mahiti trust, gujarat, india annual report 2011–12 trust, gujarat, india annual report 2011 ......

Mahiti Trust, Gujarat, India Annual Report 2011–12

Mahiti - a rural development center At & Post: Dholera, Opp. Bhim Talav, Rahtalav Road, Tal: Dhandhuka, District: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Pin Code: 382 455, Phone: +91 2713 293 071, 313 437 Cell Phone: + 91 - 95588 03901 - 02, E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Part 1: The Organization About the Organization Mahiti is a grassroots level voluntary organization working in the most backward coastal region of Gujarat‐ India called Bhal. In Gujarati language “Bhal” means “forehead” where nothing grows. Way back in 1994, Mahiti was formally registered as non‐profit organization and since then it is working for socially exploited and disadvantaged communities. Right from inception it has prioritized women and gender issues in disaster prone Bhal frequented by earthquake, floods and drought. Over a period of time the organization evolved from its ‘grassroots group’ orientation to a full‐fledged institution. Its relentless efforts in finding solutions like rainwater harvesting plastic lined ponds to resolve drinking water crisis, addressing reproductive health issues by developing committed corps, securing rights of women and exploited and finding resource alternatives for poor has generated strong grassroots back up for Mahiti. People of Bhal relate with Mahiti as an organization created and nurtured by them. Mahiti’s head office is located centrally at Dholera in Bhal region. Dholera used to be a busy trading place about 100 years ago. Now it is deserted but still controlled by few powerful landlords and moneylenders. Issues in this region are enormous and organization adopted long‐term strategies to address these issues. Saline ‐ alkaline lands, water scarcity, lack of resources, poor livelihood opportunities, exploitation and disasters besieged the communities. To be precise, villages are abandoned by the state. Socio‐economic environment of Bhal has undergone serious changes in the last decade. Its polity, social and economic realities are changing rapidly giving way to new forms of exploitation and hegemony. Vision “Envisaging a just society without oppression, discrimination, injustice by abolishing discriminations created by unjust social structures and to improve the livings standards of exploited / marginalized sections whiles making them self-reliant in Gujarat state, India”

Mission “Mahiti’s mission is to empower the poor; discriminated and marginalized communities with focus on women to bring about concrete and sustainable changes in their lives and also to address issues of injustice through strong organization of people and their leadership” Focused Areas Mahiti works mainly on Seven Areas e.g. (1) women empowerment & micro finance, (2) social justice & human rights, (3) health, (4) natural resource management, ( 5 ) child rights, (6) youth empowerment and (6) disaster management. For each of these issues, various activities are taken up at the village level by setting up various village level institutions and by empowering them to work on the issues.

Objectives

To empower women and youth by strengthening leadership for effective political abd to fight against social injustice

To develop natural resources and to promote better access and control over natural resources for

the marginalized communities

To develop local resources to strengthen livelihood options for the marginalized communities

To improve and provide civic amenities

To improve and provide health facilities

To mobilize women to address the issues of marginalized communities Thrust Areas 1. Socio-Economic Empowerment of the poor discriminated and marginalized communities

with focus on women

Area level women’s savings and credit cooperatives as a medium for empowerment

Facilitating integrated development programs by mobilizing government and other resources for sustainable livelihood for these communities

Addressing issues of drinking water needs through innovative experiments and policy

advocacy

Promoting and strengthening community based health programs

Creating spaces and developing vocational skills of youth for their development

Community based disaster mitigation programs 2. Social Justice Program

Developing, capacitating and supporting a cadre of voluntary leaders for social action which

addresses issues of discrimination, atrocities and other forms of injustices

Legal Aid and Counseling Center

Organizational Values

Equity: Being sensitive and committed to reduce all forms of discrimination with focus on poor, dalit and women

Participatory processes: Having faith in people’s capacities and their institutions Freedom of people’s using traditional wisdom Accountability: Being accountable to the donors and the communities for whom resources are

mobilized Transparency: Maintaining transparency in all programs Collaboration: Developing synergies through networking Team work: Striving for quality, innovation and diversity Special focus on women in each interventions Creating strong leadership and help to become self-reliant

Mahiti in Brief Registered Name of the Organization Mahiti Registered Head Office At & Post: Dholera, Opp. Bhim Talav, Nr. Khun village,

Rahtalav Road, Taluka: Dhandhuka, District: Ahmedabad, Pin Code: 382 455, Gujarat, India

Coordination Office G-2/1, Om Shantinagar, Nr. Shrinandnagar – II, Tagore

Road, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad Pin: 380 051, Gujarat Telephone Number + 91 – 2713 – 293 071, 313 437 M. + 91 – 955880 3901 – 02

+ 91 – 79 – 2681 1003, Fax: + 91 – 79 – 2682 2010 Registration Details

a. Trust Registration Number Registered under Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act 1950, and registration number : F/4410/AHMEDABAD, DATED 8TH AUGUST 1994

b. Society Registration Number Registered under Society Registration Act 1860 and

registration number : F/4410/AHMEDABAD, DATED 8TH AUGUST 1994

c. Registration under 12 A (a) of the Income Tax Act 1961

HQ.II/12A(a)/69/94-95

d. Income-Tax Exemption No. U/S 80-G DIT(E)/80G(5)/547/2008-2009,

VALID TILL 31-03-2013

e. Income-Tax PAN AAATM7204J

f. Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 1976

Registration No.: 041910199

Geographical Areas of Operation

The inception and existence of Mahiti is direct outcomes of the complexities that the Bhal region faces both natural and socio-economic. Mahiti is working in 181 villages in 6 blocks of Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts. The following table shows number of villages and blocks where Mahiti has been working since 1994.

