CORD siruvani + globemed at boston college TAMIL NADU, INDIA
Quick Overview CORD works to facilitate integrated, sustainable social help programs in local communities and in the Indian subcontinent through processes of selfempowerment and enrichment. A typical Indian village faces several social and economic issues. Domestic violence, rampant alcoholism, rape, gender discrimination and community exclusion of the disabled are widely prevalent. All these problems are co-mingled and cannot be handled in isolation. CORD was formulated to alleviate the pains of the rural villages of these issues.
CORD.ORG.IN
Country: india India, officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya) is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens.
SELF - EMPOWERMENT & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe. However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule. Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to
India Statistics Total population: 1,2 24,614,000 Living in Urban Areas (%): 31 Christian: 84% Life Expectancy at Bir th: 65
the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a
unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic. In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures. It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, and a largely independent press. Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the
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KEY OBJECTIVES: • To initiate and encourage CORD supporters to give back to their individual communities by serving those in need. • To develop and strengthen a comprehensive, convergent, sustainable and participatory rural development program. • To empower rural women, men and youth. • To help increase economic self-reliance through micro-credit, income generation schemes and village-level enterprise. • To provide community based healthcare through preventive and promotional measures as well as provide primary healthcare services through dispensaries. • To provide community based rehabilitation for the disabled. • To help strengthen local self-governance. • To create environmental awareness and implement natural resource management. • To improve education, promote literacy and value-based education. • To promote and facilitate social justice. • To increase the capacity of women, men, youth and children to uplift their communities and themselves and fire their latent potential through community based organizations. • To network and collaborate with institutions, individuals, non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies and donors agencies to reinforce and promote the objectives of CORD. • To conduct training programs towards fulfillment of all objectives.
per 100,000 population
TB Prevalence: 249 Malaria Incidence : 197 3 Maternal Mortality: 200
1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture. Yet, India has also been weighed down by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban, by religious and casterelated violence. India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.
Organization: chinmaya organization for rural development: CORD has provided income generation activities for 13,000 people, started 563 women’s groups with over 22,000 members, 220 youth groups, 1490 self-help groups, and an adolescent girls’ group with 10,300 members. It has also implemented natural resource management programs, which succeeded in reducing water scarcity. CORD’s unique
community-based disability program has assisted over 450 disabled people. CORD also facilitates a social justice program and has resolved over 365 cases. CORD's strength and success has been due to its coalition with villagers, where there is cooperative effort to organize, build, and find relevant solutions to personal, familial, and communal concerns. Early Childhood Development: In rural settings, gender discrimination often forces girl-children to remain at home and help their mothers take care of their younger siblings. To remove this psychological block, CORD builds village intervention programs centered around girl-children and initiates Balwadis, or nursery schools for children age 2-6 years, in villages. Family Income Generation: Rural families earn their livelihood through multiple means. CORD offers a flexible approach to earning one's livelihood and encourages villagers in large numbers to leverage their aptitudes. CORD facilitates vocational training in diverse activities, including agriculture, dairy, petty shops, food products, fabrics (weaving, sewing, knitting, and embroidery), and traditional painting and bamboo products. Ensuring self-reliance, building operational management, and mainstreaming the entrepreneurs into the local market are all integral processes in the services CORD provides. Health and Sanitation: Doctors in outpatient clinics, village midwives, health guides, and community support groups
are all employed by CORD to help promote good health and hygiene, and manage rural healthcare issues. Educating villagers of all ages on health and hygiene, recognizing the crucial role of midwives in isolated villages, and connecting villages to accessible medical services is an integral part of CORD's primary healthcare services. Specific healthcare issues promoted in all villages include immunization, family planning, nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation. Additionally, special attention and emphasis is placed on the prevention of various diseases, ranging from diarrhoea to AIDS. Self- Help Groups: The concept of the Self-Help Group (SHG) was introduced in 1994 at Sidhbari, and its resounding success made it the new form of micro-banking in village communities. SHG organizes the formation of a small voluntary association of not more than 20 poor people for the purpose of helping them solve their financial difficulties.The women within the SHG’s or the youth within Yuva groups then initiate the opening of a small-scale, group savings and loan account. SHGs not only help their members take care of each other's financial needs, but also help them learn and refine their skills of financial management, communication, and mediation. CORD has trained and sensitized more than 20,000 bank officers, government and nongovernment officers, and organizational workers to promote SHGs, thereby making micro-banking available to the poorest of
