pottery. But only a few families are engaged in these skills as a means of living. Unlike Todas, they do not shy away from personal cultivation and are generally hard working people. In the field of education also they have stolen a march over other tribal communities. |
| Kurumbas & Mullukurumbas |
The Kurumba houses known as "GUDLU" are temporary constructions in the forests. The traditional occupation of the Kurumbas is food gathering, like collection of honey and forests produce. They are also cultivating millets like ragi and samai on a small scale mainly on hill slopes and mountain ridges. Now, they are mainly engaged in agriculture and those who do not own lands work as casual agricultural labourers. The Kurumbas are had working people, but the economic condition of the Kurumbas is very poor.
The Mullukurumbas of Gudalur are a District group and are believed to belong to a pre agricultural tribe, since they still use bow and arrow for occasional hunting.They live in nine settlements in Erumad area and Cherangodu village. They are mainly agricultural labourers. They are hard working people but their economic condition is poor. |
| Irulas |
Irulas with a few subsects among them are living in Masinagudi area, and in parts of Kotagiri and Coonoor Taluks. They are generally engaged in collection of minor forest products. This is a seasonal operation and they work as casual agricultural laborers on local estates. Some of them are also engaged in looking after the herds of cattle belonging to others. Some are engaged in agriculture in the patta lands, conditionally assigned to them, where they have raised tea, coffee, jack trees, guava etc. However,due to poor maintenance of their land due to lack of finance, the return from these lands is meagre. The general economic condition of these tribes is poor. |
| Paniyas |
| Paniyas(which literally means "workers" in local usage) are found in Gudalur taluk and many more in Kerala. Paniyas were found to be coming under a subtle from of bonded labour. They are scattered throughout Gudalur Taluk and are one of the most backward tribal communities. The Paniyas, by and large, live in poverty irrespective of whether they are bonded or not. During 1976, 481 Paniyas in 252 families were freed from bonded labour and they have been rehabilitated in the Paniya Welfare Land colonization Co-operative society and other schemes. |
| Kattunaikans |
| This tribal community is also found only in Gudalur Taluk. They are like Paniyas, farm labourers and their condition is no better than that of Paniyas. |
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| Tribal Projects |
| Objectives |
- Ensure Self ruled tribal communities with the Constitutional status of 5th Schedule
- Alleviate poverty among the tribal communities
- Improve Education, health and basic amenities
- Revive their culture and tradition
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| Activities |
- Community organization
- Education promotion
- Capacity Building of Tribal leaders
- Campaign for the Constitutional Right of 5th schedule (Self Rule)
- Legal Aid for land Rights
- Preservation of Culture and Heritage
- Documentation of their traditional knowledge systems
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| Achievements |
- Tribal communities are getting organized under one umbrella in the name of ‘ Nilgiris Adivasi Movement’ (NILAM – which means in the local vernacular LAND)
- Tribal leaders are better equipped with the knowledge and skills to function as effective leaders and demand their fundamental rights
- GRAMA SABHAS (village level governing body) are conducted by the leaders on their own
- All tribal children are enrolled in schools and motivated to complete at least the high school education offered freely by the government
- Evening schools have made the tribal children stand on par with the privileged children
- Hundreds of acres of lost tribal lands have been redeemed from the encroachers
- Village Functions have revived the traditional art and cultural forms and motivated the youth to learn them
- Tribal youth have taken active participation in the developmental activities of the villages
- 26 tribal villages have documented the history and the socio-cultural practices of their communities
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| Women Empowerment |
| Objectives |
- Raise the socio, economic, cultural and political status of the women
- Promote women leadership in all possible social structures
- Establish equitable place for women in society
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| Activities |
- Formation of SHGs
- Entrepreneurship Development Training
- Leadership training for women particularly for the Elected women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (local bodies)
- Economic development for widows and destitute
- Campaign and advocacy for women rights
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| Achievements |
- Facilitated 500 women Self Help Groups (SHG)
- 6000 women are organized into one Federation called ‘Ezhuchi’ (means in the vernacular REFORM)
- Nearly 2000 women have been trained in micro enterprises
- 584 women are self employed in micro enterprises
- The income, health and social status have improved for rural women
- 154 women have occupied official positions in the local governance (panchayti raj institution)
- 132 elected women have been imparted Leadership skill development training
- Panchayat Grama Sabhas ( general body of the panchayats) are functioning effectively with large number of women’s participation.
- A group of widows and destitute women are getting income from lease tea garden
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| Environment |
| Objectives |
- To improve conservation of the natural environment and biological diversity of the project area by assisting the women and eco-club members to develop, use and manage their resources in an ecologically sound, socially beneficial and economically viable manner.
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| Activities |
- Eco-club formation in Schools and in Communities (where schools do not exist).
- Facilitation of Community Based organizations.
- Orientation training to the stakeholders on forest management and eco-conservation.
- Interaction progammes between CBOs and forest officials on preservation / promotion of forest and collection Non timber Forest Produces.
- Planning & implementation of water shed programmes in the intervention area.
- Promotion of Sustainable agriculture / alternative farming.
- Tree planting and protection
- Study about the status of environment and sustainability level of the target communities before and after intervention.
- Campaign and Lobby for protection of forests by the Village Communities / CBOs
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| Achievements |
- Planting of 30,000 saplings in villages under personal care of individual families
- Promotion of Environment Watch Dog Committees comprising of students and youth in the name of Nature's Eyelids.
- Motivation to more than one lakh tourists on the ways to protect environment in Nilgiris and promote Alternate Tourism
- Won District Level Awards for Best Environment Exhibition held during Flower Show Festival at Ooty
- Stopped Bauxite Mining in Nilgiris District through Campaign and Advocacy
- Conducted Surveys and researches on the Degradation of the Environmental condition in Nilgiris district.
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| ISLAND News |
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