District Blocks No. of villages District Blocks No. of villages

Ahmedabad Dhandhuka 36

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar 57

Dholka 09 Shihor 04 Barwala 19 Vallabhipur 56

Total 64 Total 117

Part 2: Programmatic Interventions Health

So far, Mahiti has successfully been able to develop and cadre of trained women as Village Level Women Health Workers (WHWs – 101 Nos) and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs – 125 Nos) in 72 villages. At present The VHWs and TBAs are mainly involved in primary health care and ensuring safe deliveries respectively. Better linkages have been established with Government Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs). During the year, Mahiti has conducted a study on health of adolescent girls and boys and we have found that due to lack of education adolescent girls do not have knowledge about adolescent stage of life. To

find out problems they face due to physical changes taking place as they enter in adolescent state, we have selected 30 villages and made 30 groups of adolescent girls and 30 groups of adolescent boys. During the year, TBAs and WHWs were jointly carried out the following activities as given in the table.

Activities carried out by TBAs & WHWs during the year No. of Persons / Cases

TBAs & WHWs helped in No. of Chiranjivi Yojna benefits 418 TBAs & WHWs helped in No. of Janani Suraksha benefits 274 TBAs & WHWs facilitated in No. Persons for Vaccination 6040 TBAs & WHWs facilitated in No. of Family Planning Operations 450 TBAs & WHWs did No. of Safe Institutional Deliveries 792 TBAs & WHWs did No. of Safe Deliveries at Home 515

PHCs, CHCs and such government facilities are insufficient and inaccessible in remote villages. People living in remote villages can hardly get benefits of these. Moreover, government facilities are somewhat insufficient also. Government nurses are irregular in their visits to villages. Mahiti tries to create efficient links with PHCs, CHCs and women nurses to make their services more efficient and reliable. Looking to this situation, Mahiti has taken up various health and sanitation activities since many years. Mahiti’s objective is not just to provide infrastructural facility to rural population but to create health care awareness among them as well. Mahiti wants that every

village in Bhal region has facilities for health care and be self-reliant in solving their health related problems. Mahiti has been constantly trying to become a link to create active coordination among government health care facilities, women health workers in villages and village dais.

The cadre of 101 VHWs and 125 TBAs has built a good rapport with the villagers and government health staff working at sub health centers, PHCs and CHC. The biggest achievement is that there is not a single missed delivery during the year and that is because of active role of TBAs and VHWs. The parents were contacted under “parents meetings” activity to sensitize them on issues adolescent children. Linkages were established with the government and coordinated efforts made on the relevant areas of the health work. Actions were taken so that the community can take maximum benefits of health facilities provide by Emergency Medical Mobile Van (108) stared by the government. The project team of Mahiti has made efforts so that the rural women can get maximum benefits of vaccination, delivery by trained TBAs / health workers and schemes such as Chirajeevi and Janani Suraksha. In addition to that linkages with government where made to avail knowledge on livelihood means and vocation. Mahiti has started a center in its Dholera campus to give vocational training on tailoring women and adolescent girls. Bhal Arogya Seva Sangthan (Bhal Health Service Association) has been formed during the year and currently it has 250 members from the 72 project villages. The members support the VHWs and TBAs in monitoring government health services, anganwadis and sanitation. We have found that people had framed rigid mentality on the issues of adolescent group. We had to work to make people accept importance of adolescent stage of their children. Parents were not ready to send their adolescent girls outside and it took some time to convince them that freedom to the girls will bring positive changes in their life. Kishor Mitra and Kishori Sakhis were not ready to work on reproductive and sexual health of adolescent girls and boys in first three months but we have been successful in convincing them after giving training on the subject. In the next stage, we convinced the parents to participate in the parents meeting to discuss and learn more on issues of adolescent children but parents remained adamant and argued that discussing on reproductive health and issues will spoil children so did not agree to send their girl children in trainings. It was very tough for the organization but the team continued efforts through involvement of VHWs, TBAs, and leaders of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and members of Bhal - Social Activists Group (B-SAG). We have seen a positive change in attitude of parents and they agreed to send their adolescent children outside for the training. Following are major achievements of the work with adolescent girls and boys.

A total of 750 adolescent boys and girls were trained in the span of 3 years and a total of 250 adolescent boys and girls were trained during the year that resulted in bringing confidence in adolescent girls to bring out their confusions and worries related to their body. The girls are freely going outside of their villages. The boys learn drawbacks of smoke, tobacco and drink addictions and started barring from addiction.

The parents come in the parents meeting regularly and speak on the subject. They think how to prevent their children from becoming victims of social ill practices. They support their adolescent girls to participate in vocational training organized by Mahiti.

The health workers know use of 34 medicines for first aid (primary treatment) and provide the service whenever needed by the villagers.

They ensured that villagers get clean drinking water and the children, pregnant women and lactating mothers get nutrition food from Anganwadis. The health workers monitor presence of children in Anganwadis, demand account of expenditure on health from the village health and sanitation committees. They facilitated and supported skilled health workers from their team to become ASHA workers. More than 50 women health workers and dai women who were trained by Mahiti have become ASHA workers in both the districts under National Rural Health Mission.

