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This year’s theme for International Women’s Day (March 8), “Empowering Women - Empowering Humanity: Picture It!” envisions a world where each woman and girl can exercise her choices, such as participating in politics, getting a gainful education, having an income, and living in societies free from violence and discrimination. While there has been some progress in the last twenty years, many serious gaps still remain.

With greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased visibility to women who hold positions of power, one may think that women have gained true equality. But unfortunately, this is not the case. Even today, women are denied basic equality in the form of equal representation in business, politics, education, health or equal pay for equal work. The cases of violence against women have also been increasing alarmingly – It seems to be a common illness in our nation. The reality of women suffering in silence; and the ‘blind eye’ turned by others (viz. family, friends, neighbors’ or passers-by), is a harsh reality of society. Unfortunately, even well educated women tend to suffer in silence saying “this is my fate or destiny”.

Today, gender equality is no more a woman’s concern, but a human concern that equally affects men as well. It is the responsibility of each one of us therefore, men and women, to create a gender neutral mindset, starting with

our homes, our children and our housemaids. Unless we come out vocally and support the cause of equality, unless we change our attitude towards women, unless we challenge our fellow men who harass women, unless we begin to see and listen to women as equals, women and the weaker sections of society will continue to be at the receiving end of violence and harassment. Values such as Equality, Empathy and Empowerment across gender should be the watchwords in our day to day lives.

In the words of American Social & Political Activist, Gloria Steinem, “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights”. The world needs full equality in order for humanity to prosper. Therefore, ‘Empower Women, Empower Humanity’ should be our motto in life!

ARCHDIOCESE OF BOMBAY

NEWS BULLETINVOL VIII NO. 1 – APRIL 2015FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture It!

Contributed by Ms. Carmen D’CostaVolunteer Consultant to CSA & ex General Manager Retail Brand & Allied Retail Business, BPCL

Fr. Mario Mendes – Director, CSA

“„

On behalf of Centre for Social Action team, I would like to wish all of you a Very Happy Easter!May the Risen Lord Fill your Hearts with Peace & Joy!

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Promoting Gender Equality

Financial Literacy- Need Of The Hour!

On the occasion of Women’s Day on 8th March 2015, CSA Staff Mishal Dabre in collaboration with Holy Cross Mahila Mandal, Bunderpakhadi (Kandivali West), organized a full day program for men and women with the sole purpose of promoting awareness of gender equality. Mrs. Helan Futardo, the main speaker, addressed the large gathering of nearly 300 men and women. She highlighted the need for women and men to enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation, decision-making, respecting and ensuring that the aspirations and needs of both women and men are equally valued. This view was further emphasized by Fr. Elias D’Cunha, who expressed that women should take initiatives to give better education to their children, and that both men and women should take responsibility in order to bring about change in society. The event included a cultural program which was compered by Mrs. Depali Vaity, President of the Bunderpakhadi Mahila Mandal. While one group of women presented a skit on “Women’s Identity”, the highlight of the day’s program

Located in the northern periphery of Mumbai, Manori village is populated by the local fishing community and is one of the important areas of intervention for Centre for Social Action (CSA). In line with its vision, CSA has set out to focus on empowering the women from the marginalized fishing community. As a part of this initiative and based on the need of the community, a program was organized on 23rd February 2015, which centered around book keeping and financial literacy. The program attended by 19 women consisted of two sessions which were conducted by Sheetal Palande (Program Coordinator) and supported by Snehal and John Mendonca. The first part of the program aimed at explaining to the women, the significance of having regular meetings of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and ensuring that they understood the relevance of maintaining the minutes of the meeting and setting agendas for having a constructive discussion on various issues faced

by the community. This session seemed very fruitful, as by demonstrating the smooth functioning of an SHG, it brought about awareness on how record keeping would help them in strengthening their effort towards seeking any form of government benefits. The women seemed to have understood the urgency of introducing a greater degree of discipline in convening meetings and maintaining proper book-keeping, which would ultimately prove beneficial to them in the long run. The second session focused primarily on Financial Literacy emphasizing on the need for budgeting and for smart savings. During this session it became apparent that the participants followed a “live for the day” culture and were oblivious to the benefits of saving. Further, when the need to budget their spending with the aim of identifying essentials from the non-essentials was impressed on the participants, it was learnt that consuming alcohol by their spouses formed an integral part of their

Women’s Empowerment and their Right to Sustainable Livelihood

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(Contributed by Ms. Mishal Dabre, CSA Social Worker)

was a letter appreciating the valuable work done by the women in the community which was read out by a representative from the men and children’s group. The day ended on a promising note for all participants, who are looking forward to making an impact in society by taking part in future programs that support gender equality.

