We are very happy to announce that an AID project has been selected for funding ($18,000) by Dining for Women (DFW) and will be featured in their monthly program in July 2010. The selected project was one among the 40 projects that competed for DFW’s funding. We thank DFW for the support!

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Name of the Project : Holistic Empowerment of Tribal Women through Group Development Initiatives

About DFW: Dining for Women is a national non-profit giving circle dedicated to empowering women and girls living in extreme poverty. Visit DFW at http://www.diningforwomen.org/

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Scope of the project:

The NGO, Mohammed Bazar Backward Classes Development Society (MBBCDS) is a non-profit, non-political, non-governmental, secular organization in West Bengal state, India. The operational area, Mohammed Bazar block of the Birbhum district consists of 35 declared economically backward villages. The proposed program will cater to 16 out of those 35 villages directly empowering 1000 tribal women living there by adopting a holistic approach through group development initiatives.

The main problems prevalent in this region are low literacy rate, lack of job opportunities for women, lack of feminine hygiene, mal-nutrition, gender discrimination, lack of knowledge about reproductive health and safe sex, mental problems and domestic and social violence against women.

The program aims to address these problems with the motto ‘interconnected problems – interconnected solutions’. The program will provide vocational training (in tailoring, hand-embroidery, production of low cost sanitary napkins and production of vermin compost organic fertilizer) for both skill development and income generation. The program also aims at establishing, strengthening and capacity building of women self-help groups to support tribal women.

The program plans to tackle the problem of mal-nutrition in women by nutrition garden initiative and address problems of feminine hygiene using awareness generation and promoting the use of low cost sanitary napkins. In addition, campaigns and awareness generation camps will be held on various issues related to women such as reproductive health, removing myths about girl child, educating adolescent girls about puberty, campaign against child marriages and violence against women, educating tribal women about employment and other provisions offered by government.

The program will also provide psychological counseling to depressed tribal women and legal support to women victims of domestic and social violence. Most of the components of this program are sustainable and will continue to empower tribal women of the community for long.