The TBAs and VHWs work effectively as ASHA workers, ensure institutional deliveries and give guidance on how to take care of infants and pregnant women such as nutrient food, cleanliness at time of delivery, breast feeding immediate after birth, vaccination, and distribution of iron tablets. They work effectively to prevent mothers and children from risks. Their active role in facilitating services of chiranjeevi and janani suraksha benefitted village women. They meet gram sevakas and talaitis to take help so that village women can get optimum benefits of government sponsored health schemes.

Women Empowerment and Micro Finance

The trickle down effects of macroeconomic policies have failed to resolve the problem of gender inequality. Women face gender specific barriers to access education, health, employment etc. Women have been the vulnerable section of society and constitute a sizeable segment of the poverty-struck population. We have observed that economic empowerment results in marginalized women’s ability to influence or make decision, increased self-confidence, better status and role in household etc. Micro finance is necessary to overcome exploitation, create confidence for economic self-reliance of the rural poor, particularly among poor rural women who are mostly invisible in the social structure. Mahiti has continued to build capacity of the office bearers of the women’s savings and credit cooperatives of Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar and SHGs through formal and informal trainings and exposure visits. The main objective of Mahiti is to make these cooperatives strong micro finance institutions in the region so that people and especially women get free from the exploitation by the moneylenders and their socio- economic status rises. To fulfill this aim it is necessary to develop capacities of leaders of these cooperatives on various aspects of cooperative society management. With this view training in various aspects like

scope of micro credit activity, laws related to cooperative society, policy related matters, accounts and record keeping, management and monitoring of cooperative, role of executive committees of cooperatives and their responsibilities, leadership development, gender sensitization, giving impetus to financial activities etc. are being organized time to time. The women’s savings and credit cooperatives in Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts have achieved its geographical scope and financial target fairly well. Moreover, the leaders of this cooperative have been imparted a good number of capacity building trainings.

During the year, we have formed 17 Self Help Groups that made total 394 members. A total of 385 new members joined the SHGs and over the years 9,770 women members have joined the SHGs. The SHGs are linked with two of Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperatives. The Mahiti team has supported the women’s savings and credit cooperatives to disburse the loans to 981 women members of the SHGs small and micro enterprises and other purposes such as grocery shop, livestock, house repairing, agriculture, education of the children, sanitation, and vegetable vending etc. The cooperatives have fixed up high interest rate (18%) on loan for social reasons to discourage expenses on nonproductive means while low interest rate has been fixed up on loan for education, sanitation and house repairing and construction. The representative members of the SHGs and the cooperatives played active role in motivating irregular members of the SHGs. The women are confidently taking interest in village level issues of development. Status of Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperatives Society Limited (MFIs) (2011-12)

Particular

Ahmedabad Cooperative Status Bhavnagar Cooperative Status Total Status of Both the Cooperative

31/03/11 31/03/12 Progress

during the year

31/03/11 31/03/12 Progress

during the year

31/03/11 31/03/12 Progress

during the year

Village covered 63 64 1 31 31 - 94 95 1

Formation of SHGs 267 272 5 122 134 12 389 406 17

No. of members 5,876 6,003 127 3,509 3,767 258 9,385 9,770 385

Savings 96,40,363 1,03,14,931 6,74,568 47,59,397 63,36,758 15,77,361 1,43,99,760 1,66,51,689 22,51,929

Fixed deposits 8,91,740 8,75,540 -16,200 50,500 96,000 45,500 9,42,240 9,71,540 29,300

Share capital 6,55,660 6,52,410 -3,250 4,85,590 5,32,080 46,490 11,41,250 11,84,490 43,240

No. of Loanee 9,412 9,821 409 3,698 4,270 572 13,110 14,091 981

Loan disbursed 48,68,200 40,27,200 -8,41,000 97,67,720 1,46,05,220 48,37,500 1,46,35,920 1,86,32,420 39,96,500

Interest earned 13,01,853 10,49,141 -2,52,712 12,53,132 18,77,398 6,24,266 25,54,985 29,26,539 3,71,554

Hygiene and Sanitation One of the reasons many people in Mahiti’s project area do not have sanitation is that the demand often does not exist, or is constrained through – for example – ignorance, misinformation, past bad experience, unnecessary bureaucracy or regulation; this contrasts with other services such as water and power. Sanitation programs have traditionally been supply driven, lacking any significant consultation with users on what their requirements are. Mahiti’s experience proved that one way to promote sanitation is through the application of social marketing techniques. Social marketing of sanitation aims to both create and satisfy a demand, through the provision of adequate services alongside the adoption of appropriate hygiene practices, for the correct use and sustainability of the facility. Poor sanitation is a key link in the cycle of disease and poverty that affects the poorest people, who could otherwise contribute more to overall economic and social development. We have learnt that improved sanitation can help to break the cycle, by stopping human excreta entering the environment in a way that can infect people. This gives people the chance of better health, enabling more opportunities for education, productivity and income generation. We have observed that the impacts of ineffective sanitation are felt most acutely by poor people, who generally live where environmental conditions are worst. Overcrowding, bad drainage, polluted air, unreliable and insufficient water supplies and poor sanitation all contribute to poor health. Those who can afford to can buy their way out of such conditions. The lack of privacy afforded during the day requires many women to wait until after dark to defecate. Improved privacy and security offered by improved sanitation facilities are key motivators for women. Mahiti’s strategy on Sanitation and Hygiene:

diversity of cultural, economic and social needs are acknowledged; stakeholders are involved from the outset, with particular attention given to the

involvement of marginalized groups; local decision making is encouraged; monitoring and reporting mechanisms are developed