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Make Food Your Medicine NOT Medicine Your FoodOn 29th January 2015, Holy Cross Mahila Mandal, Bunderpakhadi (Kandivali) with the support of Ms. Mishal Dabre (CSA staff), organized an awareness session to sensitize women that “Health is to be regarded as a Human Rights Issue”. This awareness session, which was attended by 30 women, was conducted by Dr. Evelet Sequeira, M.D. who had earlier worked with UNICIEF and is currently a Freelance Consultant who conducts workshops for different groups. Dr. Evelet expressed the point that ‘every

women desires to enjoy good quality reproductive health care not only for the sake of her own well being, but also for the well being of our world’. She focused specifically on ‘Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer’, educating the women on the risk factors, signs and symptoms and the preventive measures’. In the second session, Dr. Evelet touched upon various other health related issues with a focus on ‘Nutrition and Meditation – How to Make Food your Medicine and NOT Medicine your Food’. She subsequently engaged the group in some breathing and meditation exercises. She then addressed individual queries of the women present. At the end of the session, she gave each woman a flower and asked them to experience the fact that each person is a precious gift of God.The participants were extremely happy as this was the first time they had attended a session of this type, and they expressed the need for more sessions on different issues of health.

essentials. Finally, the group was given a brief overview on banking and the availability of various type of accounts that would provide them with a higher interest income, which many of them were unaware of. Interestingly, only one out of the 19 had an ATM card, while some seemed to have heard of it for the first time. This has set the alarm bells ringing and has further strengthened CSA’s resolve to inculcate the habit of smart spending and smart savings in the community. This session has not only demonstrated the urgency of conducting workshops on financial literacy, but also laid the first stepping stone, which when combined with a few more similar sessions in the near future, will form a path that will finally bring this community to the doorstep of financial independence.

(Contributed by Mr. John Mendonca, volunteer at CSA)

(Contributed by Ms. Mishal Dabre, CSA Social Worker)

Empowering Kishoris & Rural WomenOver the last two months, a series of programs were organized by Community Centres of Dharavi Island under the guidance of Centre for Social Action (CSA) with the need to empower Kishoris (adolescent girls) and Rural Women.

The first in this series was a program for women on “Gender Sensitization & Family Issues” held on 14th January 2015 by Suryodaya Community Centre, Gorai. A total of 40 women participated in this program which was facilitated by Mrs. Suzie D’Mello (Post Graduate Diploma holder in Quality Control & Quality Assurance,

Clinical Research) and Fr. Sunil Munis (Masters in Rural Development, and had earlier worked with Katkari Adivasi people in Raigad district). Mrs. D’Mello focused on two important aspects i.e. ‘Gender discrimination’ which covered the current status of Dharavi Island including the girl child mortality, problems due to unbalanced

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male to female ratio and its effect on everyday life. The other aspect was ‘Health of women in our family’ which included physical and mental development of a girl, age of marriage, effects of early and late marriages (medically and not culturally, as each culture defines their own age of marriage), care during pregnancy and after child birth. Certain topics like abortion and alcohol addiction were also addressed. The questions put forward by the group were dealt by Fr. Sunil and Fr. Barthol Machado and ended with a vote of thanks by one of the participants, Mrs. Natal Gabur.

Building Self Esteem & Confidence Of Kishoris At Manori - Under the project of Holistic Development of the people of Dharavi Island, on 16th January 2015, Savadhan Social Centre in collaboration with Centre For Social Action (CSA) held a program on Personality Development for kishoris at Manori. Twenty-nine kishoris in the age group ranging from 17 to 25 years participated in this program whole heartedly. The session was conducted by resource person Advocate Sandeep

Dhoble, who is presently working as Joint Secretary of Philips Employees’ Union and is also an RTI Activist. Adv. Dhoble began the session by asking each participant to introduce themselves and share their hobbies with the rest of the group. Thereafter, he focused on self-esteem and confidence building by giving live examples to the participants. He gave some tips to the kishoris for helping them to improve their skills and confidence. He also gave them various tips on communication skills which covered issues such as how to speak in public and how to express themselves without being misunderstood. The participants were energised by the session and were extremely thankful for the guidance that was provided to them for boosting their self-confidence. They expressed the need for more such programs in the future for helping them develop themselves.

