Our Partners
With over a billion people, India is the world's largest democracy today. But more than 75% of the population lives in villages and depends on subsistence agriculture. The new liberal economic policies of the government have brought a boom to the cities and to a small percentage of the population.
However, it has been estimated that over 350 million people in India, live in "absolute poverty" and that the country has the highest number of child labourers. CCFC therefore has been concentrating on such areas where instances of children dropping out of school because of poverty and being forced into employment, are high.
CCFC has been working with professional, committed and competent partners over a period of 35 years, in "a partner in development" rather than the "donor provider approach", addressing the issues of children and poverty. Due to this partnership, 95% of children in the operational villages have had access to formal and informal education systems and there has been a tangible impact among their families and the communities as well. More female students from our programs are now in colleges completing degrees in Science/Arts and Humanities, Teaching, Nursing, Engineering and Information Technology.
Together with five partners in 6 different programs throughout India, CCFC India has transformed impoverished neighbourhoods into fully functioning sustainable ones. Our partners are locally registered experts in the area of international and community development, who are chosen through detailed pre-affiliation guidelines.
Through our partnership, we develop participatory programs that build a community's ability to create and manage sustainable improvements. We help community members gain the skills needed to think about and manage workable solutions for their problems, themselves.
All CCFC projects are planned for and budgeted annually. The Country Office plays an oversight role and assists partner organizations to build and strengthen their capacities by providing direction, guidance and advice. It also plays a role in monitoring the project activities and assisting the partners in evaluating the impact of their programs.
CCFC and its partners have programs throughout India. CCFC's partner organizations are located in two states - Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, with a few villages falling into the state of Andhra Pradesh. Within the three states the partners are working in seven districts and 105 villages.
- Number of Partners : 6
- Number of Programs: 6
- Number of authorized children: 7450
- Number of families impacted by CCFC's help: 47104
- Number of villages CCFC India helps: 105
- Number of families directly impacted by CCFC India's help: 6184
Education
CCFC and our partners in India are committed to providing Indian children with the education they need to become productive members of the community. Education for children means access to more opportunities, better paying jobs and increased literacy rates in communities. With the help of our trusted local partners, CCFC raises community awareness about the importance of educating children and strengthening the capacities of children, parents, and teachers in order to maintain educational programs.
In addition to encouraging school-based programs, CCFC works with community members and families to develop solutions to obstacles standing in the way of basic education for children like the lack of classroom facilities, lack of teachers, lack of school supplies and gender inequality.
The intervention of CCFC has ensured that 98% of eligible children in the operating areas are in school and that the number of children working as child labourers has been considerably reduced.
Successes:
- Reduction of child Labour.
- 90 children groups ( Children parliament, 3S clubs)
- 93 resource centers and 8600 children are using the services on a daily basis
- Mainstreamed 76 children with multiple disabilities
- Significant reduction in gender discrimination ( 51% girl children in sponsorship and enrollment in schools)
- Increase in community involvement leading to greater opportunities for higher education (7 higher education community funds)
- Creation of employment opportunities, 3 % sponsored children placed in government and private sectors
- Vocational skill training (computer, motor mechanic, nursing & teacher training, etc) leading to self reliance (480 children)
Micro-Enterprise Development
To create a long-term cycle of self-reliance, families need sustainable ways to generate income. Initiatives like Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) provide lasting solutions to help the "poorest of the poor" learn to provide for themselves and jump-start the economy of their community.
MED programs encourage community members to work with Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) and our local partners to develop new marketable job skills. Community members purchase the materials they need to start and grow their income and reinvest back into their small businesses.
The MED programs in India are all community based. This program is designed to provide training in micro-enterprise skills and credit loans for four CCFC project partners and their communities. The majority of participants in CCFC India's MED program are females.
Successes:
- Reduction of exorbitant payment of interest (from 8% to 4% per month)
- 635 Livelihood groups covering 9795 families in 105 village
- Rs. 18,500,000 (Cdn$ 474,358) mobilized from the group for consumption and short term productive purposes
- CCFC supports 27 small business with 3 partners covering 3,800 sponsored families and 1,800 non sponsored families
- Increased opportunities for new entrepreneurs, increased income level of families by 12%.
- Increased self esteem and decision making of women, owning immovable assets (5% of MED members).
Health and Nutrition
Investing in health and nutrition programs means better health for families and children long before they are born. Healthy children mean a healthy and sustainable workforce.
Health and nutrition programs run by CCFC are designed to reduce malnutrition and to strengthen children's bodies and their minds. We focus on prenatal and natal care, medical treatment for children, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
Malnutrition sometimes stems from a lack of knowledge, not a lack of food. That is why nutrition education is a major focus of our programs. We help teach families about proper nutrition and the foods children need in order to grow up healthy. By working with parents and educating communities, we promote the importance of good nutrition and explore ways to increase food availability.
Successes:
- Reduction in Malnutrition and under nourishment in children
- 215 Dhais are available in the project area to take care of health issues of communities
- Increased acceptance of natural, home made low cost quality nutrients and 40% CCFC communities are using it
- Availability of chemical free green vegetables (Bio Intensive Garden) in 80% of operational villages
- Better health condition ensured to all children, families & Communities, less issue of major ailments and communicable diseases
- Considerable reduction in infant mortality rate ( not recorded in last 8 months)
Water and Sanitation
Investing in safe drinking water and sanitation means CCFC can reduce disease and sickness, as well as the large amount of time it takes to find water for cooking and cleaning- time that can be spent on caring for children.
CCFC India has facilitated a number of initiatives to supply communities with dependable water and sanitation facilities. Once water is available in communities, additional steps are taken to teach community members about managing water resources efficiently.
Children, parents and community members are educated about proper hygiene, latrine building, well maintenance, how to protect themselves and their families against disease and how to manage water resources efficiently, through widespread training and skill building.
In its effort to improve the quality of life in communities, CCFC works on conserving natural resources like water and providing drinking water. Constructing sanitary latrines, harvesting rain water, management of coastal resources and creating awareness about sanitation are the areas in which CCFC focuses.
Successes:
- 3 sets of awareness campaigns for ground water recharge importance
- 13 rain water harvest structures
- 23 villages have safe drinking water facilities
- 7 irrigation tanks – feeding channel renovated
- 2 percolation tanks renovated with community participation
- 4 schools have sanitation facilities
- 350 families are using sanitary facilities at home
- Anti Polythene campaign conducted on working villages in two phases
- Parents committee members and CBOs members involved in Avenue tree planting (around 6500) in and around the village
Self Sustainability
Our experience in India has shown that our efforts are multiplied and are long lasting if we help others develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to reproduce the projects we help them start.
It is more sustainable and lasting to teach, encourage, and train people to do things for themselves. If a community invests in a project physically, emotionally and economically, they are more likely to appreciate and value it. Having local perspective and knowledge of the community incorporated into the process means that it is more likely to be culturally appropriate.
We help local communities in India to identify their needs, and then work with them to see what resources are available locally. As is often the case, there may be a lot of manpower in the communities we assist, but few materials and required skill sets. CCFC's approach is to allocate responsibility to the community for providing the land and labour, and we fund the materials.
Successes:
- Increased the skill of the project staff to reach the community, 4 local trainers on child rights, 3 sponsorship trainers, 2 trainers on child abuse
- Increased the income level of the project staff through consultancy opportunity
- New donor opportunities and networking with other organizations