A sanitation survey was conducted in 15 villages that covered 2618 households. The survey revealed that only 308 households have toilets and 2310 households go for open defecation out of total 2,618 surveyed households. A total of 1962 households are willing to construct toilets but they do not have financial capacity to build toilets. During the year, Mahiti has constructed 272 individual toilets in 15 villages under the Coastal Area Development Program with financial support of CSPC, WASMO and Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). Training and awareness program were conducted on best sanitation and hygiene practices for women, adolescent children and

community leaders.

Protection of Children’s Rights Mahiti has been implementing the project “Protection of Children’s Rights in Cotton Growing Areas of Bhavnagar and Vallabhipur Blocks of Bhavnagar District” in partnership with UNICEF, Gujarat since last August 2011. The main objectives of the project are:

To establish and strengthen sustainable community level structures that ensure the children’s rights at the village level, block and state level

To provide and strengthen quality education in Anganwali and Primary Schools for the children between the age of 6 to 14 years

Community take collective actions for protection of children’s rights and children’s development To make linkages and provide necessary support for social protection schemes of the government

to vulnerable families especially those whose children are out of school. Formation of Child Protection Committees (CPCs)

Mahiti project team members organized various community meetings like a gram sabha during the evening time in all 113 project villages with membership of 1120 and during the community meeting, it is ensured about full participation of all the community leaders, sarpanch, teachers, aasha, anganwadi workers and other stakeholders of the villages. A resolution has also been taken up from Sarpanches about the formation of CPC. The CPC has an important role to protect rights of children. While forming the CPC, Village Level Volunteers were also identified and selected in consultation with the participants of community meeting. The Child Protection Committees in 113 project

villages have been formed during the year and also trained / capacitate the members of child protection committees on child rights and child protection issues. During the year, a total of 05 training and capacity building programs for the members of child protection committees were held with the participation of 209 members.

During the year, Mahiti has identified more than 1200 Out of School Children (OOSC) and 550 Vulnerable Families for providing the benefits of government’s social protection schemes. Out of these OOSC, more than 450 OOSC have been mainstreamed directly to the primary schools and 12 such Special Training Programs (STPs) have been started in Salt Pan Industries where a total of 175 OOSC were enrolled. There were a total of 928 children who were engaged in agriculture labor specially in cotton and a total of 185 children who were engaged in non-agriculture work i.e. industries, brick kiln, and tea stall etc.

Celebration of Child Rights Weeks Child Rights Weeks were celebrated in 50 project villages, a total of 3350 children were participated in these celebrations. Children of marginalized families were encouraged to participate in the Children Week celebrations where they involved in recreational activities such as drawing, essay writing, games and making of toys from using locally available materials. Overall, there has been quality participation of the children in those activities. They were also encouraged to write problems on

a piece of paper and drop it in ‘problem collection bag’ that was kept in the program venue. The problems later presented in the CPC meeting, the members agreed to resolve all problems on priority basis. Main objective of Children Week celebration was to develop sense of unity among children so that they remain away from caste and gender based discrimination. Apart from that children of marginalized communities get confidence to raise their issues and drop out children rejoin the schools. Case Study Katuben Mithapara (42) of village Loliyana village of Vallabhipur block married to a man of her caste in the same village. She has good understanding about the issues of village since she brought up in this village. She wanted to get education but due to the situation she could not study. She belongs to a poor and marginalized community. Katuben recognize importance of education and considers it a tool for development thus she always remained concerned about education of children of her village. The Mahiti team working in UNICEF supported project met Katuben in initial phase of the project. When MAHITI asked her to become a volunteer for the project she felt empowered. She liked objectives of the project (Child rights, compulsory and free education, protection of children and support to marginalized families for government schemes). Katuben received thorough training on Education Acts from MAHITI. She knows that forcing a child for work is a punishable act. The team explained that she can play an important role for the welfare of children through visit of school to know how many children are attending school and how many are dropped out, visit of parents of drop out children to convince them to send their children to the schools, support to the parents for enrolling their children who do not have birth certificate, monitor progress education and other recreational activities in school, to raise issue related to education in Gram Panchayat and District Panchyat if needed. Katuben visits the school twice in a week and meets teachers and monitors progress of education. She gets names of children not attending school from the teachers and visits parents of such children on same day in evening to motivate them to send their children to school; next day morning she goes to the school with such children. Katuben convinced Children Protection Committee members to make resolution to fine Rs 25 from parents who do not send their children to the school.

