The document outlines a community development framework focused on empowering local populations through education, health, and resource management in Birbhum, India. It emphasizes the importance of building relationships and involving the community in projects while addressing issues such as low literacy rates and sustainable resource management. Key initiatives include a community-based curriculum, health services, and the revival of traditional water conservation practices to foster self-sufficiency and cooperative ventures.

1. “ Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers.” - Howard Thurman, American Theologian, Clergyman and Activist

2. Ten Principles 1. Start where the people are. 2. Build relationships; then introduce new ideas, showing how they meet identified needs. 3. Keep projects simple. 4. Involve as many community people as possible in all activities from the start. 5. Train people close to their home communities. 6. Train in locally acceptable ways (e.g. methods, facilities). 7. Train trainers who can train others. 8. Involve local leadership. 9. Cooperate with governments. 10. Encourage interdependent relationships vs. dependent or totally independent relationships.

3. Approach

4. Creating a set of values and practices which plays a special role in overcoming poverty and disadvantage, knitting society together at the grass roots and deepening democracy.

5. Its key purpose is to build communities based on justice, equality and mutual respect.

6. It starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channelled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.

7. Objective

8. Providing the community life-supporting skills base (which will include literacy, numeracy, arts and craft skills, marketing skills, other wage-earning skills etc).

9. Inspiring the community to engage in self-help and cooperative life-sustaining ventures with the active but only catalytic intervention by the project (these can include environment regeneration, protection and managing of natural resources of the area, etc).

10. Promoting general health and well-being in the community through medical intervention and the revival of traditional health-promoting practices.

11. Location

12. Birbhum - The land of the red soil Civilization of Birbhum dates back to the 5th century B.C. Economy of the district is mainly agriculture based. Most of the land is dry and the rivers are only rain fed, The agriculture is supported neither by rain nor by rivers. Hence irrigation is the only way out of this problem. In summer temperatures can shoot above 40 degrees Celsius and in winters it can drop to around 10 degrees Celsius.

13. Reasons

14. Scattered evidence on learning achievements of primary school students indicates very low knowledge levels. Sugata Marjit (Director, Center for studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata) "50% of children in government schools cannot read, write or do basic arithmetic despite being in school for 4-5 years". - ASER 2005 & 2006. 75 percent of men and boys and 94 percent of women and girls in Birbhum district cannot read - Suchana : The Uttor Chandipur Community Society, Birbhum “ only 7 per cent of children in classes three and four who are not facilitated by private tutors could write their names correctly” - The Pratichi Education Report

15. Plans / Wishes

16. Hol I stic Education The highest function of education is to bring about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole. J. Krishnamurti A community-based curriculum is taught by village youth trained in especially designed multi-grade methodologies by an experienced & reputed course director, where the academic curriculum is graded for individual levels of learning, grounded in up-to-date information, and framed in the local idiom. The education kit designed by project will be unique of it’s own. Given the rich folk tradition in which our villages are steeped, folk art, folk songs and local stories and legends are also incorporated into the curriculum.

17. Education in neighboring villagers Through exercising their imaginations, the arts help students to make new connections, transcend previous limitations and think ‘outside of the box’. The arts provide an avenue for students to be able to express themselves and connect with their peers through personal growth and cooperative learning experiences. The arts are a strong motivator for students to develop self-discipline and social skills. Each art form brings special ways of perceiving the world and mentally organizing and retrieving information, utilizing critical thinking and problem solving skills. Art criticism helps students develop observation, analysis, interpretation and evaluation skills that can be transferred to other areas of study.

18. Rural Medical Unit Affordable and effective. Voluntary counselling and testing for common medical problems. Home- and community-based care approaches. Traditional healing and treatment approaches. Promoting food security and micronutrient provision. R evitalize local health traditions.

19. Training of Local Folk Music. Summer camps Organising cultural events Designing Annual functions Artist Promotion Audio/visual production Performance on demand in INDIA/OTHER COUNTRIES Photograph / Painting exhibition GOVT. project School Projects CULTURAL INITIATIVES

20. Behavioural health Services. Community Outreach, Prevention & Education. Adult Outpatient Behavioral Health Services. Outpatient Alcohol & Other Drug Counseling. Women’s Services. Community Employment Services.

21. Proffessional Education & Self Employment Service and training plan. Development of the training. Preparation of the project. Implementation of the project. Creation of the business. Counselling the new business. Follow-up.

22. Community Water MANAGEMENT Tapping alternate water sources: Water Harvesting Rain Water Harvesting and subsequent recharge of groundwater can help lower the concentration of minerals in aquifers. Setting up community-based water harvesting units will involve creating social mobilisation, awareness and confidence among all sections of the community. Exploring simple, low-cost treatment technologies Once contamination is detected in a water source, there is need for treatment. In case of rural areas, modern water purification technologies might not be viable. In villages, it is important that simple technologies that are easy to use and can be operated without much technical know-how be promoted. Water purification can be carried out at the household level and at the community level. Revival of traditional water conservation structures Traditional water conservation structures like tanks, lakes, ponds have been in use in India since ages. These served as sources of water for people by capturing rainfall and surface runoff. However in the past few decades one has seen many of these structures becoming dysfunctional. The usefulness of these structures still holds good and there has been initiatives across the country for revival of such systems. These structures are a good source of water and have proved useful in dry arid regions of the country.

23. Project’s goal of social forestry program is to develop community level responsibility towards forest management (planting, maintaining, harvesting, processing, marketing, and producing) and are aimed at promoting of community welfare and awareness regarding the importance of forest functions, natural resources, land and forest conservation.