The document summarizes a 7-day tribal sensitization camp organized by the Department of Social Work at Amrita Vishwa Vidhyapeetham. Over 19 trainees and 6 faculty members participated in visits and activities with tribal communities in Idukki District, Kerala. The camp's goal was to provide exposure to tribal traditions and culture, and identify opportunities for positive intervention. Each day consisted of visits to tribal settlements, surveys, awareness programs, cultural events, and evaluation sessions. Activities included interacting with tribal families, an inauguration, talks on social issues, and traditional tribal dance and music performances.

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REPORT
NIBODHITHA
A JOURNEY TO ENLIGHTMENT ON REALITIES OF LIFE
Tribal / Rural Camp 2014
Elamblassery, Mamalakandam, Idukki District
From 22nd
to 28th
April 2014
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK
AMRITA VISHWA VIDYAPEETHAM
AMRITAPURI CAMPUS

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REPORT
NIBODHITHA
A JOURNEY TO ENLIGHTMENT ON REALITIES OF LIFE
Tribal/Rural Camp 2014
Elamblassery, Mamalakandam, Idukki District
From 22nd
to 28th
April 2014
Camp- Faculty In-charge : Mr. VS. Kochukrishna Kurup
Camp Coordinator : Mr. Nisanth M
Student Coordinators : Mr. Shibu P Abraham
Ms. Gopika Mohan
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK
AMRITA VISHWA VIDYAPEETHAM
Amritapuri, Clappana Po,
Kollam

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“NIBODHITHA”- being enlightened, was suitably selected for the title of the Tribal
sensitization Camp of Department of Social Work, which was organized as a part of curriculum
of the first year MSW trainees in view of attaining an enlightened stage on the real life situations
of downtrodden people in the varied existence.
Tribal sensitization Camp was organized by Department of Social Work, Amritapuri as a
part of the curriculum for getting the first year Social Work trainees to be acquainted with the
traditions, culture and way of life of the tribal and also to explore deep into the possibilities of
positive intervention in the field. About 19 trainees and 6 faculties participated in the 7 day camp
in Idukki District. ‘Elamblassery’ and ‘Urulanthanni’ were the tribal settlements identified for
the camp site due to its diverse and changing nature of tribal culture and the consequential
problems in their life. With a number of tribal rehabilitation and welfare activities going on, it
was certain that the lives in these settlement will offer a unique and a life time learning
experience to the students of Social Work.
The planning stage of the camp was started early in the month of March, 2014
by selecting Shibu P Abraham & Gopika Mohan as Student coordinators and
Mr Nisanth M, Mr VS Kochukrishna Kurup as Camp Coordinator and Faculty In-charge of
the Camp respectively. All other students were entrusted with various responsibilities of the
activities of the camp by forming different committees. A pre-camp visit was made by the
faculty in-charge, Camp Coordinator and Student coordinator to the proposed settlement. It
enabled the finalization of camp site and ensuring
the basic facilities and permissions required for the
Camp. Subsequently the student coordinators
visited the proposed settlements for ensuring the
local support for the camp activities.
The journey started at 10 am on 22nd
April from Amritapuri Campus and reached the

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Camp site -Elamblassery at 6 pm on the same day
. The camping site was Government UP School,
Elamblassery, Mamalakandam which is situated
inside the forest area under the Neryamangalam
forest range. The team settled in the School with
its minimum facilities of accommodation and
stay. The provisions and other raw food supplies
were already mobilized and the food was
prepared by the team of students in rotation every
day.
The seven days programme schedule included Visits, Interaction, surveys, awareness
programmes and cultural programmes among two different Tribal settlements, two psycho-
social care institutions and a visit to plantation industry.
Every day started with rejuvenating yoga sessions followed by wonderful cuisines
prepared by the trainees themselves. Hamlet visits and Observation visits occupied majority of
the activities of each day but not without setting aside ample time for evaluation sessions end of
every day.
Day 2- ( 23-4-2014)- Elemblassery Tribal Settlement
Tribal settlement visit, Inauguration , Awareness Programme and Cultural programmes.
The formal Inaugural function was planned for afternoon session and all the students
were asked to start their hamlet visit for conduct a survey and also mobilized the tribal people
for a cultural programme in the afternoon at the community center within the tribal settlement.
Trainees attempted to study the socio-economic status and standard of living of “Muthuvans”
tribes at Elemblassery through a preliminary observation study and documented for their
individual reports.
The trainees grouped in to two teams and they went to different parts of the settlement and
interacted with nearly 45 families based on the following points,
Camp site –Govt. UP School ,Mamalakandam