“Towards Empowering Women Of The Fishing Community” - Forty-six women in the age group 29 to 50 years from the Fishing Community of Gorai were brought together on 31st January 2015, to empower them with information on various government schemes and Self Help Groups (SHGs). Corporator, Mr. Shivanand Shetty was kind enough to preside over the function. The spokesperson for the program, Ms. Vijaylaxmi Shetty, shared information on various government schemes, viz.

schemes for women, senior citizens’ card and pension schemes that could be availed. Ms. Shetty further enlightened the participants on the benefits of setting up SHGs, the importance of registration of SHGs and the various benefits that were available to the groups. She added that just ten members were required to form an SHG, with a Bank Account in a Nationalised Bank. The SHG will get a loan from the government for any Income Generation Program (IGP) with 25% subsidy. Besides, the

BMC would take on the responsibility of training the SHGs. The women participants, especially the ten SHG group leaders who attended the program, benefited tremendously from this session. As a result of this program, six more SHGs were formed within a week, and one of the non-functioning SHGs even requested support from the social worker for helping them conduct a meeting with a view to revive the SHG.

(Contributed by Fr. Sunil Munis, Priest Coordinator for Dharavi Island & Ms. Sheetal Palande,

Thane District Program Coordinator, CSA)

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Enriching The Lives Of Young Couples

“Towards A Successful Married Life” - was a half day session for couples held on 17th February 2015, which was organized by Suryodaya Community Center, Gorai and CSA. The objective of the

program was to help the young couples to lead a good family life with a sense of fidelity and responsibility. It was heartening to see that 23 couples a majority of which were from the fishing community, participated in this program, which was facilitated by Mr. Alfred & Ms. Sheila D’Silva and team. The main topic for discussion during the program was “Family Life & Issues in day-to-day Life”. The facilitators commenced the program by relating their own experiences before and after marriage. Thereafter, they asked the participants to share their experiences. Discussions revolved around issues such as role of the

husband and wife in the family, how to honour each other in sexual life, and how to help each other in everything, including household chores. Very often in life, we are scared of what other people will say if we help our spouse, especially in household work – In this session, the couples were guided as to how to overcome this problem. At the end of the program, a participant couple confessed that in their ten years of married life, they had never thanked or appreciated each other. They said this program helped them realise that for a successful life it is important to appreciate and understand each other thoroughly, especially when a misunderstanding arises among them. Another participant couple, said that from this program they learnt how important it is to help each other, as well as how it is important to focus more on children and their education. The program concluded with three couples requesting for further counselling.

In order to encourage young couples to lead a successful married life, two programs were conducted in collaboration with CSA during the quarter:

Holistic Development of Young Couples - The Central Government Worker’s Education Board (Shramik) in collaboration with the Savadhan Social Centre, Manori and CSA organized a training program for young couples on 27th and 28th January 2015 with the

mission of promoting their holistic development. The program was attended by 20 couples and included sessions on Health, Financial Literacy, Laws and Education. While Ms. Allbina Phoshafir spoke on family life and Ms. Sheetal Palande covered financial literacy, Fr. Ajit Telas explained in detail about family laws and duties in Christian Marriage. The program concluded with a session on HIV/AIDS by Dr. John Sikaron. During the feedback session participants expressed that the topics covered during the two days program were relevant to their family life and they plan to use it beneficially in their everyday life.