the poor. CORD was the first organization to start micro-financing in India which became extremely successful. The apex bank for rural India - National Bank for Rural Development (NABARD) mandated that the bank managers be trained in CORD on self- help groups and micro financing. Youth Support Groups: CORD's Yuva groups provide a discussion and support forum for male youth and young adults to express, question, face fears, and voice concerns. This forum helps them turn away from the typical escape routes of alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse. Unemployment is the single, biggest challenge young boys in the rural sector face. In their Yuva groups, these youth learn about available trade skills and services they can learn in order to create a livelihood for themselves and better opportunities in, and for, their communities. This leads to harnessing youth potential for village development. Fighting Social Injustice: To date, alcoholism remains a serious issue in many villages of India. Apart from deepening the levels of poverty from generation to generation, alcoholism promotes violence, especially domestic violence in the form of wife-beating and child abuse. CORD helps villagers address alcoholism and other social injustices through informal legal counselling and victim support groups. The victims interact with the police and lawyers in a congenial, informal setting to get both, protection and justice, whenever required. Empowering Women: CORD's Mahila Mandals are village forums for rural women to discuss personal and
economic concerns, and actively participate in common village interests and issues. Yuvati Groups: Encouraging SelfConfidence in Young Girls CORD's youth groups for girls are support groups that encourage education and trade skills development. Additionally, the teenage girls learn about adolescent health issues that are not openly discussed in their family or community. Rehabilitation Services for the Differently Abled: The dignified inclusion and integration of the differently-abled (disabled) into village communities forms an important aspect of CORD's holistic vision. CORD's rehabilitation program addresses the issues of accessibility, education, and selfemployment for the differently-abled, and includes advocating proposals to local government policymakers. Natural Resource Management: CORD is motivating and training villagers to develop and implement micro plans to manage and sustain their natural resources. CORD's Natural Resource Management Training promotes and relates jal, jangal, jameen, jan, jaanvar, jeevika, and jeevan (water, forest, land, people, animal, livelihood, and life) as integral, interdependent factors for man's harmonious existence on Earth. Strengthening Self-Governance: By strengthening the village democratic process through Upa-Graama Sabhaas and Graama Sabhaas (General Body Councils), CORD hopes to kindle the knowledgeable and sound participation of all villagers in making their immediate environment a world of harmony and humanity.
Why does cord want to work with university students? "Working with students provides us with an opportunity to open the minds and shape the next generation of leaders. Involving university students lead to building of the next generation of adult leaders, decision makers, and supporters who are focused on bringing a positive change to the society. We expect it to be a two-way street with us providing exposure to the students about harsh realities in the developing world and the approaches used to resolve issues. Our organization has been run for years by a senior leadership team and we look to younger volunteers to provide a fresh perspective and bring in best practices from other parts of the world. Younger volunteers possess open minds, ready to absorb new information and ideas. They hold fewer preconceptions of the world, are able to accept change easily, and are ready to grow given the opportunity. They bring a different perspective to the work; often one that reflects the view of (potential) clients and/or the local community.”
ideas for grow: “Hepatitis B Awareness and Immunization: In India, roughly 3 to 5 % of the population are carriers; hepatitis B causes more than 10% of the cases of cirrhosis and nearly 30% of the liver cancers Human Rabies: Un-immunized pet dogs and numerous stray dogs in the villages increase the risk for human rabies especially when combined with poor street lighting and people using the open fields for their toilet needs. Prevention of even a few deaths due to Rabies by vaccination of dogs is a high-impact activity. Creating awareness among the villagers will be done by the students. The actual capture and immunization of the strays will be done by other NGOs ( e.g. Humane Animal Society of Coimbatore ) which conduct camps for this very purpose and have trained personnel for this. Note: No student will have to even go near a dog —pet or stray, leave alone handle it.”
-Subha Pathial, CORD USA
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country resources CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html International Human Development Indicators: http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/ IND.html Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/asia/ india World Health Organization (WHO): http:// www.who.int/countries/ind/en/ 8 Myths About India’s Growth, Foreign Policy Article: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/ 2013/04/29/8_myths_about_indian_growth