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 Economic :Main source of income ,Savings ,Financial assistant (Govt. & Private),
Annual income
 Health :Child health (malnutrition, anemia) ,Adolescents ,Nursing & pregnant mother
Old age ,Mental health
 Disaster - Previous history of the disaster
 Waste management -Excreta disposal , Graved , Plastic waste disposal
 Government -Election , Panchayath ,State government schemes, NGO’s and CBO’s
 Culture
Marriage, Rituals & customs, First menstruation, Death ceremony, Festivals etc.
Interaction came to an end at 12.30pm and after the lunch in the camp site, the whole
team gathered at the community center and set up all arrangements for the programme
including Light and sound, seating etc. Just before the inaugural function, the team from Way
and truth Counselling center reached the spot for the Talk show with video presentation on
Alcoholism and use of drugs.
The Inaugural function was started at 2.40 PM at the community center situated within
the settlement. Mr.VS Kochukrishna Kurup -(Faculty in-charge of the Camp) welcomed the
gathering and introduced the objectives and purpose of the camp. The function was presided
over by Dr.Rajeev MM
(Head, Department of
Social Work). In his
presidential address he
quoted that, camp
would be a good
exposure to the
students as the title
“Nibodhitha” (being
“Enlightened) meant
for it.
Mr. VS Kochukrishna Kurup welcoming the gathering

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The Camp was formally inaugurated by
Mr.CV Joseph (the Headmaster of the Government
UP School Elemblassery) at 3.00 pm by lightning the
lamp. In the inaugural address, Mr.C.V Joseph
welcomed the efforts of Amrita University and its
departmental activities to make a positive impact on
the life of marginalized people. Mr.Joseph Punnoose
-(Chairman, Way &Truith Counselling Center,
Ernakulam) and Ms.Veena Suresh, (Faculty member,
Department of Social Work) delivered felicitation and
Mr. Nisanth M. (Camp Coordinator) concluded the
inaugural meeting by expressing vote of thanks to all
the degnitories, students and family members of the
tribal settlement. About 30-35 members participated
in the meeting from the settlement.
Awareness Programme
After the inaugural session, the Way and
Truth Counseling centre presented a talk and a short
film show on the topic “Alcoholism, Drug abuse”. The
talk was presented by C.C Joseph and Mr.Joseph
Punnose (Counselor of way and truth) Mr.CC Joseph
starts the programme with a magic show which
attracted the children and elder people equally and it
paved the way to maintain the interest and motivation
among the participants to ensure ‘community
participation’. There was a documentary show
followed by the talk on the same topic.
Mr.CV Joseph inaugurating the
Camp
Presidential Address by Dr.Rajeev.
MM

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The programme come to an end at 5.30 pm. with expression of vote of thanks by Mr. V S
Kochurishna kurup .
Cultural Programmes
On the same day, Cultural programmes started at 7. PM with an overwhelming
participation of the tribal people gathered at the spot. Nearly 35 tribal women and children were
enthusiastically performed different indigenous cultural activities including folk songs, Tribes
Documentary ShowMagic show by Mr. C C Joseph
Participants – Tribes family members participating in the Programmes

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Dance etc. During the programme students performed various musical and dance programmes
individually and along with tribes children. Ms. Anjali Mohan (MSW Student) performed
“Bharatha Natyam” and received a lot of applause and Mr.Arjun imitated actor Mohanlal for a
song and he became the star of the night.
Tribes also shown their own traditional dance named as ‘Kummipattu’. The students also
participated along with the tribes in Kummipattu. They performed their traditional folk song and
other dance forms. The cultural programmes came to an end at 9 pm.
The team returned to the Camp site after the days’ programmes and had a delicious
supper prepared by the student themselves.
Day 3- ( 24-4-2014)- Elemblassery Tribal Settlement
The days programme was re-schedule due to an unexpected” Hartal” declared by some
political organization in Idukki District. A Yoga session was conducted every day 6 am to 7 am,
some interested students were joined and others had gone for morning walk as regular.
As per the schedule of the day, students are assigned the task of collecting fire wood from
the forest with the help of local people. At 10 am , a group of 12 students and 4 faculty members
visited the nearby tribe houses and ensured the participation of few people from the hamlet in
the trekking and collection of firewood. The team went in to the forest and experienced the
Kummippattu