(Contributed by Fr. Sunil Munis, Priest Coordinator for Dharavi Island & Ms. Sheetal Palande,

Thane District Program Coordinator, CSA)

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Celebrating Makar Sankranti - The Harvest Festival

Women Domestic Workers Bond Over Haldi Kumkum

The CCO of St. Andrew’s Church along with the staff of CSA, organized a Haldi Kumkum Program on 24th January 2015 for 33 women from the area of Bandra Bandstand. Haldi Kumkum programs are generally get-togethers organized for women in a family or community to meet in an atmosphere of merriment, where they can forget their daily worries and spend time with each other. There is no religious or historical significance attached to this celebration as nowadays, it is an opportunity to get women of different faiths together to celebrate. The CSA resource person, Ms. Manjula Chougule, led the group into a prayer song “Itni Shakti Hume Dena Datha”. Following this, Ms. Chougule spoke about the need for women to come together and take time out to discuss issues that were plaguing their day to day lives. She also encouraged them to welcome the social workers to their homes to discuss and work on these issues. After the talk, a few spot prizes were given, followed by the Haldi Kumkum Program. The women were gifted a small steel plate with Haldi, Kumkum and Tilgud. They joyfully went around the room applying haldi & kumkum to each other’s foreheads and saying ‘Til Gud Ghya, Ghod Ghod Bola’. The women were grateful

to the CCO for having organized a program like this for them after a very long time as they usually don’t get the opportunity to meet as a group. With the women showing enthusiasm for future awareness programs and sessions, the event concluded by felicitating the resource person and Ms. Neola thanking the participants for making time for this program, especially since most of them work as domestic workers and do other odd jobs. The CCO and CSA looks forward to conducting more awareness programs for the women on various issues pertaining to their health, safety, government schemes, etc.

Jeevan Dai Community Care Organization (JDCCO) in Sahar, Andheri (East) decided to do things differently during the recent Makar Sankranti festival which is celebrated to mark the transition of the solar system and the arrival of spring. In order to bring about a feeling of

equality and inclusion in the mindsets of the community, on 5th February 2015, JDCCO celebrated “Saheli Din” where approximately 160 women from different communities participated. CSA Staff assisted the coordinator and local staff to plan and host the event. Through this gathering,

JDCCO aimed at mobilizing women towards taking up steps towards their own socio-economic development. Citing the example of a “til” ladoo knit together with jaggery, Ms. Indu (Jeevan Dai staff) spoke of the blending that takes place through community interactions. The

A number of events for women were conducted under the guidance of Centre for Social Action to celebrate Makar Sankranti.

Saheli Milan

(Contributed by Ms. Neola D’Souza, CSA Social Worker)

Our Vision Facilitators of a just and humane society based on love, equality and harmony with creation

Our Mission To initiate, empower and sustain non- violent, collaborative, and integral development processes through Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and partners working with vulnerable individuals and groups in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad Districts.

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resource person for the event, Ms. Mishal Dabre from CSA, led the women to reflect on the question of their empowerment using the rights based approach. The women were divided into groups as per their communities and were asked to discuss their key local problems. They were then requested to choose leaders who would lead them in the future to address the identified problems. “Earlier we used to expect something from Jeevan Dai Community, now we have realized how our own

contribution will help to develop and keep our neighbourhood clean”. This sentence summarizes the change experienced by the women through interactions amongst themselves and with Jeevan Dai.

Fr. Herman Almeida, the Parish Priest and Director of JDCCO, spoke of togetherness as he expressed himself in a song – “Hindu-Christian, hum sab bhai, Hamaara Malik Ek Hai”. The participants enjoyed their feeling of interacting as one community, and they whole-heartedly participated in

the games and dance entertainment program that followed.

(Contributed by Ms. Mishal Dabre & Mr. Samson Pereira,

Social Workers of CSA)

“An opportunity to mix and mingle with our own friends who work like us” was the aspiration expressed by a domestic worker from St. Pius X Community Centre in Mulund. Taking a cue from this, a program “Mahila Sneh Sammelan” was organized on 22nd January 2015 which was animated by Sr. Alison. Sixty out of the eighty domestic workers in the area came together on this day to express their solidarity with each other, especially the widows and the aged. The women truly felt a sense of togetherness as they were led through prayer by Sr. Alison. Mr. Vishal Jadhav (CSA Staff ) led the women to become aware of the various issues that they faced as women in an unjust society. They enjoyed each others’ company as they danced and shared gifts and of course also participated in the cultural aspect of ‘Haldi Kumkum’, which was

done with a difference. Each woman felt that they were part of one family. They are looking forward to the next meeting which would address their issue of entitlement on rationing.