Selection of Village Volunteers (VVs) and Establishment of Village Information Centers (VICs) To make program very effective, there is indeed necessary to select village volunteers who can work as link between NGO, Government and Community, therefore, the role of VVs is more important in the project. During the year, a total of 446 VVs were selected and trained on child rights and child protection issues from 110 villages. A total of 49 VICs were established during the year. Training and Capacity Building of Village Volunteers on Child Rights and Child Protection

Under the Project “Protecting Children’s Rights in Cotton Areas” which is supported by UNICEF and implemented by Mahiti, we chose volunteers from each and every village with equal representation of men and women. The main purpose of the training was to prepare a brigade of leaders, who will become foot soldiers in future to protect children’s rights and to work for qualitative education as well as overall development of their respective areas and villages. Training was imparted keeping in mind of local village volunteers especially youth capacity to internalize and project objective. During the year 09 such capacities building

training programs for village volunteers were organized by Mahiti and a total of 408 VVs were participated in these training programs. The participation of VVs was found good enough in the training. Before organizing the VV training, CRPs made lot of efforts for follow up for each and every VV personally. During the training program, we have tried to transfer the following objectives as well as clarified the role as VVs among the participants by using various appropriate communication media such as lectures, sensitization films (videos shows), games, group discussions, and chart papers etc.

During the training programs, the questions were asked to the participants like, who is child? What are the Children’s Rights? What are the government provisions for it? How can we solve the problems of children at village level? There were mixed responses from participants. Moreover, training programs also acknowledged the participants about the governmental schemes which are crucial for the development of the village and development of the child. Terminology like Child, child rights, child act, participants were asked to describe in one word then one sentence for child then after child rights and duties of parents. Responses were that child

should have decision right, right to survival, right of nutritious food, registration of child birth, right of primary education, right to participation and right to development etc. Responses for duties of parents were education, daily need care, care for health and option for his/her development. Moreover, information about child rights under convention on right of child was also imparted.

All the participants felt that this training program is very much useful and informative for them. They shared that before this training they do not have any knowledge about the children’s issues, children’s rights, children’s related acts, various social protection schemes. They also shown their keen interest for working towards the children’s protection in their villages and become very sensitive about children’s overall development. Natural Resource Management and Development About 25 villages in three talukas – Dhandhuka, Dholka and Bhavnagar – are expected to be affected by the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Special Investment Region (SIR). Villages are located on the periphery of the tidal flats. These are hostile living conditions for human beings but people continue to live and practice agriculture wherever possible. Over the years as more and more lands are being rendered infertile due to salinity ingress, these communities, especially households with smaller land holdings, have become dependent on daily wages in nearby towns and cities for their day-to-day survival.

While little has been done to address the problem of salinity affecting agriculture, the Government of Gujarat has over the past few years seen the area as a potential industrial hub, a plan which will actually increase the problem of salinity. For instance, Nirma set up its factory at Kala Talav (about eight kms. from the Dholera port site) village some years ago. In order to avoid inundation of the factory premises, the company built up about 10 to 15 km-long embankment – only to cause formation of artificial creeks as drainage patterns got disturbed. These creeks have brought in salt water into the agricultural fields, causing further damage to the productivity

of the soil. While drinking water scarcity has been an issue here during times of cyclones and drought alike, with the coming up of the Nirma factory, fresh water ponds in the nearby villages have also turned brackish. If more industrial development takes place there will be large-scale migration, as problems of salinity and drinking water scarcity will further rise. Livelihood resources for poor are limited. Dry-land agriculture, fishing and livestock rearing are the limited and highly vulnerable options available to people. Agriculture productivity is very low. Low rainfall and frequent drought increased level of risk in agriculture. People are forced to migrate as laborers for more than 8 months a year. Social security measures hardly reach these families. Children are removed from schools and put up with diamond polishing industry at tender age like 10 years.

Majority of Kolis and Dalits are living Below Poverty Line (BPL). Average earning per family is as low as Rs.6000 per year. This is acute among women headed households. They mainly work as agriculture laborers in farms of upper caste communities who control occupations like local transport, restaurant, shops, flourmills etc. Community works also contracted by upper caste communities. As a result Kolis and Dalits are left with no alternative. In crisis they borrow on high interest rates (120%) from moneylenders or landlords. When they fail to payback, their assets are retained including land, house and livestock. This reaches to gruesome levels like frequent physical abuse of women members.

Drinking Water Resource Management & Development

Mahiti has been working to improve access to potable water for human beings and livestock. The Bhal region has saline soil and ground water is also saline in the region. In such circumstances the fresh rain water is available resource during monsoon. Collection of flowing rainwater is the only way which people can resort to get potable water. During the reporting year, 26 Roof Rainwater Harvesting Structures (Tanks) have been constructed with the financial support of WASMO and District Rural Development Agency, Ahmedbad. Over the years, Mahiti has been successful in

constructing a total of 948 roof rainwater harvesting structures in the area. Over the years a total of 21 Rainwater Harvesting Plastic Lined Ponds, more than 950 roof rainwater harvesting structures and more than 50 water resource management structures have been constructed. Efforts have been made to strengthen village water supply system such as lying of pipelines in 43 villages, 31 water storage sumps have been constructed, construction of pump rooms and more than 38 pumping rooms and pumping machinery have been installed in the project villages, and 60 drinking water and sanitation committees were formed at village level. As a result of the efforts for water resource management and development, more than 22000 families are now having taped water services at their door-step and burden of fetching water from distance has been reduced and even enrolment of the girls in the schools have been increases due to availability of water at their homes. During the year, Mahiti has also renovated and repaired damaged rainwater harvesting plastic lined ponds in Rajpur and Khun villages of Dhandhuka block. The benefits experienced by the people after construction of roof rainwater harvesting tanks are:

Availability of clean drinking water Saving of time on fetching drinking water The roof rainwater structures are useful during water scarcity Women’s standard of living is improved

Establishment of Water Testing Laboratory A water testing laboratory has been set up in Mahiti’s

Dholera campus with the support from Conrad N.

