Yearly Archives: 2019

Bikash Dandasena

Rakhi, the winner of Junior Judo Championship at state level – Silver Medal in 2015 and Gold Medal in 2017 is aspiring to be in Civil Service. She is one of the luckiest girls in her village who could showcase her talent in state level forums. She loves dancing, singing and marshal art too.

Rakhi Baka, is a Bhumia tribal girl of 16 years, lives in Chalanguda village of Mathili Block in Malkanagiri district. From her childhood she has lost her father. Her family includes her mother, elder sister and brother. Her mother being a daily labourer manages the four- member family with much difficulty. However, her elder sister is now supplementing her mother’s income working either in construction sites or collecting Sal leafs.

Chalanguda being the intervention village of CYSD,  Rakhi was enrolled as sponsored child when she was studying in Std. V. As one of the talented students, she was selected by the district administration to study in a better school with hostel facility. She was admitted in Sishu Mandir at Malkangiri and stayed in Anwesha Govt. Hostel. This year, she has completed her High School Certificate examination successfully securing 54% marks and with the support of her cousin pursuing +2 Science.Meanwhile, she has got an opportunity to learn advance level marshal art and aiming to take part in National Junior Judo Championship-2019 and win the Gold medal.

CYSD has made effort to promote Adolescent Group in Chalanguda village where Rakhi  is an active member. She has received different trainings on ARSH, WASH organized by the organization and could become a peer educator and imparting orientation to her friends on the subject. She was nominated to participate in “Odisha Vikash Conclave-2018 held in Bhubaneswar and gave a stimulating speech on issues of children of her district.  “The intervention of CYSD in my village has created a platform for each girl child to ensure equal participation in different activities”, says Rakhi.

Though talented, Rakhi has bit sympathy for others. She likes to utilize her leisure time in providing teaching to low performer children.  With the initiative of CYSD, she was engaged impart teaching to 32 children of Std. I to Std. X during last summer vacation in her village primary school building.  While teaching, she tries to explore the hidden talents of those children.  Normally, all students study in residential Ashram Schools and come to village during summer and winter vacations.

“My family is struggling to overcome the financial crisis due to lack of livelihood opportunity. My brother who is doing his last year B.Sc. can get a good job in coming year and hopefully, our financial crisis will come to an end. My elder sister is determined not to get marry now and continue supporting my mother’s income until we complete our education”, shared Rakhi with emotional tearful eyes.Mathili is one of the most interior tribal pockets of Malkanagiri where development is still a dream.Despite all the bottlenecks, Rakhi has never stopped dreaming. “After graduation or so, I want to join Civil service and work hard to improve the standard of living of people below poverty line and develop quality education for children of my district” says Rakhi.

Rudrashish Mandal

Draupadi Girls’ High School of Nishaposi in Thakurmunda block of Mayurbhanj district is the only high school girls in the Tribal dominated area. The school has well nurtured a team of 21 enthusiastic and sportive Girl Guides, who were determined to take part in a National Competition of Beating the Drum.The school has limited resources to support the team either for undergoing parade training or procuring quality dress codes and instruments. Still the team has never lost their hope, rather expressed their concern with CYSD’s Child Development Project. Following which the education team of CYSD encouraged the girl guides and assured to support their mission.

The inspired Girl Guides made rigorous practices of beating drum. The School Committee felt the need of an external Coach for which they also sought financial support from CYSD. But it was difficult on their part to find an external coach within such a short notice.

The entire journey starting from preparation till participation in the competition was quite exciting for the guides. The team participated in the District level Inter School Competition and qualified for the State level Competition and finally was eligible for the Zonal level beating the drum competition.

Subsequently, the Girl Guides team left for Ranchi to take part in the Zonal level Inter school Competition in December 2018. Their smartness, disciplined parade, dress code, command, cleanness and regular practice added value to the competition. Fortunately, the team secured second position in the zone level competition where Girl Guides from five States participated.

“On behalf of my team, I tender my heartiest gratitude to CYSD for their wholehearted support in each and every step of our success without which our dream would have not been achieved”, said Harapriya Mohanta, the Troop Commander of the Girl Guides.

