Other CSG Programs

CSG Schools

In 1995, CSG set up two co-education schools in female infanticide prone communities in our project area.  The objective of these schools, located in Karuveppampatti and Manickampalayam in the Namakkal district, were to promote gender equality from a very young age, teach religious tolerance and respect for social diversity, and provide quality education to area children following the government matriculation syllabus.  CSG used these schools to strengthen the idea of equality between the sexes, and increase the enrollment of female children, eradicate female infanticide, introduce new subjects and teaching methodology, and thus, offer the children a healthy and supportive environment in which to learn.  Once the locals were ready to take on the management of the schools, operations in Manickampalayam and Karuveppampatti were transferred to them in 2005 and 2007 respectively.

CSG Vocational Training Centers

CSG’s Vocational Training Centers have been operational since 1997, and provide low-income women, as well as any group members with training in skills such as typing, basic computer knowledge, and tailoring.  This ensures that these women may be more competitive in the job market, and have a grasp of the technology that has grown to be such an immense part of our world.  These training centers are now being operated by Pengal Pannokku Koottamaippu.

Tsunami Relief & Rehabilitation Program

The December 2004 tsunami that battered India’s southeastern coast left thousands dead, injured, homeless, orphaned, and often lacking even the basic necessities.  Eight areas of Pengal Pannokku Iyakkam (PPI) in Cuddalore were affected by this disaster.  Due to its decades-long association with PPI Cuddalore (an entity comprised of former CSG groups who formed their own organization when they were ready to self-manage), CSG arrived in Cuddalore the very next day, and deputed both CSG and PPI staff from other areas and projects to begin relief work by supplying food and utensils to the affected populace, and building temporary shelters.

By January, CSG set up a one-year long Tsunami Relief & Rehabilitation Program, in collaboration with Child Relief & You (CRY).  Program objectives included relief in terms of providing Rs. 83 lakhs worth of food (such as the over 30 tons of nourishment biscuits manufactured specifically for affected children), supplies and shelter, helping area populace regain coastal rights, community empowerment through capacity building training, building child centers and child recreation centers to care for orphaned children, strengthening existing women’s groups, assisting them with credit access, etc.  CSG also used monetary support from the Indian Council for Child Welfare amounting to over Rs. 3.5 lakhs, and other well-wishers amounting to over Rs. 1.25 lakhs to help people in these eight areas, who had lost everything to the tsunami, move on by setting up new ventures, building homes, etc.