Hilton Foundation, CSPC and AKRSPI. The main

objective of this laboratory is to provide water testing

facility to the people of Bhal region and make them

aware about quality of water they drink. A total of

289 water samples have been tested during the year

to know availability of bacteria, pH, TDS, hardness,

fluoride, nitrate and chloride in drinking water.

Repairing and Renovation of Rainwater Harvesting Plastic Lined Ponds

Under the project “Ensuring Safe Drinking Water and Improved Sanitation Practices in Coastal

Villages” supported by Water & Sanitation Management Organization, Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell,

Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (USA), Mahiti has successfully been able to

renovate and repair the Rainwater Harvesting Plastic Lined Ponds in Rajpur and Khun Villages of

Dhandhuka block which were damage at large extents. During the year, the works related to repair,

reconstruction, catchment improvements, deepening and de-silting of pond, and construction of filter

well etc. were carried out. Now, the villagers feel very happy and very thankful to Mahiti as well as

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (USA) for the support because which is more important to them to get

sustainable solutions to drinking water problem.

Swajal Dhara Sector Reform Scheme for Drinking Water

The activities on drinking water such as formation

of water committee, opening bank account of

water and sanitation committee, approval of

technical proposals, implementation of physical in

village water supply systems and works, training

and awareness, audit of works have been

completed in 15 villages in Dhandhuka taluka, 15

villages in Dholka taluka and 15 villages in

Barvala taluka. Under this program various

activities such as construction of cattle troughs,

lying of drinking water pipelines, construction of water storage sumps, pumping rooms and

establishment of pumping machineries etc. have been completed in 45 villages with the financial

assistance from WASMO, Gandhinagar.

Agriculture Diversified Agriculture Practices to Improve Crop Yields: Crop Demonstration Plots Unlike most other coastal regions, Bhal coast receives low rainfall, which is highly unevenly distributed across the coast. The coast also has highly deep geological formations with salt laden winds of high velocity blowing from the sea. Historically, some of the coastal and inland areas of Bhal were under the sea many years ago, with the result that there is inherent salinity prevailing in several parts of the region. Over last two and a half decades, a process of rapid sea water ingress (at some places as deep as 10 – 15 kms. from the seacoast) is observed along the coastal belt of Gujarat. This is mainly due to large scale ground water extraction for agriculture as well as industrial purposes combined with intensive mining activity. Over a period of time, problem of salinity has become a threat in the coastal belt. It has caused

social as well as economic unrest among the coastal communities. Salinity in the soil is a major obstacle for enhancing yield of crops in the coastal villages. Mahiti has started a project to build capacity of the marginalized farmers on diversified and sustainable agricultural practices to improve crop yield. To demonstrate sustainable and diversified methods, a total of 50 women households were cultivated vegetable crops and 05 marginal farmers were demonstrated and cultivated the crops plots such as cotton, wheat, and cotton under Kharif 2011. They were supported with seeds distribution, use of Amrut Water and Amrut Khatar (Manure).

Youth Empowerment

The 11 to 19 year old age is called adolescence. This is the period of rapid change and maturation when the child grows into the adult. This is one of the most enjoyable stages of one’s life and it has to be experienced with joy and friendship paving the way for building a healthy society with good social relationships. The National Population Policy 2000 identified adolescents as an underserved group for which health needs and within this reproductive and sexual health interventions are to be designed. The National Youth Policy 2003 recognizes 13 to 19 years as a distinct age group which had to be covered by special programs in all sectors including health.

Mahiti has gathered a good understanding on issues adolescent group facing, how to develop self confidence among them, how to educate them on their body, how to make them self-reliant, how to create awareness among them on child marriages and its disadvantages and how to take them out from addictions of different habits e.g. Smoking, tobacco chewing. More than 275 adolescent girls and women benefitted from vocational training on tailoring, incense stick making and beauty parlor etc. The girls show enthusiasm to participate in training which taking in place outside of their villages. We

found that the girls are keen to learn new things which can bring positive change in their life. The boys have stared participating in vocational training on various subjects. Mahiti has started various vocational trainings in partnership of Kherwadi Social Welfare Assocation’s Yuva Parivartan Program (a Mumbai based national NGO) for young boys and girls to increase their employability. Social Justice and Human Rights Mahiti has been working on the issue of social in-justice with the objective to reduce women’s exploitation, violence against women, mental & physical harassment of women. Mahiti believes that to reduce these social injustice it is necessary to educate youth and sensitize them. During the capacity building phase, Mahiti realized that creating awareness among women to address these issues is not enough. So therefore, Mahiti has organized a series of workshops and trainings for the community leaders, CBOs, youth on the issue of how effectively a social movement can be built. Carrying this idea forward, Mahiti has been tirelessly working for capacity building of Bhal Social Activists Group (B - SAG) in Bhal area in context of networking, campaign and advocacy on social justice. B-SAG has been actively organizing periodic meeting villages to address the issue related to violations of human rights through counseling and legal aid. During the year in 178 cases, Legal help, Legal Interventions and Counseling has been provided as mentioned below.

