Project Week Overview

This page lists projects that UWC Mahindra College students attend during their CI (Community Interaction) Project Week, which usually takes place in November of their first year. Many students choose to return to work with these organizations during later Project Weeks.

Alice's Project, Varanasi
www.aliceproject.org/

Alice's Project is an NGO that is involved in educating under-privileged children in a holistic way. It is located in Sarnath, a centre for Buddhism near Varanasi, and one of India's oldest cities sitting on the banks of the Ganges river and one of the holiest places for Hindus.

Their website states: "Body and intellect are combined with yoga and meditation, taught as part of the core curriculum to every child every day. In this same way, spirit and emotions are not separate as they are part of our every day talking and thinking." Alice's Project also includes teacher training and, to a lesser extent, is also involved in community development.

Students who make Alice's Project their choice for Project Week will have an opportunity to interact with both teachers and students, and to understand the reality of life in Sarnath and the challenges faced by the people there. Participants will also prepare lessons, sharing cultural information from their region and country, and develop a small project with the organizers. Students should be open to learning from the children and to participating in yoga and meditation sessions; they will also be expected to share some of their own creative talents.

Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), Bangalore
www.apsaindia.org

The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) is a child-centred, rights-based, community development organization founded in 1981 and located in Bangalore. APSA works at two levels: at the grassroots level where the focus is on empowerment of the poor; and at the macro level of the state and the country through advocacy and policy planning. This two-pronged approach is reflected in the planning and implementation of all of APSA's projects.

Last year's Project Week in APSA was planned collaboratively by Mahindra College volunteers and APSA staff. After a day's orientation on APSA's projects, our volunteers spent the rest of the week with the Child Labour project, which at the time had a campaign in progress. This allowed our volunteers to take part in conducting surveys. They accompanied the Child Labour project team to government institutions, visited slums, and attended women's group meetings, all of which helped them arrive at a holistic picture of child labour in the context of urban poverty. They also learned to deal with issues of rehabilitation, processes of law, and child rights versus family rights.

CHiRAG, Uttaranchal
www.chirag.org

Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (CHiRAG) is a non-profit grassroots development organisation working with rural communities in the Central Himalayan region of India. Their main office is located in the village of Sitla in the state of Uttaranchal. CHiRAG is also involved with issues of social empowerment and community mobilization, income generation and training, and communication that it considers critical to its integrated development strategy. Areas of intervention include preparatory schools or balwaris, primary school support programmes with a focus on environmental education, village libraries, science laboratories, centres for adolescent girl empowerment, preventive and curative health programmes, and a local self-governance programme.

During the week students will be taken to the health centres, introduced to the adolescent girls programme, and work in the horticulture farm. They will also visit the weaving and oil extraction unit and have an opportunity to attend a village meeting. Please check the following websites for further information:

www.canadaindiavillageaid.com/chirag_newlife.htm
www.bostonglobalaction.net/UK/chipko.html

Eklavya, Madhya Pradesh
http://eklavya.in/go

On this project, based in the small town of Hoshangabad on the scenic Narmada River, questions will be raised concerning the purpose and reality of school education in India. In particular, we will ask: What role can education play in social and political transformation? What difference does scientific literacy make? What is the value of reading? In whose interest is education? Evidence and answers will be sought through activities with children and teachers. We will be guests of Eklavya, an NGO that has been developing innovative teaching programmes, writing and publishing children's textbooks, storybooks, magazines and books on science and education, as well as training teachers, teaching students, making educational toys and science kits, and assisting schools in planning and development. The goal will be for students to learn something about the people of India, their educational needs, and the politics of poverty. Besides visiting a local government school, students will have the opportunity to help plan and conduct a Bal Mela in which rural children gather to do science experiments and art activities. Students will also be expected to either write or illustrate some material that will be considered for publication in one of Eklavya's magazines.