“We missed little margin due to comparatively poor dress quality and instruments. But next time we will definitely win the race which is our future plan” said Bhagabati Mohanta the Second Troop Commander.

Padma Patnaik

It is estimated by the Government that the cyclone Fani has damaged around 1,159,000 coconut trees in 6,625 hectares of land in Puri district. The worst affected are the major coconut producing areas of Sakhigopal, Brahmagiri, Nimapada, Delang and Pipili, thereby causing the maximum damage to the sector. Example Jaypur village of Satyabadi Block has lost 90 per cent of coconut trees.

Coconut tree loss has affected the coir industries and has become sick without required raw materials. This has also affected the livelihood of many women artisans engaged with the coir industry, artisans’ clusters, especially the Pattachitra Artisans around Chandanpur and coconut coir artisans around Satyabadi.In this context, CYSD team along with “Kala Aur Katha”, led by Pankaja, a designer cum social entrepreneur and SWAD, a local NGO visited the severely affected villages of Satyabadi block with the specific objective to explore the existing potential artisans; assist the artisans in revival of artisans cluster especially coconut products; explore the opportunities on value additions to coconut waste as part of circular economy; and find possibilities of youth led entrepreneurship to generate assured income to minimize distress migration.

After Interaction with women groups and village heads of different villages of Satyabadi block regarding the development and recycling of the coconut waste, it was observed that most of the women groups trained on coir, making various products like doormats, decoration items and flower pots with coconut wastes were limited in design and its attractiveness to generate sustainable livelihood income.

Ground Reality

A team of 14 women members formed a SHG namely, Saraswati Self Help Group in 2007 in Jaypore village of Satyabadi Block. They had started one coir industry engaging women members and was making different coir products. As the industry was running well, the women artisans engaged in it were substituting to their family income in a dignified manner.

“The cyclone FANI has not only blown away the workshop roof, it has taken away the livelihoods of many women engaged in our coir industry”, said Ms. Surekha Dash, the Secretary of SHG.

“Now the group is not able to make any coir products due to shortage of coconut coir & stick. Though marketing is a big issue for us, still we are enthusiastic to revive the coir industry and make coir products to sustain our livelihood”, added Ms. Surekha.

Niladri Sahoo

Foundation for Rural Entrepreneurship Development (FREND), a organisation promoted by Tata Trusts and supported by Google, has been working as a vehicle for other like-minded organizations to leverage the power of the Internet Saathi network for socio-economic development of rural India. This would also enable sustainability for the Internet Saathi network, opening up avenues of economic opportunity for them.

In April 2019, CYSD entered into an agreement with FREND to implement an eight-month Internet Saathi programme with an objective to extend digital literacy knowledge to the rural women in 6 districts of the Odisha State, like Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.

The programme aims at imparting digital literacy training to more than 1.8 million rural women and helping them understand the benefits of internet. Also, this programme has an agenda to address the digital divide and technology discrimination, specifically, bridge the online gender divide in rural India” The programme would reach 8000 villages in 77 Blocks of these 6 districts through Internet Saathis. For the purpose, the Saathis are equipped with two android cell phones with internet connectivity and modules to learn the programme curriculum. The digital literacy programme will later-on followed with the livelihood enhancement interventions for the Internet Saathis. FREND is monitoring the project implementation with periodic visits to the project locations.

A group of personnel comprising of one State Coordinator, 6 district coordinators, 77 block coordinators and 2286 Internet Saathis are engaged for smooth implementation of the programme. By end of July, the Internet Saathis have trained around 1,43,128 women in six districts

Umakanta Patra

Marding, an interior village in Urladani Gram Panchayat of M. Rampur block of Kalahandi district, doesn’t have good road connectivity owing to which the villagers face acute problem in accessing government schemes and programmes. CYSD with its district partner Seba Jagat conducted Community Score Card (CSC) process to identify major issues in Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND).

The AWC was hardly opening and VHND was a dream for the mothers and children in the village. The pre-school education was also another issue identified by the villagers. All the issues and common action points were discussed with the beneficiaries and service providers together. The villagers met Ms Romana Jafri, Block Development Officer (BDO) and Ms. Swarnalata Nayak, Block Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) of M. Rampur and complained on the issues. The concern BDO and CDPO visited the village and resolved the issues ensuring regular opening of the AWC with distribution of food and nutrition supplements and running of pre-school education activities.

