| Program Activities
DNF in collaboration with CARE-Nepal through its MOs and district chapters organized different activities to increase awareness and capacity building of Terai Dalits for raising voice and assert their rights. DNF through SAMANATA carried out various activities, as a result significant achievements have been found.
SAMANATA project has formed various groups in order to aware the community people about their rights, mobilize the available resources for the benefit of the Terai Dalits and their social inclusion.
- Women groups
- Child Clubs
- People's organization
- VDC and District level pressure group
- Role of the Change Agents
- UCP study
Women groups: main idea of forming, empowering and mobilizing women groups is to bring real story of women out and economic empowerment to change their role and status in the family and in the society. SAMANATA has formed 182 women groups (62 in Nawalparasi, 60 in Rupandehi and 60 in Kapilvastu) in 60 VDCs covering 3729 women members in total. It is 200% achievement in past one and half years. Following activities have been carried out by these women groups in their respective groups:
- Advocacy Literacy
- Saving & credit
- Income generating activities
- Protection and promotion of human rights of Terai Dalit women
Advocacy literacy classes: The women group formed under the SAMANATA projects were getting weekly advocacy literacy class. The advocacy literacy class raise the issues of Dalits inclusion like:
school management committee, child marriage, dowry system, girls drop out from the school, girls education, child labour, wage rate, Land rights, Gender violence, Human Rights, Intra-caste Discrimination, Untouchbility
The advocacy literacy class discuss on the issue and carry on issues based community advocacy campaign.
Child Clubs: Objectives of forming child club is to work in and around child issues such as domestic child labor, school enrolment, stopping child marriage and bringing their inner talents out so that they can feel dignity as other non-Dalit children in the society. Till the date, project has formed 83 child clubs (23 in Nawalparasi, 20 in Rupandehi and 40 in Kapilvastu) covering 1792 children, out of which 988 are boy children and 749 are girl children. This is an additional achievement of project within given time frame and budget. Following activities have been carried out targeting to the Terai Dalit children during this reporting period:
- Scholarship
- Education for all campaign
- Health and sanitation campaign
- Meeting and interaction
People's organization: To make women free from household chores, reduce domestic violence, make men counterparts more responsible to the women counterparts, and create enabling environment for mass mobilization, concept of people's organization came in mind, which is the mix group of men and women. It is homogenous groups in terms of caste; talks on their own agenda, makes action plan and put them in action. Till the date, 97 people's organizations have been formed covering 2227 members (male 1375 and female 813). Focusing on people's organizations, following activities have been carried out during this period:
- Income generating activities
- Vocational training
- Mass mobilization
- Meeting and interaction
VDC and District level pressure group: This is the apex body of community level groups and clubs. It includes both Dalits and non-Dalits considering the local context and mind set of either party. This group is came in existence to implement and reinforcement of action plan prepared by the women groups, child clubs, people's organization and non-Dalit groups. To the date, 60 VDC level pressure groups have been formed covering 941 members in total with 507 male and 428 female members. Following activities have been carried out through the pressure group:
- Orientation on government's plans and policies
- Orientation on political party manifesto
- Training on advocacy and rights based approach to development
- Training on national and international human rights laws and treaties and its application, monitoring and providing feedback to the concerned agencies.
- Meeting and interaction
Role of the Change Agents:
Change Agents are the role model of the project at village level. There are 60 change agents in the three districts Nawal parasi, Rupandehi, and Kapilbastu. The change agents have been able to bring significant achievement in the project area. Due to the initiative of the change agents following achievement had been brought:
Terai Dalit was selected as a school teacher by the school management committee
Mr. Santosh Kumar Harijan was appointed as a Chairperson at School Management Committee (SMC) in the Sri Primary School, Piprahawa of Kapilbastu district. Similarly Mr. Laxman Harijan, the Change Agent of Siktaham VDC of Rupandehi also nominated as Chairperson of SMC in Siktahan Primary School. After Mr. Laxman became the chairperson of the SMC the government policy to provide scholarship of Rs 350 per Terai Dalit students are implemented in the school, whereas the previous SMC has provided scholarship by deducting against the policy of the Government and given only Rs 100/student. 300 Dalit students are getting primary education without fee and getting Rs 350/head.
In a school of Farena VDC of Rupandehi district, the teachers use to exploit Dalit students by engaging them to clean toilet and school surrounding. Due to the initiative of the change agent such practise was come to an end.
- Due to change agent the drop out students had been re-admitted in the school. Single women were registered to get the stipend from the village Development committee.
- Change agent of Kapilbastu Bidhyawati Chamar, admitted to 25 Dalit children in school and avoid child marriage. Likewise several other Change agents contributed to admit the Dalit children in the schools.
UCP study:
This study was carried out with two major objectives of building a capacity of SAMANATA staff and social engineering of Terai Dalits to find out the poverty issues so that community based strategy would be developed to apply it in the field.
In May 2008, SAMANATA undertook an analysis of the underlying causes of poverty through action research. During the research, various methods to better understand the underlying causes of poverty and their implications on the poor and marginalized groups were applied and capacity of the staff was built to internalize and work with these methods in the future. Of particular importance, in terms of analysis, as well as social mobilization, are the methods that capture class differentiation (well being analysis), coping mechanisms through which poor and extreme poor households mitigate economic crisis (seasonal calendar), and exploitation (wage matrix and exploitation analysis). The work in its totality highlighted key aspects in terms of social relations and structures that need to be addressed at the local level; at the same time, the work also brought to the need for the implementing partner organization to more pro-actively support field level activities. |
