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Celebration of love and Sharing

Just before Christmas, we had a Celebration of Love and Sharing in the lovely rural village of Sivaji Nagar. In this village we have 600 mothers who are part of our Nandri community. They are very enthusiastic and highly motivated members of our organization. They are delighted to be a part of Nandri and they and their families have benefited in many ways.

The mothers were thrilled to be a part of this happy celebration and so grateful to Nandri for bringing such positive changes to all their lives.


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The Nandri Centre 2 years on.

In February 2016 we opened our Nandri Centre. This is a training and administration centre for our mothers and children built on 2 acres of land in a rural part of southern India. Previously we had to move every 12 months as our mothers who are members of the Dalit so called low caste community are like travellers in Ireland. They are not welcome anywhere.

They are proud to be members of Nandri. They proudly wear their Nandri saris. They even pay for membership which is helping to make the organisation self sustaining.

We have one large training room with full audiovisual facilities and a computer room with a dozen computers. We run regular training courses. Our large reception area is used for regular cheque presentations for loans.

A few weeks ago we had 200 mothers attend what is called an RPL (recognition of prior learning) course which is funded by the Indian government. This particular course was to teach the mothers how to pack and pick vegetables. The mothers are each paid to encourage them to attend the course and Nandri Foundation are compensated for running the course including providing food for the attendees. These mainly illiterate mothers are proud of the certification and it will be easier for them to get daily work and will also become an important part of our income following our major investment in the centre.

Every day almost 200 children attend English language courses in local villages. They learn spoken English through song. They get help with their homework and are provided with some nutrition before they play games. We now have a playground for them and a cricket training area in the centre and they will be invited there on a regular basis.

We are pleased with the success of the centre which was funded by large donations by Irish donors and directors.

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Nandri Success Stories

This month we are starting to share some of the stories of the people that have been helped start a new path in life with the help of Nandri’s support. We want to share some of the amazing journeys and to let you see how effective our loans, sponsorships and training programmes have been and what they can achieve.

A success Story of Jhansi made possible by Nandri.org

My name is Jhansi. I belong to a poor family from Thalayampallam, Thiruvannamalai Dt. My mothers name is Arulayee. I am the eldest in the family.  I have one sister and two brothers. My brothers are mentally challenged. My mother is member of a Mothers Group called Vasantham, which is one of the mother groups formed by Nandri. I received sponsorship from Nandri when I finished my schooling without any difficulties.

I wanted to go for higher studies at college. But my parents could not afford to send me to college. Instead they asked me to find a job and help the family. I was determined to go for higher studies. I was able to meet the field staff of mothers group. I told them about my goals and the difficulties I was facing at that time. She took me to meet the Managing Trustee of Nandri. I narrated my actual aim and ambition to him.

The managing Trustee heard my plea’s fervently. He then decided to put me in a college. He got me an admission in Sacred Heart College of Nursing at Velledu. He took all the responsibilities to himself and saw to that I was taken care of well at the college and the hostel. He paid all the college and hostel fees until I finished my Nursing course successfully. Now I am doing my six months intern course at Delhi. I hope I will get a job as a nurse soon. My dreams of finishing a college course were made possible only by Nandri and Mothers Group.

While I was studying in the college Nandri gave a loan to my mother to buy a cow. My mother bought a cow and from the milk she sold in the market she was able to run the family with ease. In both ways Nandri and Mothers Group helped me attain my goal and at the same time for my mother to run the family without difficulty.

I will be forever grateful to Nandri and Mothers Group, also I promise to help poor children like me to pursue their studies in whatever way it is possible.

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Nandri Tuition Centre’s

The parents of the children from rural villages where Nandri is working are very poor and illiterate.  Sadly, these parents are unable to help their children with their homework or help them with learning outside of school hours.

This makes the children roam the streets and without proper guidance they get disconnected from learning within the school system.

To respond to this problem Nandri has initiated Nandri Tuition Centre’s in three villages now and more villages are on the list to start operating from June 2018 onwards. Nandri tuition is one of the activities of Nandri Service Centre’s new initiatives. Through these centre’s, children are helped to do their homework correctly, organise games, and other extracurricular activities to develop their talents. Each centre is managed by a mentor who identifies the innate talents of the children and they encourage all children to develop their own individual talents.

Special attention is given to speaking English. Our children who study in the Tamil medium schools are apprehensive about speaking English. In these centre’s, we try to make learning english a joyful experience for the children.

 

At present we have five centres in three villages and about 150 children are benefitting from this programme. By June we would have another eight centre’s, catering to more than 500 children. Thanks to Electric Aid from Ireland for supporting this initiative of Nandri.

Jude Thomas

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International Women’s Day

Nandri.org is very proud to join women all over the globe who come together today to celebrate International Women’s Day with a voice of unity.  Acknowledging this special day and the women who lead the charge when it comes to giving the not so fortunate voices of the world a chance to be heard to be one.