Irula Tribe and Crocodile Bank, Tamil Nadu
www.itwwsindia.org

The Irula project, located in rural and coastal Tamil Nadu, has two aspects to it. In the first phase, students will go to a village in the interior and work with the Irula Tribal Women's Welfare Society (ITWWS). The Irulas, one of the sixth oldest forest dwelling people of the world, are famous as snake catchers. The ITWWS is one of the initiatives to economically and socially rehabilitate the Irula tribe. Among other activities they are now licensed to capture venomous snakes in order to assist in anti-venom production for vaccines. Students will learn about their lifestyle as well as participating in re-forestation work.

The second aspect of the project involves working at the Madras Crocodile Bank. This will familiarize students with the background of the crocodile bank, and teach them how to look after the crocodile population by helping to feed them and clean the pits.

Sangama, Bangalore
www.sangama.org

Sangama is a human rights organization for individuals oppressed due to their sexual preference. Sexual minorities include, but are not limited to, hijras, kothis, jogappas, lesbians, bisexuals, homosexuals, and transsexuals. Sangama aims to help these people live with self-acceptance, self-respect and dignity. They emphasize the concerns of sexual minorities from poor and non-English speaking backgrounds and sex workers, who otherwise have little or no access to information and resources. Sangama aims to bring sexuality, sexual preference and gender identity into the realm of public discourse and link it to human rights development and other social movements. Sangama campaigns for changes in the existing laws which discriminate against sexual minorities, including sex workers and people living with HIV / AIDS. They work with family members, friends, co-workers and partners.

While at Sangama, students will have interactive field visits, watch documentaries, hear personal experiences from the community, take part in sessions on lesbian issues, participate in workshops on human rights and sexuality, and visit a discussion forum with a college in Bangalore where Sangama conducts their awareness programme. Students will also participate in any campaign that may be current during our time with them.

Shanti Nir (Nest of Peace), Calcutta

There are two elements of the Shanti Nir project. Firstly, Shanti Nir, a Jesuit NGO run by Father Saju George, offers help to students of labourers in the evening. Many students are taught free of charge, and some pay for the classes depending on their means. The project aims to reinforce what students learn at school. Mahindra students interact with children from grades 6 through grades 10 and share games and global cultures with them.

The second element, at the Mother Theresa Mission, deals with the ailing and dying. At one facility there are mentally challenged patients who are very ill and have been picked up from the streets of Kolkatta. The work involves taking care of their daily needs, such as laundering their clothes, washing vessels after breakfast, sweeping and washing the open spaces, and shaving the men. It also requires students to help care for the women by spending time talking with them.

Centre for Environment Education
www.ceeindia.org

CEE's work in Gujarat was initiated prior to 1984, and has its headquarters at Ahmedabad. When began, CEE was perhaps the only organization actively engaged in environmental education in India. The focus of CEE's work has been the promotion of environmental education leading to environmental action.

Some of the ongoing and important projects in the state are: Education for Children, EE in Higher Education, Education for Youth, Communicating through Media, EE through Interpretation, Sustainable Rural Development, Sustainable Urban Development, Training, Networking and Capacity Building.

Sirsi, Karnataka
www.kalpavriksh.org

This Project Week will involve active participation with an NGO in their efforts to get communities involved with biodiversity conservation. The effort facilitated by Kalpavriksh near the town of Sirsi in northern Karnataka is an innovative experiment in getting ordinary people involved with protecting biodiversity. This community programme is in the forests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka. We will be staying in village homes, participating in seed collections and other activities, getting to know the local community and how they live (including the rich local cuisine!), interacting with environmentalists and ecologists, and hiking into the heart of the forest. MUWCI students have been to Kalpraviksh before, and always enjoyed the experience tremendously.

Fundacion Vicente Ferrer, Anantpur
www.fundacionvicenteferrer.org

The Vicente Ferrer Foundation is an NGDO (non-governmental development organization) committed to the process of transforming the poorest and most needy areas of Andhra Pradesh in southeast India. A pioneer of integrated development in that country, it is a humanist organization founded on the philosophy of action. Its team works, both from Spain and from India, to improve the living conditions of some of the most discriminated communities within the Hindu caste system. The foundation works in the areas of education, housing, ecology, health care; and also caters to women and people with disabilities. This project week is being launched in 2011.