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nature’s pure and raw habitat. After trekking and collection of firewood, the team returned to
the camping site at 12 noon. The afternoon session was devoted for evaluation of the previous
days activities.
Evaluation Session
The evaluation session was started at 3.00pm. The evaluation meeting focused on the
camp experience of each and every student’s observation, experience , personal reflection and
suggestions. Everyone shared their camp experience, discussed on the hidden objectives of each
activity, Assessment in keeping time for every activity, Need of initiative , Group dynamism etc.
Students were reminded about the responsibility entrusted to them and the need of keeping real
vigor to achieve the camp objectives.
Day 4- ( 25-4-2014)- Urulanthanni Tribal Settlement
In the fourth day the trainees and faculty members made a visit to Urulanthanni Tribal
Settlement, at Kuttanpuzha. The journey started from Elamblassery at 9 am and reached
Urulanthanni at 10.45.am. The main objective of the visit was to interact and understand the real
life problems of the people of the tribal community at Urulanthanni. On reaching spot, the team
met the “Kaanikkaran” who is head of the ‘Muthuvan’ Community.
Urulanthanni tribal settlement, is a recently established one due to the rehabilitation
efforts of the Government of Kerala and department of forest. These people were migrated from
deep forest area as a result of man-animal conflict. The government offered them 2 acres of land

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for each family, but still now it has not been allotted due to various political reasons. The life
situations of the people in the settlement are too harder to withstand.
The “Kanikkaran” -head of the
tribes- had welcomed the team and
directed to a thatched hall, which is
constructed for having such meetings.
The trainees asked him a lot of basic
information about the community
including the Origin, life history, life
style , Marriage, Cultural activities,
Agriculture, other sources of daily
living, reasons for the relocation and
Man-animal conflict, Issues behind the delay in the land allotment, Water sources, Education of
children, Illness and Diseases, Cultural differences with other tribal communities like “Mannans”
etc.
There are two categories of tribes in
Urulanthanni; ‘Muthuvan’ tribal community and
‘Mannan’ tribal community. These people migrated
from “Variyam” which is a place 35 KM. away from
Urulanthanni, deep inside the forest. It was a
settlement of around 250 families of which 66
families were shifted to Urulanthanni on an
agreement with Government two months back. But
they are allowed to have a temporary settlement now
and the process of allotment of land for permanent
settlement is under process.
After the interaction with the ‘Kaani’, the
entire team were divided into two groups for
interaction with the two tribal groups. The first went
Trainees on interaction
A Typical house
Interaction with KANIKKARAN

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to Muthuvan’s houses and the second team went to Mannan’s houses.. Both the teams interacted
with the tribes about their Socio- Economic, health and governance support for the tribes and
also enquired about their culture, customs and the life style.
It is a community which includes 66 families around 230 population. This settlement
comes under Kuttampuzha panchayath. Even though most of the people are not educated, the
young generation is studying in schools in different places. At present 8 children are attending to
ICDS- Anganwadis. Nutrition deficiency was
not visible there. The toilet facility is limited
and the available one is constructed by a
voluntary agency, but not properly
constructed. They dump the vegetable wastes
and food waste in the pits and they burn the
plastics. Scarcity of water is big problem
faced by the community. Even though they
two new wells , the water is scarce.
Presently they do collecting forest products (Bamboo) for their own uses and they
collects flower for producing ayurvedic oil by external buyers. They make mat with bamboo
collected from the forest. The people including females. are regularly using alcohol.
Around 3pm, on completion of the
visit at Urulanthanni, the entire team went
for visiting Snehalayam – a home for Old age
people- at Kuttampuzha. Snehalayam is an
organization which functions for abandoned
old age people. Trainees interacted with the
inmates of Snehalayam. The whole team
returned to Elamplassery at 6.30pm. The
regular evaluation was conducted after the
presentation by two groups of trainees at the
camp site and analysed the field observations, experience and reflections.
Trainees with tribes at Urulanthanni

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Day 5- ( 26-4-2014)- Visit to Sneha Mandiram, Murikkassery
The 5th
day of the camp devoted
for visiting a voluntary organization
cum psycho-social care center named
‘Sneha Mandiram’ situated at
Padamugham, Murikkassery in Idukki
district. The journey was started from
Elamblassery at 9 am. The journey
took around 2 hours to reach the
agency. After reaching the agency
trainees and faculty members interacted with the authorities of the ‘Sneha Mandhiram’. At that
time, the inmates were attending in their routine prayer, and the trainees observed the activities
in the agency. Mr.Nithin Raj- in-charge of the organization, introduced few inmates to the
students at a function arranged inside the ‘Chappal Hall’. After the brief introduction, Mr.VSK
Kurup delivered a speech by addressing all the inmates about the purpose of visit and role of
Social Work in such Organisations. A cultural program was also conducted with the participation
of both social work trainees and inmates. It was a good experience for all the inmates and the
trainees. From 1.30 PM onwards the lunch started. As a surprise to all , trainees served food for
all the inmates.
Trainees serving food for the inmatesChildren performing Action song

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After the lunch, trainees had an
interaction with the Mr.Joshi- a Professional
Social Worker who is working in the
Organisation for the last two years. Through
the interaction with the Social Worker, the
trainees got acquainted with the nature,
functioning and purpose of the organization.
The institution was established in 1995, with
only 5 inmates. The founder of the institution is Mr.
V.C Raju. The current strength of the agency is around
270 inmates and more than 30 staff. Among the
inmates 90 are women and 25 are children. Only one
disabled child is admitted in the institution. The
institution is having the part time service of 2
psychiatrist and 2 other consultants. They visit the
agency twice in a month. The service from the local
PHC also available for the inmates. Other medical expenses related to health, food, clothing is
provided by the Sneha Mandhiram. Recently the institution received license for psychiatric
treatment for mild mental illness.