(Contributed by Ms. Jovita Fernandes, CSA Social Worker)

Mahila Sneh Sammelan

Collaborating with us - Joining our network of CBOs and other civil society organizations, approaching us for joint ventures on social development and empowerment projects or sharing resources and information.

Donating to us - Cheques / DDs to be drawn in favour of “Centre for Social Action”. Kindly note donations of Rs. 10,000/- & above requires the donor to mention the PAN number. Also, all donations made to CSA are tax exempt under section 80-G.

Support Us In Fulfilling Our Vision & Mission By :

We are thankful to our faithful collaborators, donors, well-wishers & volunteers for your help and donations towards

the Campaign Against Hunger and Disease.

Your Contribution makes a difference! ”“

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On 12th December 2014, Centre for Social Action(CSA) conducted a training program for the Community Centre Organization (CCO) staff of the six parishes of Dharavi Island – a total of 9 CCO staff and 4 CSA staff were present for the training. The training focused on the concept of ‘Bal Sansad’ (i.e. Children’s Parliament) and the process of strengthening of Self Help Groups (SHGs). The resource person led the group to reflect on each step of building the capabilities of children, and in the process enabling them to understand their roles and responsibilities to become active citizens in the society that they grow up in. The existing topics covered in the module on Bal Sansad were reviewed in the context of the levels of growth in children

and correspondingly the CCO staff shared the challenges that they faced at grass roots in implementing it. The process of SHG formation and strengthening was familiar ground for the participants as they were able to fill in the gaps. One important action plan that was recommended to improve the functioning of SHGs was to prepare a rating tool to measure the status of the SHGs and regularly monitor their progress. At the end of the program, the staff were motivated to take the planned activities forward which would indeed bring about the holistic development to the people of Dharavi Island.

The Snehajyot Community Centre organized a Public Speaking & Self Confidence program for youth on 19th February 2015 at Our Lady of Sea Church, Uttan.

22 youth benefitted from this session conducted by Mr. Lucas Pereira (M.A.; LLB), Manager of Bassein Catholic Co-operative Bank and Council Member of Diocesan Youth Centre. Given his vast experience of working with youth over the last 20 years, he was able to connect with them instantly. The objective of this program was to encourage and build the self confidence of youth and motivate them to take initiatives to resolve the local issues of their own community.

The program began with an interactive session followed by various group activities, including street plays which helped the youth to gain confidence. Mr. Lucas explained the concept of self, self-image and self-satisfaction and even gave the youth tips on how to improve confidence in their lives. Most of the youth had attended this kind of session for the first time in their lives. These youth expressed that after attending this program they felt more confident to speak and present themselves in front of others. They even shared their experience with those youth who had not attended the training, as a result of which they visited the Snehajyot Community Centre and expressed their eagerness and willingness to attend such kind of sessions in future.

(Contributed by Ms. Sheetal Palande, Thane District Program Coordinator, CSA)

(Contributed by Ms. Sheetal Palande, Thane District Program Coordinator, CSA)

Getting Equipped For Action

Teach them young and watch them grow!

Vulnerable Children and Education2

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As part of the ongoing Capacity Building Training Program which focuses on imparting knowledge to participants on their basic rights, existing laws formulated by the government and the importance of documentation, Mr. Mario Remedios(CSA Staff) conducted a Good Governance training session. The training held on 29th January, 2015 at Salvation Seva Kendra, Dadar was conducted in a mixture of English, Hindi & Marathi, was attended by 83 grass root animators of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) across the city and suburbs. The concept of Good Governance and its eight major characteristics viz. participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and

follows the rule of law were explained in detail along with the difficulties and challenges faced in its functioning. The participants were given

examples on how to address issues faced and how citizen forums have been able to highlight the rampant corruption that is a major road block in good governance. The roles and responsibilities of the Government and different stakeholders and the role of a social worker are equally

important for the process of good governance. The second session

on Area Sabhas and MCGM was conducted by Ms. Rathna Mariadoss. She informed the participants on how to identify and address local social issues and challenges faced in tackling the issues of Good Governance through the Advanced Locality Management (ALM’s), Mohalla Committees and Participative Governance. Similarly, the concept of Area

Sabhas and Citizen Forums could be promoted through the Centre for Community Organizations (CCOs) in the Parishes.