The Nandri ethos has always been simple, empowering women. How we achieve this is also simple, we support and encourage our members to be self sufficient. Through our self help groups, loan scheme’s, education and training programs.  Nandri has been providing, nurturing and supporting the women of rural, Southern India to strive for a better life for themselves and then in turn they support their families and the wider communities in Tamil Nadu.

Nandri Mothers

Our Mothers Self-Help group is fundamental to our success. Nandri works with mothers groups at village level to administer loans. The income generated helps the mother keep children in education and provide for healthcare.

The earliest Women’s Day observance, called “National Woman’s Day,” was held on February 28, 1909 in New York.  It was organised by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of Theresa Malkiel who was an American labor activist, suffragist and educator. She was the first woman to rise from factory work to leadership in the Socialist party. Her 1910 novel, The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker, is credited with helping to reform New York State labor laws.

In 2012 the UN theme for International Women’s Day was Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty.  In 2013 – time for action to end violence against women. In 2014 – Equality for women & it was declared that this would be progress for all!.

In 2016 The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukheriee, in his message issued on the eve of International Women’s Day said: “On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I extend warm greetings and good wishes to the women of India and thank them for their contributions over the years in the building of our nation.” The ministry of women and child development announced the setting up of four more one-stop crisis centre’s on March 8, in addition to the eight already functioning across the country. Ahead of Women’s Day, the national carrier Air India operated what it claimed to be the world’s longest non-stop flight where the entire flight operations were handled by women, as part of International Women’s Day celebrations. The flight, from Delhi to San Francisco, covered a distance of around 14,500 kilometres in around 17 hours.

This year the United Nations call for action is this “Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world.”

— UN Secretary-General, António Guterres

The Nandri message remains simple today and every day, give women the tools to empower themselves. Women of the world we salute you!

The future of Nandri : Some of the young women who’s lives have changed through education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Volunteer Tony Shaju experiences teaching and living in a rural village in Tamil Nadu

It was a typically hot and humid Monday morning when I set off from the Nandri centre with Joe the Nandri India CEO.  Being honest I didn’t really know my destination, only that it would be quite rural and unlike anything I had experienced before. After driving past many towns and some bigger villages we started to head to a more mountainous area until we finally arrived in the village of Udaiyarkuppam. To my surprise and delight there stood a St. Anthony’s church with the parish house beside it where I would be staying for the next week or so. I would be living with the parish priest, Fr Arokiya Raj, who thankfully spoke English well and helped me to adjust.

The next morning, I was awoken by a what sounded like a large crowd. It was in fact a bell and then the public-address system from the church which calls out the time followed by a prayer or small bible reading at various times during the day. Unfortunately for me it started at 6AM!

Across the yard from the church was the local school where Joe had suggested that I could help teach English while I was there. I hastily met the young principal, Karthik, and before I knew it I was officially a teacher at Anthony R.C.S Middle School. Suddenly in front of me I had 40 odd expectant kids, looking back curiously at this overawed foreigner. This was a Tamil medium school so the standard of English and exposure to it were rather poor.

Nevertheless, me and my students in 7th and 8th standard managed to communicate effectively with a mix of English, broken Tamil and extravagant hand movements! The enthusiasm and eagerness from the kids was fantastic as was the competitiveness which was on display when playing English learning games in class.

Break times were filled mostly with playing kabaddi, the local sport, where you try to tag the opposing team and run back to your team’s half before they catch and take you down. I had resisted many calls from the students to be a ‘raider’ but eventually gave in. It can get quite rough but thankfully they understood me saying “soft” before they gleefully took me down!

There are around 260 children, mainly Dalits, in the school and each day ends with everyone outside singing the national anthem before heading home which was quite different to Ireland. Admittedly it was daunting at first having never been in a comparable situation but I feel it was a worthwhile and beneficial experience for me and hopefully the students too!

My evenings were equally busy as I went around the nearby villages to conduct surveys as part of my work with Nandri. So, I was visiting mothers and their families who had received loans from Nandri 3 or 4 years ago and helping to determine the impact on their lives. This was another new experience from me as I was exposed to a different side of India than have seen on previous visits. I had help to complete this work in the form of Selvam, a college student in Chennai who is from the local area. His help to translate and converse with the mothers combined with his local knowledge were invaluable. Initially Selvam and I went on foot around Udaiyarkuppum and as I walked up to the homes of some of the mothers I could see the cow they owned- bought with the loan from Nandri. The cow provides them with an asset and essentially becomes an earning member of the family. The milk will usually be sold to a cooperative and so provides a regular monthly income source for the family and also future calves can be sold. Thus, I could see the direct benefit of the Nandri loan for some of the mothers as the extra income was used to help take care of living costs. Indeed some of it was put towards the educational fees for their children. It was also nice a surprise when knocking on a door and seeing it opened by one of my students, some of whom are supported by Nandri.

