Clay modelling at CCD Summer Camp
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Women, children and socially excluded Dalits and poor are given importance in our project. Ninty percentage of the dalit people are living under poverty and work as a landless agriculture labourers, cleaners, scavengers and road sweepers. They are allotted a separate living space away from the main village. In the name of caste system they are treated as non-humans and subjected to all sorts of violence. CCD gives special importance to the Dalits, helping them to gain economic and social freedom.
Modern agricultural practices have been thrust on them at the detriment of traditional farming methods. The lands have lost their natural fertility and eco-friendly organisms and people suffered damage to sustainability. Due to genetic losses the farmers are unable to return to the traditional farming methods that that did not rely on chemicals and pesticides.
The Kalai Granam training center is a collective space for training the village people especially Dalits and women in skill development for livelihood enhancement programmes. The Centre strongly believes education is an important means to achieve equitable livelihood so we concentrate on helping children achieve better results in school. The Kalai Gramam uses the traditional arts of the people to educate them in relevant social themes that helps the development of the people.
Project Activities
- Arumbugal- The Children Center The center is running four supplementary coaching center for nearly 200 children in the villages to enhance their learning skills and give them training in extra curricular activities.
- Development Communication for Rural Development The center is educating the rural people on health related issues through folk arts forms. This project is implemented with the collaboration of St.Johns Medical College, Bangalore.
- Program for the Empowerment Dalits The Dalits are given motivational training through their art forms to bring back their self- esteem and human dignity to participate equally in society and education in sanitation and hygiene.
- Folk Artistes’ Collectives Folk artistes from the villages often live in poverty and try to use their art forms provide livelihoods. The centre helps them to have more opportunities for performances and try to use their art forms as a medium of development communication. 300 artistes are surveyed and formed a collective to ensure their survival as artists and well as their art forms.
- Kalai Women Self-help Groups The women from the villages are formed into small groups to address different issues that affect them and seek ways for increasing the incomes of the households. Organic farming education is provided.
- Kalai Organic Farmers Association An association at the village level creates awareness among the marginalized and small farmers and landless labourers to come back to the organic farming methods from chemical fed farming. They are offered hands-on training on the model farm and given resources to foster a gradual shift from the mono-crop patterns towards multi-crop patterns to increase their income and to promote sustainable development.
Contact
S.A.Samy
RH_-18, Kaveri Salai. Ellisnagar, Madurai.9
Phone: 09444076120
Email: samyindia@gmail.com
Read CCD's request for funding here
Read CCD's Annual Report for 2008