Characteristics Of Good Governance And Citizen’s Initiatives

3 Promotion of Good Governance

(Contributed by Mr. Mario Remedios, CSA Social Worker)

80 women attended a workshop on the Public Distributing System which was organized on 18th February 2015 by the Rationing Kruti Samiti in collaboration with Centre for Social Action at St. Pius X Church, Mulund. The program started with social awareness songs after which Sr. Alison introduced Mrs. Taruna Khumbhar, the resource person for the workshop. Mrs. Khumbhar

began the workshop by explaining the relevance of the ration card colors and the quantity of food items offered

based on the color of the card. She later explained about the different rates set by the government for each

item and answered few of the queries raised by the attendees. She emphasized that the grains provided under the rationing scheme should be clean and the samples should be in sealed pouches, as has been clearly stated in the ration card by the government. She also pointed out that it was the duty

Food for Thought !!

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of every responsible citizen to register a complaint in the event they came across any issue, by dialing the toll free number 1800-224-950 provided for the purpose, and the same would be addressed. Complaints could be regarding anything, ranging from the unavailability of food grains at ration shops, poor quality of food grains, demand of additional money by a

shopkeeper,etc. However, when registering a complaint, the person needs to provide one’s ration card number, name of the head of the family, and the ration shop number. The workshop proved very useful for the women audience, who managed to get most of their doubts cleared. As a next step, it was decided to form an action group comprising of five

women for each of the ration shops in the vicinity who would keep a check on the respective ration shops. It was also agreed that in order to further strengthen the action groups, steps will be taken in the near future to train the groups and make them experts on this subject.

With an aim to promote the Government Scholarship Schemes for economically backward students belonging to Minorities across the Archdiocese of Mumbai, CSA invited volunteers to assist students from all the minority communities to register for the same. From the time Fr. Gerry Fernandes, Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Church, Vashi received this intimation he was very enthusiastic. I was fortunate to be around him at that time and was selected to represent the Parish for the first meeting at Goregaon and was inducted into the Core Committee. Back at our Parish, Fr. Gerry gave me permission to use part of the Parish Office as a help desk to conduct trainings for students and even assist them to enroll for the scholarships. He was very supportive and allowed us to make all the necessary announcements and publicity required for the

same. I was joined by another volunteer Ms. Jaya Barla from my Parish, and together we fixed a schedule wherein every Saturday students could come forward and register for these schemes. Given that the students had to register online for these scholarship schemes, Fr. Gerry realized that there was a need for a computer and immediately sanctioned the purchase of a desktop. A special thanks to Ms. Jaya who put in a lot of effort and hard work to ensure that the needy students did not miss out on any opportunity to avail of these scholarships. She personally visited some of the institutes and was a continuous liaison between the authorities and the students. We are grateful to Fr. Gerry for his support, without which we would not have been able to progress as much as we have done.

(Contributed by Mr. Vishal Jadhav, CSA Social Worker)

(Contributed by Mr. Peter Quadros, Member of the Core Committee, Sacred Heart Church, Vashi)

Help Desk at Vashi

4 Organizational Development

For the first time, Centre for Social Action (CSA) participated in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) held on Sunday, 18th January 2015. Thanks to the financial assistance of our sponsors SERCO (BPO Company) through Mr. Manuel D’souza, Benison Vaz of Computech India Pvt. Ltd., and other individuals, CSA was able to put together a team of 12 runners for the event. At the end of the event each participant was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a small memento by our Director Fr. Mario Mendes. Here is what one of

A New Beginning

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(Contributed by Ms. Neola D’Souza, CSA Social Worker)

Employee Development constitutes an integral part of the process of enhancing the organization in its delivery of net results in the field and in collaboration with the partners. CSA has always insisted on staff development in the context of enhancing their knowledge and skills and its application of learning imparted during the monthly staff trainings and meetings. Resource Persons from the Social and Corporate Sectors with rich experience from the field were invited to facilitate the staff through half day interactive training sessions.