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The team returned to the camp site at 4 PM and reached there at t6 PM. The evaluation
meeting was postponed to the next day morning due to ill health of a student.
Day 6- ( 27-4-2014, Sunday)- Voluntary cleaning service
The 6th
day (Sunday) of the camp
started with the touch of a fresh mist. After the
breakfast the team went for a trekking in the
near by forest area along with two local people
as guides.. The trainees spent 2 hours time in
the forest which rejuvenated minds of all
members of the For most of the students, this
was the first in lifetime experience.
Evaluation
The evaluation meeting, started at 2PM. And the team discussed about the visit to the
‘Snehamandiram’ on the previous day. The trainees and faculty members were discussed about
the profile of the agency, power structure, sources of income, daily activities, merits and
demerits and the role of Social Worker in the Organization. All the trainees shared their personal
reflections, observations and suggestions.
Cleaning of premises and Well at the UP School - The Camp Site
Trainees on trekking

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From 4PM onwards all
the students and faculty
members were engaged
in the cleaning of the
premises of the school
and the well – the
drinking water source.
With lot of physical
effort and enjoyment the
team was productively completed the cleaning work. JHI (Junior Health Inspector,
Kuttanpuszha) was also visited the camp site and acknowledged the cleaning work done by the
team.
Day 7- ( 28-4-2014, Monday)- Visit to–HML Tea Estate
Suryanelly
On the 7th
day of the camp, the team
started journey to Upper Suriyanelli
Harrison Malayalam Limited, Munnar .
and reached there at 1pm. The team
was welcomed by the Assistant
manager and the welfare officer of the
Oraganisation. They made the students
in to two group and given them an
orientation in the production process in
the factory. After the factory visit, the
entire team gathered at the conference
room for an interaction with HR manager and Deputy Manager of the Estate. The team had a
productive interaction on the areas of working conditions , labour welfare matters, Hygienic
measures, Absenteeism ,Safety measures, Health scheme and Labour policies.
The team at HML , Suryanelly

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The HR Manager explained the Labour policies and labour management strategies
implemented in the organization. The students had raised a lot of questions and points related to
the welfare programmes including CSR. and the functioning of different labour management
committees. The Deputy Manager patiently explained all the points raised by the students. The
interaction was extended for 2 hours and concluded at 4.30.PM
As this was the last ‘scheduled programme’ of the Camp, the team started the return
journey from Munnar at 6 PM on the same day.
Conclusion
Through the Camp the trainees understood the standard of living of the tribes and also
pondered upon the methods which can be implemented to improve their present condition.
Camp fire was conducted on 27th
evening, giving an enjoyable closure (formal) to the camp. The
visit to HML-Suryanelli on 28th
April provided an opportunity to understand the life situation of
plantation labour and also to enjoy the pristine beauty on Nature. A scope for positive
interventions by the trainees was also looked upon. Several new learning was procured during
the camp and many insights illuminated the minds of the Social Work trainees from the varied
real life experience.
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Interaction with Deputy Manager and HR Manager- HML Estate Suryanelly

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Student Coordinators : 1. Shibu P Abraham
2. Gopika Mohan
Camp Coordinator : Mr.Nisanth M
Camp Faculty Incharge : VS Kochukrishna Kurup
Faculty Menmbers Participated : Dr. Rajeev MM ( HOD)
: Ms.Veena Suresh
: Mr. Vivek S
: Ms.Aswathy S
: Ms. Juna

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Seeing is believing –Stills from different occasion

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Note of Thanks to;
 The Director, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
University.Amritapuri.
 Principal, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences
 Dr.Rajeev MM (Chairman, Dept. Of Social Work)
 Head Master,Govt. Up School, Mamalakandam
 Mr.Nitin Raj, Snehamandiram,
Padamugam,Murikkassery.
 Mr.Baburaj,Forest Range Officer,
Neryamangalam .
 Tribes of Urulanthanni,
 Tribes of Elemblassery,
 ICTS Amritapuri
 General Admin.
 Mr.Sunil, Driver ………

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