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Page 7 of 8
The above 6 programmes together forms the principal long term
integrated plan for each cluster. Over several years these programmes
will make a lasting impact on the quality of life and education in the
entire area – not just the 5 Tsunami affected villages but another
20-30 village around as well.
Apart from the above cluster level programmes, there are 3 other long term programmes we are working on:
Enterprise and Income Generation Programme: To generate a
number of locally viable enterprises, train people on these, support
them with loans and to hand-hold them and provide marketing support
till they are able to sustain the enterprise on their own. There are
several different kinds of enterprises we are planning as part of an
integrated vocational training and enterprise programme:
- Boat and Engines based: Using the fact that a lot of
boat-making and engine-repairing is needed, we will be training people
and setting up manufacturing and repairing centers. After the current
phase, many of these people will work on fishing but will also do boat
making and repairing on the side. We will also look at alternate boat
making techniques.
- Construction Technologies: We will be training and helping
people set up enterprises for making hollow concrete blocks and mud
block technologies for construction.
- Wood and Metal work: Carpentry and metal moulding and other metal working programmes.
- Children’s Toys and school equipment: There is a lot of need
for children’s toys and educational materials – we will train people to
make these and provide facilities for making these.
- Clothing: Ordinary tailoring is not needed. But special
skills in embroidery, needle work, hemming, jute stitching, will be
very useful.
- Paper cups, plates: These will be sold through catering centers
- Bio-diesel: This is a new but increasingly expanding area – we will look at options in this.
- Welding: Both gas and Arc welding can be taught and set up into small enterprises.
- Waste to Compost: As part of the agricultural initiatives
there will be a lot of demand for compost and bio-fertilizers.
Converting waste into compost and vermin composting will therefore be
quite productive enterprises.
- Food processing: Both sea food and things like sambar
powders, vadams, papad, sattu maavu will be started – mostly by women’s
groups.
This is one area where a huge number of things can be done and where
we need a lot of help from people. People with skills in different
areas and who can help with this programme are welcome. There is no
limit to what can be done – the only constraints are the initial cost,
training skills and the market and financial viability for the
enterprise.
Agriculture Programme: A number of areas in the Tsunami
affected region are not fisherfolk. There are areas where the water has
entered fields and made it saline. A programme to improve the quality
of agriculture and to re-generate these fields is essential and this is
what the Agriculture programme will work on. This programme will have
the following components:
- Addressing large scale salinity of soil – alternative cropping strategies and desalination measures
- Creating farmer experimenter networks to test out different ideas in agriculture
- Eco protection of coast-line with livelihood opportunities for the people
- Intervention in primary production
- Soil and Water testing facility with decision support system
- Training and demo unit on alternate cropping techniques
Mobile Health Programme: One of the main areas of focus in any
disaster is immediate health care because the chances of an epidemic
spreading and killing many more is always high. In the Tsunami affected
areas, there is a need for a health van that will travel from village
to village organizing health education programmes and health camps. The
van will work along with our village health programme in the Integrated
cluster programme. In the other villages, it will work with other
organizations. The van will also provide immediate relief and work on
epidemic situation to prevent and if occurring to quickly stop it. The
health van will work alongside the primary health centers and try to
link up with them through referrals.
We have also been interacting closely with the government on what we
can do in the government run programmes – particularly in the areas of
primary school, middle school and health. We are working out a detailed
joint intervention programme where we can provide training and material
support to government schools and primary health center networks with a
focus on improving the quality of education and health in these areas.
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