Of course, as I was travelling around the villages- sometimes with Selvam on his little motorbike- I met others who were struggling more. Some are constrained by chronic medical ailments or a lack of access and affordability to treatment and generally there is a shortage of work. This is in part due to Tamil Nadu being in the midst of its worst drought in 140 years. Naturally the shortage of water affects daily living but also employment opportunities as most people are agricultural daily labourers, thus relying on the land. The struggle is not helped currently by the governments inadequate support despite national protests from Tamil Nadu farmers.

I must also mention the generosity of the villagers as I was travelling around to their homes. I’m grateful to their willingness to help us locate fellow group mothers on our list and inform us of any issues. I was also offered numerous snacks, fruits, tea and juice which was very welcome in the scorching heat. Indeed, I had the opportunity to have dinner in some of the mother’s houses and taste some local dishes which was nice- despite being far spicier than I’m used to! I was also able to attend a local Hindu festival one day which included inserting metal hooks into the backs of some worshippers and walking on fire followed by a procession. I had seen some similar things on t.v before but it was interesting to see it up close.

Overall it was an eye-opening experience to live in a truly rural area of India and see some of the people that Nandri support. I’ll certainly miss interacting with the imaginative kids from the school and the ability to talk with locals and learn about their lives while I definitely won’t miss the early morning ‘alarm clock’!  I’m told by locals that when the rains come the area is lush green and quite scenic and I look forward to returning sometime and seeing it for myself.

Tony Shaju

 

 

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Tony Barron Education Fund

Tony Barron photo

 

In March 2017, Tony Barron died after a long illness. Tony was the founder of Nandri, over 20 years ago, then called Child aid Ireland. He is responsible for the education of over 5,000 Impoverished low caste Dalit children. He organised the building of schools, medical centres and provided ambulances and clean water to many communities in Southern India.

He started his charity as he believed that education which had changed Ireland would also change India. 20 years ago children were being taken out of school as young as eight or nine years of age, particularly girls. The objective was to marry off the girls as young as possible to take the burden from the family.

Nowadays, most people realise the importance of education. For many, it is still a struggle to send children to school to pay the fees and the uniforms and travel costs. And of course still maintain family nutrition. Nandri has its child sponsorship programme with over 1,000 children in this program. Each child receives for every month, the equivalent of three or four days wages for the mother. Many years ago, Tony told me the payment to each family was almost like a bribe to keep the child an education.

Each year, now we have between 100 and 200 children, graduating with their 12th standard, which is the Irish equivalent of Leaving Certificate. Many of them receive the highest grades , which in our terms would be 600 points. It is very sad if they cannot continue with their education. The upfront fees required by the colleges might only be €150 that is six months wages for some families, and that could prevent the child from going to college.

We have decided to set up a specific fund to ensure that our 18-year-olds get to go to college. Money will be given out as loans which will be repaid by the family during the education with any balance paid by the child once he or she is working. Orphaned children will not have to repay the loan until they have started to work.

We are inviting donations for the Tony Barron Education Fund. The target of this fund is Rs.3.5 million, or about €50,000. Between 400 and 600 children will benefit from this fund. We already have a successful micro finance operation in place where we have provided income generation loans to almost 1500 families and education loans to over 200. 99% of our loans are recovered and we also charge a small interest-rate to ensure the long time very viability of the projects.

Please send a donation to Carmichael house, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7

Or email me and i will send you bank details

Fred Crowe 086 253 1518

ceo@nandri.org

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Nandri Mothers’ Convention 2017 my experience

By Tony Shaku

2017-03-19-photo-00003973

What a wonderful sight to see 3500 mothers, plus a few hundred children converging on the Nandri Centre in their purple Nandri saris. They arrived in buses on foot, on motorbikes. in trucks and tuk tuks (called 3 wheelers here).

I had been told about this event prior to heading out to India and that I should definitely make it in time to participate. It’s the biggest day of the year for the Nandri Foundation as thousands of empowered women who are receiving support from Nandri come together to celebrate and raise awareness of this movement.

However, I should start by mentioning the hard work gone in to produce a successful event. It no doubt had started much earlier than when I arrived, led by Joe- the driving force of the organisation in India. And the preparations went into the early hours of Sunday morning as staff, other volunteers and I finished making banners, signs, decorations and organising the raffle among other duties before the big day! It provided a glimpse of the sense of community as local kids and elders alike pitched in during the day to ensure things ran smoothly.

tony-s-and-joe-newAfter a few hours of sleep, I awoke and put on my veshti or dhoti, the traditional garment tied around the waist worn mainly in South India, normally in white for special occasions. It was time to attend the street rally/parade organised in the nearest town with hundreds of women coming from many villages. In true Indian fashion, the rally only began when it should have finished!