No Type of cases No of cases

01 Violence against women, domestic dispute like marital discard, divorce, beating, maintenance etc 34

02 Compromise in domestic dispute 17 03 Land ownership cases, like illegal possession of land and land disputes 67 04 Inheritance process in land entitlement (Varsai) 23 05 Snatching of Land Dalit Community by land lords 37

Total No. of Case where Mahiti & B-SAG has helped / guided / counseled 178

Part–3: The Internal Organization Role of Board members The board members of the organization extend their guidance and assistance regarding the verbal, legal and long term direction and sustainability of the organization. They also stand by the organization, if there is any serious internal issues, trustees participate in the activities of the organization as and when need to do so arises and also provide advice and suggestions. Thus, a l l the trustees take proactive interest in the organization and make efforts to strengthen it. Every year the accounts, progress report and planning for the next year are presented before the board of trustees and further action is taken giving consideration of their suggestions. The Board of Trustees

No Name Occupation Office held in

Trustee Board

Relationship with other

organization Address

1 Devuben Kuberdas Pandya Social Activist

Executive Trustee and Executive Director

--- Mahiti, At & Post: Dholera, Tal: Dhandhuka, Dist: Ahmedabad Pin 382455

2 Nafisaben Rajubhai Barot Social Activist Trustee

Executive Trustee Utthan

36, Chitrakut Twins, Naheru Park, Vasrtapur, Ahmedabad - 380015

3 Jhanviben Jitendrabhai Andhariya

Development Professional Trustee Director

Anandi

21, Manmohan Society, 2nd Floor, Opp. Aditi Vidhyalay, Manjalpur, Vadodara 390011 Phone: 2635158

4 Binoybhai Padmanabh Acharya

Social Activist Trustee Executive Director Unnati

G/1, 200, Azad Society, Raksha Appartment, Himmatlal Park, Ahmedabad

5 Rajivbhai Wishwanath Khandelwal

Development Professional Trustee

Executive Director,

Aajivika Bureau

38, Mangalam Complex, Nr. Sifon Colony, Sifon Choraha, Udaipur, Rajsthan – 313001, Phone: 0294-2454092; 2454429

6 Vijaybhai Simonbhai Parmar

Expert (Human &

Institutional Development)

Trustee Chief Executive

Officer Jan Vikas

C/105-106, Royal Chinmay, Next to Simandhar Towers, Off Judges Bunglows Road, Bodakdev, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad

7 Sachin Ajaybhai Oza

Development Professional Trustee

Executive Director

Development Support Center

Development Support Center Nr. Govt. Tube Well, Bopal Ahmedabad

8 Laxmiben Sudarshanbhai Iyangar

Doctor (Aayurdevik) Trustee Freelance

Trainer

3, Parth Sarthi Appartments, 26, Bhaikaka Nagar, Thaltej, Ahmedabad

Organizational Structure

Board of Trustees

Executive Director / Managing Trustee

Coordination Committee

PC (Health)

PC (NRM)

PC (Social Justice)

PC (Micro Finance)

PC (Child Rights)

COs COs COs COs CRPs

Support Team:Coordinator (Programs & Administration) Accountant Office Assistant Driver Watchman Center Care Taker

Communities, Village Level Institutions and Village Level Leaders6 blocks of Ahmedabad & Bhavnagar District

Abbreviation: PC – Program Coordinator CO – Community Organizers / Field Workers NRM – Natural Resource Management BCs – Block Coordinators CRPs – Cluster Resource Persons

Mahiti TrustORGANOGRAM

Blocks: Dhandhuka, Dholka, & Barwala Bhavnagar, Vallabhipur & Shihor

BCs

Team Members in the year 2011-12 No Name of the Team Member M/F Designation No. of Years

