RCC at Kovalam village - first report by Pres. Revathi Roy

Dear Friends

I am briefing what transpired at our first meet with the people at Kovalam in our first formal meeting for the formation of an RCC.

Members Present from RCCK: Velu, Jose, Mani, Revathi.

Members Present from Kovalam: Panchayat Leader Janakiraman, committed to community service- Narayanan, Retd School Headmaster- Joseph, a couple of other Ward or Panchayat leaders.

20 Women from the village of which 2 were PLF leaders and 7 were HLF Leaders and the others were leaders of the SHG to which they belonged. 1 housewife and also Bhuvaneshwari and Yasmin who work at the Panchayat office.

We first understood how the village is organised.

6000 to 6200 inhabitants in 1400 homes.

9 Wards in the village as per Govt Norms.

An estimated 84 SHG's are operating in the village and it appears from almost every home, one women is an SHG Member.

12 SHG's comprising of an average of 20 members each are under one HLF( Habitation Level Federation ) and hence there are 7 HLF's and therefore 7 HLF Leaders.

These 7 HLF leaders report to two PLF's.

The HLF leaders ensure that each SHG under them is working well, and all monetary commitments by each member is met every month.

The work done at the SHG's through Micro Financing is mainly making and selling Idli's, saree trading, trading in grocery, tailoring and sale of flowers, vegetables and yes fish trade.

All the women could articulate very well and were very clear and crisp in their presentation.

Understand that there will be less than 200 members in the village who are below the age of 50 and not literate.

Those who joined an SHG and were not literate at the time of joining have been given some basic training and now can do simple math and sign their names.

The Rtd Headmaster works closely with the village members and help them with their ration cards, property matters etc.

Children are all being sent to school, and there are youth attending college too.

Narayanan is highly respected in the village and has earned this through his commitment to social causes in the village.

He was responsible for raising funds and constructing 40 dry toilets in the village. The solid waste is collected in pits which are treated with some chemicals, some manure is added and in a year's time is decomposed and is now being packed and sold for manure. The liquid waste is removed through underground pipe lines.

A water body in the village has been cleaned up and though not potable can be used for other purposes of washing and bathing.

They welcomed the idea of an RCC and would like to address the following issues to begin with :

Health and Hygiene. They are particular about doing away with plastic which is causing a lot of litter in the village.

100 % literacy in the village.

Maintaining and running of the Water Treatment Plant.

Sport material for the youth in the village some of who waste their time in the evenings playing cards, and other unsocial activities and the women would like the RCC to encourage them to play some good sport like Volley Ball and Cricket and would like to hold inter ward competitions.

I think to this we can add:

Provide training for any vocation that can be run through Micro financing.

We found the women to be fairly empowered irrespective of caste or creed, and taking a very active interest in their HLF's and SHG's.

We will visit the village every Saturday at 3 PM for the next 4 weeks by which time a formal RCC could be formed with elected/nominated leaders.

Thereafter the visits could become fortnightly, and after a while monthly.

Velu and Siva will lead this SHG and they will choose their team of committee members.

After 12 months committee members can be changed.

Once started, it should be possible to get a good sponsor to implement the programs in this RCC.

As a first step of our commitment to this cause, we propose distributing cotton shopping bags with Rotary Logos about 250 numbers and then supply the fabric with the screen printing so through an SHG they can tailor the bags and possibly sell them for a profit. This for the first 1400 bags to make a symbolic beginning.

For this Mohan and I will sponsor the fabric and charge the club for the actual screen printing, handle material and stitching which could be around Rs. 12.00 per bag. This will be for the first 250 bags. Balance needed to be completed for 1400 bags we will charge for the screen printing and handle material, and the tailoring can be done in the village and possibly the bags can be sold by the SHG.

Those who wish to know more , and would like to volunteer to be a committee member may please speak to Velu or me.

With best regards

Revathi