The main project

The main project ran from January 2010 to January 2012. The objectives of the main project were:

Education

• Ensure preschools are in an adequate condition.
• Equip preschool teachers with adequate training.
• Increase the number of children attending preschool.
• Raise awareness of the importance of education, and improve secondary level attendance.
• Engage children in positive educational and recreational activities.
• Provide basic library facilities in every village.
• Provide a platform for children to express themselves and raise awareness of the children’s clubs.
• Provide access for youths and children to computer facilities and IT training.

Health

• Give basic training in first aid and family health to women and children.
• Raise awareness of the importance of healthcare and dental hygiene and the local availability of healthcare facilities.

Finance and employment

• Provide access to small loans at reasonable rates to women in every village.
• Improve the capacity of women to diversify and increase their income generating capabilities through vocational training and microfinance.

Environment

• Raise awareness of environmental concerns in the community.
• Improve home food production in an environmentally friendly manner.

Activities

The following activities are being carried out.

Preschool Activities

The preschool buildings in the three villages will be repaired. All currently feature an open design which means that there is no place to display work or keep valuable items as youths frequent the buildings at night and there are no lockable doors.

The preschool teachers currently have minimal training and have little opportunity for training. There will be six training sessions for the teachers in the three villages but the training will also be offered to other teachers in the area.

Library Facilities

Basic facilities will be made available in the preschools, with materials aimed mainly at children from ages four to fifteen.

Books will be issued on two separate occasions to offer incentive for good maintenance and attendance. Two volunteers from each villages’ children’s society will be given special librarian training.

Children’s clubs

The five children’s clubs established during the six month project will continue, and meet once a month. Some sports equipment was provided in the 6-month project. As attendance has significantly increased since this time further sports equipment and indoor games will be provided.

The idea of a newsletter for the children’s clubs was suggested during the project planning sessions in the six month project. The project proposes to pay initial set-up costs and print costs for the first print run of 2000 per village. The second print run will be 50% funded by SLCT. Newsletters will be village specific but distributed across all three villages. A small fee of around Rs 8 will be charged for each copy, and contributions will be made by children’s clubs to ensure the newsletters are sustainable. They will be produced every six months.

Health

The baseline survey showed a high proportion of household income was spent on medicine and only fifty percent of households boil water before drinking. Furthermore a basic knowledge in healthcare is lacking in the three villages, therefore a programme in health training will be implemented to improve health awareness and to help avoid easily prevented diseases.

Health training for mothers will be implemented through the mothers’ societies. Follow up training will be given by the project officer. Similarly the children’s clubs will receive a total of four sessions on healthcare during the project.

The majority of the villagers do not use a toothbrush and have never visited a dentist. Therefore one dental clinic is proposed for this project, where a dentist and nurse will visit each village to check up the children, and highlight the importance of good dental hygiene. This is intended to change attitudes among villagers and especially children and facilitate regular dentist visits in Galewala. Toothbrushes and toothpaste will be given to children once, as an added incentive.

Counselling

Counselling will be given in an attempt to change attitudes towards schooling, family life, healthcare and general well-being.

Counselling for schools will be aimed at children of grades seven to twelve, teachers and parents. It will deal with a range of issues, but is particularly important due to the high school drop out rates in this area and the high incidence of domestic violence.

Counselling for preschool parents was delivered in the six month project for mothers, and although successful the mothers and counsellor stressed the importance that fathers also should attend. Three sessions will be delivered in this programme.

Finance and employment

A microfinance programme will be implemented in this project with vocational training also given as an incentive to diversify and increase income for women independently. This will also be an opportunity to ensure the sustainability of the project and reduce financial insecurity.

The credit programme will follow a similar structure to the successful programme previously implemented in Samarakoon Watta. Credit groups will be created through the already functioning women’s societies in each village. There will be two formal credit and savings training sessions. Further credit training will be implemented by HDF staff.

An educational trip will be conducted for the leaders of the microfinance groups, it will be a day trip to a specifically selected organisation, which has implemented a successful microfinance programme and has a record of thriving microentreprises as a result.

Self-employment training will be government supported. It will focus on activities that villagers can use to generate an income. It will provide training in dress-making, sweet-making, milk products and food preservation. Each participant must make an application (oral) to the women’s society leaders to gain a place on the course and must contribute 10-25% of the costs towards the raw materials.

The activities have been chosen in accordance with the wants and needs of the community and are designed to provide suitable skills for production at a local level, with the opportunity for sales at a local and regional level.

Environment

Training in compost making was very popular in the project planning sessions. Competent compost making can reduce costs in agricultural production, aid rubbish disposal and help the environment, This programme will be offered to thirty-five members of the mothers’ societies in each village and two sessions will take place.

A prorgramme in home gardening and animal husbandry will help participants to manage their agricultural production and reduce household expenditure. Training will be given over six sessions and offered to thirty-five beneficiaries in each village.

The garbage disposal programme will teach how to manage rubbish and protect the environment. It will be offered to thirty-five participants and take place over two sessions.

The environmental programme for children’s clubs will teach children the importance of the environment and basic gardening skills. It will be implemented through the children’s clubs over two sessions and conclude with a competition as listed below.

There will be a small competition for children’s clubs based on the environmental knowledge the children have gained through the programme above.

Women’s societies

As in the six month project, the majority of programs will be delivered through the women’s societies which will continue to meet every month.

New Year’s Festival

This will be a day long New Year Celebration for each village. SLCT will provide funds for equipment and contribute towards refreshments and prizes, HDF will make further contributions and the beneficiaries will also make small donations.

Advocacy

Every nine months an advocacy programme will be conducted between local stakeholders in the project. Ostensibly this will be the local government and health officials. It will consist mainly of raising awareness of SLCT and HDF activities and gaining feedback.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The project will be monitored and evaluated regularly to check on the progress and effectiveness of the project.