During the last eight months viz. August 2014 till March 2015, the following topics were covered :

August Project Development and Implementation

September Financial Inclusion – Instruments for Investments

October Monitoring and Evaluation & CCO Interventions

November Financial Education – Savings, Budget and Loans

December Sharpening of Program Areas

January Goals & Networking with colleagues - Development of KRAs as per CSA Mission

February Lateral Thinking – Six Thinking Hats

March Conflict Management Resolution

The staff have been led to understand the process of how to develop and implement a project and specifically to plan and develop the capacities of women’s groups specifically in the area of financial inclusion. During the past three months CSA has been through a process of introspection wherein the Director of CSA – Fr. Mario Mendes and the core team which includes the Section Heads of each district (Mumbai, Thane, Raigad), CSR Coordinator and the Finance Head initially reviewed the organization’s mission in the context of the key results to be achieved in CSA’s main program areas of intervention. The staff then went on to work out their Key Result Areas (KRAs) along with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) so as to develop a focus and clarity with targets to be achieved within the span of the next 12 months. The CSA Staff were also consulted on the possible trainings that they would like to receive.

Feedback on these monthly trainings are regularly taken from the participants through a system of rating and

Connecting The Dots And Being Energized

the runners Ms. Neola D’Souza (CSA Staff) who led the “Dream Run” category has to say :

On Your Marks, Get Set, Go! The last time I heard that command was when running the 100 meters or 200 meters race way back in College. Every athlete knows the joy of finally getting over that finish line – the struggles, the doubts and the strength to keep going. The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) Dream Run is approximately 7km in distance, and although it is more like a walk (owing to the fact that there were approximately 20,000 people on the road at that point), it was a proud moment for me to be running for the organization I work for (i.e. Centre for Social Action). It was inspiring to see so many people

on the streets of Mumbai running, walking, cheering and taking photographs. The overall mood and atmosphere was filled with music, the beating of drums, various acrobatics, children and other musicians performing, NGOs chanting slogans, and more importantly the CSA family along with some of our donors at the event, cheering us on. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am grateful to CSA for giving me the chance to participate. The SCMM was not only an opportunity to raise funds, but also to spread more awareness among my friends and family about the various projects of CSA. I eagerly look forward to running the Half-Marathon next year.

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comments are provided on possibilities of enhancing the quality of delivery. As per the feedback received, participants expressed their satisfaction on the quality and content of the trainings conducted and spoke about how they have had the freedom to express themselves and update their skills and knowledge through an open, friendly and growth promoting environment. The Director of CSA – Fr. Mario Mendes meets the core team to review their progress in the implementation of the programs planned. They have also been involved in the process of improving their strategies and interventions through a series of trainings facilitated by Mr. Vincent D’Silva of Silva Management Services particularly on Enhancing Professional Excellence, Effective use of verbal and non-verbal Communication Skills, Qualities of a Confident and Empowered Personality, Creating SMART Goals, Time Management and Delegation Skills,

which will assist in improving their efficiency in goal setting and planning for programs. Besides the above, our staff have also attended the following training programs: Legal Aid Workshop conducted by the Federation of Centres for Community Organization (FCCO) & Mahila Mukti Manch which covered legal rights with a specific focus on the Domestic Violence Act (2005), Social Innovations and Multi-tasking organized by the Western Region Social Service Forum (WRSSF) and a training on Participative Planning & Documentation which was conducted at Mangaon (Raigad).

The Annual Thanksgiving Mass and Christmas Fellowship along with the team building outdoor activities have been moments that have brought out the best in all the staff in terms of their creativity, free expression, bonding and collaboration with each other. The process of training, reflection, action and linking this to the larger picture of the organization have led to a lot of energy among the staff who I am sure would affirm the statement of management gurus Ken and Scott Blanchard “Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job.”

(Contributed by Mr. Cletus Zuzarte, Partnership Development Associate, CSA)

The Centre for Social Action Family extends a warm welcome to MS. JOVITA FERNANDES,

MS. CELINE MONTERIO &

MR. SAMSON PEREIRA who have joined our organization.

EDITORIAL TEAM : Ms. Carmen D’Costa, Ms. Meena D’Costa and Mr. Cletus Zuzarte

3 Eucharistic Congress Bldg., 5 Convent Street, Mumbai 400 001. Tel: 2202 1509 / 2202 2987

Email: csamumbai@gmail.com | csabombay@gmail.comWebsite: www.csamumbai.in

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