with Mahiti

1 DEVUBEN PANDYA F Executive Director 28

2 BHANJIBHAI KHASIYA M Technical Officer 15

3 LAXMIBEN SINDHAV F Coordinator (Micro Finance), Ahmedabad 10

4 ISHWARBHAI PARMAR M Chief Accountant 15

5 RAMESH PARMAR M Office Assistant cum Accountant 4

6 DINESH DHARAJIYA M Driver 3

7 VIPUL CHAUHAN M Coordinator (Adolescent Health) 4

8 JAGDISH SINDHAV M Community Organizer 10

9 JYAOTSA MAKAWANA F Community Organizer 3

10 JAYANTI BOSIYA M Coordinator (Swajal Dhara Program) 10

11 SUBABEN BARAIYA F Campus Care Taker 5 12 JIVRAJ WAGHDIYA M Watchman 15

13 DINESH PANDYA M Coordinator (Programs & Administration) 8

14 KALPESH MISTRY M Coordinator (Natural Resource Management) 10

15 NARENDRA CHAVDA M Community Organizer 2 16 RAJESH JUVALIYA M Coordinator (HIV / AIDS) 8

17 MAHANDRA CHAUHAN M Out Reach Worker 2

18 KESHAV CHAUHAN M Out Reach Worker 2

19 SANTOSH ANJARA M Out Reach Worker 2

20 ASAMA BANU F Counselor 2

21 ANIL RETHALIYA M Out Reach Worker 2

22 SEBASTIN FARMER M Monitoring & Evaluation Officer 2

23 BINDUBEN BHATT F Coordinator (Micro Finance), Bhavnagar 22

24 AMRUT BARAIYA M Accounts Assistant 4

25 PRITI GOHIL F Community Organizer (Micro Finance) 4

26 RITABEN GOHIL F Accounts Assistant 4

27 ARPITA DAVE F Block Coordinator, Bhavnagar (Child Rights) 1

28 MITTAL BUDHELIYA F Cluster Resource Person, Bhavnagar 1

29 JAGDISH PANDYA M Cluster Resource Person, Bhavnagar 1

No Name M/F Designation No. of Years with Mahiti

30 VIKRAM DANGAR M Cluster Resource Person, Bhavnagar 1

31 IRFAN BILAKHIYA M Block Coordinator, Vallabhipur (Child Rights) 1

32 ARJUN DANGAR M Cluster Resource Person, Vallabhipur 1

33 KANUBHAI BOLIYA M Cluster Resource Person, Vallabhipur 1

34 UPASANA MUJAPARA F Cluster Resource Person, Vallabhipur 1

35 RAJU BARAIYA M Accounts Assistant 4

36 GEETABEN JADAV F Community Organizer (Micro Finance) 5

37 KIRAN RAMANUJ M Community Organizer (Micro Finance) 4

Other Matters

Managing Trustee or any other persons from our organization has not visited a foreign country during this year.

This Executive Trustee Cum Managing Trustee has been paid Rs. 2,21,484/- (yearly) as

honorarium. No other trustee has been paid any amount.

The Office Assistant of the organization has been paid Rs. 3,500/- as minimum monthly wages and the Executive Director cum Managing Trustee has been paid Rs. 18,457/- as maximum monthly wages.

Salary Slab in Rupees No. of Staff Members

Male Female Total Staff > 1500 - < 2500 04 03 07 > 2500 - < 5000 03 01 04 > 5000 - < 7500 10 01 11 > 7500 - < 10000 09 02 11 > 10000 - < 15000 01 01 02 > 15000 01 01 02

Total Staff Members 28 09 37

Available Infrastructure 1. Campus with staff residence in 20 hectors land at Dholera 2. Training Hall Facilities 3. Dining Hall facilities 4. Ambulance (1) 5. Four wheelers vehicle (1) 6. Two wheelers vehicles (10) 7. Computers with Printers (10 sets) 8. Laptops (02 sets) 9. LCD Projector (1 set) 10. Camera (5) & TV / VCR (2 sets) 11. Water Testing Laboratory 12. Field Offices at Nari, Barawala, Vataman, Dholera and Vallabhipur

Our Partners

To accomplish and realize Mahiti’s vision of ensuring the rights and justice of women, enhance the household income and improvement in health status, Mahiti is honored to have partnered many outstanding and committed institutions and people. We express our gratitude for their support and engagement to Mahiti. Following are our partners in the year 2011-12 1. Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust (SDTT), Mumbai 2. Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, USA 3. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gujarat 4. Water & Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO), Gandhinagar 5. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Ahmedabad 6. Aga Khan Rural Support Program (India), Ahmedabad 7. Department of Health & Family Welfare, GoG, Gandhinagar 8. Gujarat State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), Ahmedabad 9. Gujarat Voluntary Health Association (GVHA), Ahmedabad 10. Drinking Water & Sanitation Committee (DWSC), Ahmedabad 11. Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC), Ahmedabad 12. Ministry of Rural Development (GOI), New Delhi 13. District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Ahmedabad

Affiliations & Associations Organizations / Institutions Areas of Associations Action Aid, India General Assembly Member - Human Rights PRAVAH – a state level network of VOs, individuals, and experts on drinking water issues

Trustee on the Governing Board Policy advocacy on drinking water issue

Voluntary Action Network of India (VANI), New Delhi

Member Policy advocacy and good governance

Credibility Alliance, New Delhi Accountability, Transparency and Good Governance

Janpath (a state level network of voluntary organizations in Gujarat state)

Member of Executive Committee Policy advocacy

Sajjata Sangh (a state level network of non-government organizations working on natural resources development and management in Gujarat)

Member Issues & Policy Advocacy related to NRM

Working Group for Women’s Land Ownership – WGWLO

Member, Campaign and policy advocacy related to women’s land rights

Jan Swashthay Abhiyan – JSA, Gujarat Member, Health issues

Gujarat Dai Sangathan Member, Reproductive and Child Health Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan (MSA), a state level network of NGOs / individuals, and experts on women’s issues and rights

Member Issues related to women

Development Support Center (DSC), Ahmedabad Capacity building on Natural Resource Management

Behavioral Science Center (BSC) Strategic partner Navsarjan Issues related to Social Injustice Utthan Issues related to Women, Water & Sanitation

Jan Vikas Capacity building on Legal Aspects & Human Rights

IndiCorps Volunteering

Unnati– Organization for Development Education Panchayati Raj Institutions and Capacity Building

Gujarat Voluntary Health Association Reproductive and Child Health

Foundation for Research in Health System Capacity Building of Village Health & Sanitation Committee

Chetna Women’s & Children’s Health National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Rural Entrepreneurship Development Program

Dalit Shakti Kendra Vocational Training Program for Youth

RSETI of Canara Bank & SBI Vocational Training Program for Youth

mahiti trust, gujarat, india annual report 2011–12 trust, gujarat, india annual report 2011 ......

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