Moreover, the villagers also met the District Coordinator, ICDS and Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) and submitted their application regarding nonfunctioning of VHND in the village. The district coordinator and supervisor of ICDS visited the village and made functional of VHND ensuring regular and timely delivery of services to the villagers. Now, we are happy that both the AWC and VHND are functioning well, says one of the villagers.

Shlipi Padhi, Intern
Student, Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication (SCMC), Pune

Since it was my first internship, I had many uncertainties in my mind in the initial days of my tenure but my mentors were always a guiding lamp for me. The atmosphere in CYSD’s office is always happy and lively and the enthusiasm each and every person carried with themselves to do something for the society encouraged me to work with them.  Writing for the daily bulletin was an amazing opportunity for me to explore on my writing skills and helped me boost my confidence in the same. I was taught to write in a certain way, corrected, appreciated and encouraged by my mentors. The faith my mentors had in me while assigning me a particular task made it all the more promising and uplifting! This development sector internship has been a journey of bountiful learning’s for me and I thank CYSD for providing me with this experience.

Payal Choudhury, Intern
MA in Media & Communication Studies, Christ University, Bengalore

CYSD, a non-government organization, works for the betterment of the mankind as a whole. It not only works for the needy people but also acts as an assessment and monitoring agency and initiates a lot of programmes. A lot of enthusiastic, determined and selfless people are working in the organisation who not only inspire but also motivate youngsters to do something for the society. As a media student, I was only focused on commercial face of the media and had zero touch with the development sector. I got a privilege to work in this prestigious and well-known organization as part of my Development Communication subject. Little did I know it will be a journey full of learning experiences!

My first step into the office was full of confusion and nervousness, I had no ideas what to do and what do the people of the organization expect me to do. But the very first day became the very first and huge step towards a whole new learning experience. I got an opportunity to work under Shri Jagat Parida and Shri Umankanta Patra who showed me the way till the very last day. Firstly, I got to work on the bi-monthly Newsletter “OUR VOICE” which brushed up my writing, editing and designing skills. Seeing my name under the editorial team along with my highly experienced mentors was no less than an achievement for me. My CYSD journey was actually a roller coaster ride, as the destructive Cyclone FANI struck Odisha, for which I got an opportunity to work closely and observe how an organization works at this time. To my fortune, I also got a chance to work under Shri Ananta Kishore Swain who was a continuous motivation for me.

Talking about achievements, the whole journey created milestones for me – starting from getting recognized for my writing to work on the news desk of the daily bulletin – #FANI 2019 which got circulated all around the country and also abroad. I cannot thank CYSD enough for helping me in exploring my own abilities and boosting my confidence. In the whole journey I made some amazing friends who made sure I had a great time in the office. All the staffs are so warm and welcoming- entering the gate getting greetings from the security guard, then meeting Prachi Ma’am with a smile, getting tea from the canteen boy and of course all the officials who always gave me positive vibes which motivated me to do a bit better every day. I found a small family in CYSD. Well there are a lot of memories, experiences and teachings that I am going to take back with me. I was praised, I was criticized, I was taught- what an amazing journey it was.

I wish all the best to the organization and will be looking forward for future collaboration

Mahesh Chhatoi

Over the past two decades, Odisha has put in a lot of effort to prevent child labor by implementing various laws. The Right to Education Act 2009 has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that children between the age of 6 to 14 years go to school and receive free education. Article 21A of the constitution of Odisha also provides education as a means to combat child domestic labor in India. The motive is to ensure that the children of Odisha live in economically stable families and get quality education at an appropriate age.

Combating Child Domestic Labor (CCDL), a Child Rights protection initiative, was undertaken by CYSD in 2017 to fight against child domestic labor in the Mayurbhanj District of Odisha in collaboration with Plan India.

The CCDL project was initiated in three main blocks of the Mayurbhanj District of Odisha, namely, Thakurmunda, Kaptipada and Jashipur. Children from these blocks work in different occupations, such as agriculture and allied works, collection and processing of minor forest produce, domestic work/help, etc. Children here are also made to engage in apprenticeship which is considered normal in the communities. Mute acceptance of these traditions due to financial instability caused by unforeseen situations has made the whole concept of child labor very normal and unquestioned.

