Activities
- Overview
Women’s Empowerment
Motivation and Group Formation
Education
Child Space
Savings Promotion with Business Skill Training
Health
Water and Sanitation
Overview
The BNKS approach is driven by the demands of the people of the Hill Tracts and by both the threats and opportunities of the political, social, economic and environmental situation in the area. Whilst promoting a rights based approach we ensure that this is founded upon and integrated with programmes which respond to the needs of the communities so that they can take control of their own development from a position of strength and security.
All BNKS projects focus on empowering women and reducing the multiple forces of disadvantage, exclusion and repression they suffer. Situations are analysed with the women themselves using a gender lens to ensure the causes of women’s problems can be identified. Central to this approach is the use of REFLECT groups, for both men and women, to support individuals to develop critical interpretation skills so they can explore their relations with other people and institutions and become more empowered in these relations.
In addition, BNKS places a high importance on the empowerment of children. Whilst these two groups are provide the main project focus for BNKS, men, and women’s and children’s relationships with them (gender relations), are included at all stages to ensure a cohesive and supportive environment for the projects and promote empowerment of the whole community.
Motivation and Group Formation
For communities to inclusively equally represent all members in today’s society it is necessary that they are self organised. Similarly, for development projects to be sustainable and ‘owned’ by the people themselves both a positive project environment and a motivation to pursue change need to be created. Whilst indigenous communities have a strong tradition of group formation, the primary focus of these groups has been social, and various forms of discrimination and exclusion remain within these.
Through a combination of door to door visits, by-weekly meetings with discussions on various life-oriented issues and the facilitation of organisation amongst motivated targeted people into small groups, BNKS support local people to increase their sense of solidarity and common identity. Groups learn to manage themselves and organise all local community members, especially women, to meet and discuss issues which helps to develop mutual understanding between community members. BNKS provides accessible expertise on issues which communities would like to know more about including water and sanitation, education, land rights procedures and available medical services. This knowledge helps build the awareness of the community on a wide variety of subjects, increases their motivation to pursue positive behavioural change and them to become change agents themselves as a community and as individuals
CRUCIALLY — The relationship and trust built from these groups between the community themselves and with BNKS forms an important foundation which allows the increased success and relevance of more targeted development projects.
Combined factors of geographical isolation, the related difficulty in attracting trained teachers, dominance of non-local languages within the national curriculum and an unawareness of the importance of education in relation to the changing labour market and administrative systems has resulted in the inaccessibility of education to the indigenous population and a lack of motivation to pursue education. This increases their economic and political exclusion from society
BNKS has worked with local communities to provide accessible and relevant education whilst promoting the importance of education for all community members.
a) Early childhood education, b) Street children education, c) Working children education, d) Non formal Primary education, e) Adult education, f) Teachers selection and impart training, g) Establish education centres and impart training, g) Establish education centres and schools.
The unfamiliarity with the enforced requirements of the changing administration and labour markets together with the difficulty in accessing education in an unfamiliar language has meant limited value has been placed on children’s education in the CHT.
To tackle these problems BNKS has developed Child Spaces – single room areas where children, who previously had little access to education, can come and participate in a variety of fun activities which help their personal, social and educational development whilst they gain access to information on important issues such as health and water and sanitation. These provide a safe and motivating environment for children and help increase their own and their parents motivation to continue with their education.
Savings Promotion with Business Skill Training
The increased population density and related loss of land resulting from government sponsored migration and commercial logging has restricted the ability of indigenous people to follow their traditional livelihood strategies of Jhum cultivation. The skills need to adapt to the requirements of a marketised economy are unfamiliar and have resulted in the increased economic exclusion and income poverty of indigenous people.
BNKS has supported people, especially women, to diversify their income sources so they can obtain a secure livelihood. This has been done through four key mechanisms:
1. Savings promotion – advice, information and support to make use of banking services.
2. Providing training in demanded livelihood skills – livestock fattening, handicraft making, small trading, vegetable garden creation.
3. Promoted entrepreneurship skills amongst women’s groups through the provision of seed money and business skills training.
4. Micro-credit – Small loans to women to allow them to make the investments needed for their business to grow.
Limited availability of health services and information for community members results in their increased vulnerability to preventable diseases and limits their ability and motivation to use modern medical methods. This results in reduced household productivity and income, children missing out on education and increased medical costs when the condition becomes critical.
BNKS has established two medical clinics both staffed by two trained Para-medics who provide free medical services and basic medicines to indigenous people 6 days a week. Thirty six community based child birth assistants have been trained and each year more receive training and re-fresher training.
A parallel component of the service provision is information dissemination, awareness raising and motivation to community groups on health issues. Topics include – water and sanitation, malaria and family planning
A combination of limited service availability, deterioration of natural water sources due to deforestation, reduced availability of firewood to use to boil water and limited awareness of water and sanitation issues has resulted in high levels of vulnerability of community members to water borne diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid.
BNKS has worked with communities to build a variety of water systems which respond to the needs of the community and geographic and physical characteristics of the area. Tube wells, gravity flow systems and infiltration galleries have all been established and tested for water quality and community management groups and mechanics elected and trained. Supporting the provision of clean water has been awareness raising campaigns which have provided information and motivation to people so that behavioural change in understood and pursued.