The goal of the CCDL initiative is to prevent, protect and rehabilitate these children from domestic labor by strengthening community based child protection systems, by educating the children and helping their families become financially stable. CYSD also provided these children with educational kits to equip and encourage these children for going to school. CCDL project envisaged to create happiness amongst these young lives by sharing these kits with the underprivileged children of the society. For the past two years, CYSD has been successfully running the “Basic Educational Support Centres” drive in the project locations.

CYSD brought smiles to the faces of 1200 children in 2017-18 but, in 2018-19 it has increased by 600 children more. The Basic Educational Support Centres were provided with educational aid like blackboards, multilingual dictionaries, word books, maps, etc. The CCDL initiative received ample support from the village level Child Protection Committees, who influence the minds of the families of the children on a more personal level. “This is going to be the best help at this moment for these children and we will co-operate whole heartedly to make this activity a big success”, said one of the Child Protection Committees.

Dillip Kumar Rath

Groundnut cultivation has a very good potential in tribal district of Koraput. Under Focus Area Development Programme (FADP) of ITDA, Joypore, tribal farmers are being encouraged to go for groundnut cultivation with the facilitation of NGOs, like CYSD.

Groundnut is an early season crop which means slightest sight of rain is needed to plant. Groundnut seeds are normally sown when the soil is not soggy as the crop does not do well in waterlogged soil. To prevent soil bacteria and fungi, certified disease free seeds should be used. If seeds from the last season is used, we have to ensure that the seeds are stored in their pods and only shelled a few days before plantation. We have to shell the pods 1-2 weeks before sowing and to select only good quality seed for sowing. Land need to be ploughed and harrowed to a fine condition. Cultivation spacing depends on the variety. Small types of seed are spaced at 30cm between rows and 15cm between plants. This has a plant population of 70400 per acres. The big types of seeds are spaced at 45cm between rows and 20cm between plants; this has a plant population of 35600 per acres. The seeds are planted in two rows on the top of the ridge. It is necessary to select clean and well formed seeds for planting. Normally, seeds are sown to a depth of 5-8cm at a seed rate of 50 kg per acre.

Following the above process, CYSD facilitated a total of  225 poor tribal farmers in 12 villages of 3 Gram Panchayats (GPs) namely, Chandrapada, Bodaput and Dasmantapur in  Baipariguda Block to cultivate groundnut in 225 acres of their land between last week of January and first of February this year under FADP. The beneficiaries were supplied with input support of 112.50 quintal seeds (Verieti-AK12-24 of 90-100 days duration), 450 kg of bio-fertilizer (Necter) and 112 ltrs pesticide (Nemoline).

Before the monsoon break, the groundnut growers have finished the harvesting of groundnuts and it is observed that the farmers have produced 5 quintal to 7 quintals per acre and selling the groundnuts @ Rs.4500 per quintal.

Bharati Mohapatra

Building Capacities of members of CBO, PRI representatives and grassroots level organizations is one of the core competencies of CYSD. At the behest of FES, Keonjhar, CYSD Training Team conducted a 5-day Training Needs Assessment (TNA) program for the PRI members and Panchayat Resource Persons as well as the staff of FES in Banspal Block of Keonjhar district in March.
 
The purpose of this Training Needs Assessment (TNA) program was to recognize the performance issues of the representatives that could be augmented. Their competencies could be further enhanced by sharpening their existing knowledge base and skill sets. The crux of conducting the TNA program was to identify these performance issues and analyze the gaps between the existing competencies and the competencies required to meet the organization’s objectives.  The team identified the knowledge, skill sets and attitudes possessed by the  representatives by using a specific tool designed for the assessment purpose.
 
CYSD team interviewed 19 Sarpanches from 21 Panchayats and 11 Panchayat Resource Persons and staff of FES involved in strengthening local self governance through a rigorous process.
 
As an outcome of the whole exercise, the team could explore that majority of the representatives lacks knowledge on three-tier PRI system, 73^rd Amendment, PESA, role and responsibilities of Gram Panchayat, required knowledge on preparing Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). In some cases where women are in Sarapanch positions, proxy leadership by male members was also found.