The rally helps raise awareness and the profile of the organisation in its goals relating to support for agriculture, rural life, children’s education and the empowerment of families.

This year it was also held in conjunction with CanKids, a non-profit working to improve the treatment and support for children with cancer in India. It was great to see our signs and banners used in full with leaflets given out to the public with info on issues that both foundations tackle. It was my first rally and I feel people took notice with the surge of women in matching purple saris walking through town. Also with the press and some local politicians attending it should reach a wider audience around the state.

Then we headed back to the newly constructed Nandri Centre where thousands more women, children and locals joined for the convention. The land around the centre had been transformed with a stage and two large marquees set up to protect from the searing heat. To begin Joe spoke about the values that underpin the work that the organisation and other senior staff gave a summary of the annual report in which Nandri has continued to expand its support to the women and children of the Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu.

20170319_140806There was also a prayer held in remembrance of the movement’s founder, Tony Barron, who passed away recently. The major events of the day were the opening of the computer and language teaching room which will undoubtedly be crucial to improving the prospects of a better life for numerous children in the area. Concurrently the solar power generation room was inaugurated with the centre now running on power generated from the newly installed solar panels which shows the commitment of Nandri to being environmentally sustainable which was pleasing to see.

Back on stage there were speeches from the invited dignitaries ranging from people involved in higher education, pro-agriculture and feminist groups as well as politics. Admittedly I didn’t understand quite a bit from the speeches but they were certainly impassioned and seemed to resonate well the mothers. There were also cheques and certificates given to continue the work of Nandri with a new education fund set up in honour of Tony Barron.
Then I got a big surprise Joe unexpectedly called me on to the stage as a representative of Nandri from Ireland and I received a ponnada- a ceremonial shawl usually given to acknowledge dignitaries or important people.2017-03-19-photo-00003973

So, in a moment I went from a volunteer to the chief guest from Ireland. It will most likely be the first and last time in my life!

The generosity extended to the local folk as the elderly gentleman sitting beside me in the crowd insisted on buying me ice cream, which was very welcome given the heat. As I savoured my ice cream there were plenty of energetic dances and singing performances to be enjoyed from children in their various village groups (including a memorable freestyle from Fr. Joe) Although most enjoyed their day, I’m sure some left a bit happier as they took home the prizes they won from the raffle.

Overall it was a unique experience, one which I’ll remember for a long time. The strong turnout of women who came from far and wide in the district highlighted the reach of Nandri and the community spirit it can foster which was particularly nice to see. Among other work I look forward to volunteering in the new solar powered computer and language lab which also shows the progress the foundation is making just a year since the centre opened. However, that might take a while as I re-adjust from being a VIP back to an eager volunteer!

Tony Shaju

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Evening Classes

Children in rural India are generally very weak in English. Even if they know a few words, they are too shy to use these words. Those children studying in Tamil get very little coaching at school to learn English. After the 12th class which is equivalent to leaving cert in Ireland, when some of these children join college education or poly techniques, they face a lot problem with English as the mode of lecturing is in English.

Nandri has started evening classes to enhance English speaking skills of the children with innovative and child friendly teaching and learning methods.  The intricate grammatical concepts are made easy for children with games, song and dances. Apart from spoken English, children are helped with their school assignments and also receive some food snacks.

The evening classes are named Nandri Joyful Learning Centres (NJLC) as the children should enjoy learning and feel happy to come to the centre.  The evening classes are conducted from 5.30 to 7.00 in the evenings. Some of the teachers are college students and they are benefiting from classes we have at weekends. The income which we pay them helps them with their fees.

In November 2016 we have a hundred children in NJLC and December 2016 fifty more will be added. The plan is to roll out this project next year to lots more villages. We want the villages to run these classes with teachers we will train. We want the villages to pay the cost and this will mean many more children will benefit.  

You can see from the short videos how much fun they are having while still learning 

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#LCIF – stories with no names or photos

IMG_7209.JPGWe recently received a grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation #LCIF  for the purpose of giving loans to some of our mothers.  In July we issued 25 loans and in August we issued 15+1. The +1 was a loan made possible by the loan repayments from the loans given in July.

We have over 3,000 mothers in our mother’s self help groups. This #LCIF fund will be used for loans for widows and single mothers.

Here are some of the stories of these women who work tirelessly for their children.

Mother 1 – has lost her husband because of alcoholism. She has a child who studies in 10th standard. She works as coolie in Chennai for a very meager income. She is homeless and lives in her parental house which is totally damaged. Through this loan, she will buy a cow. Her mother will look after the cow and generate income. This will be an additional income for the family to comfortably meet their basic needs and the educational requirements of her child.

Mother 2-  husband died in accident five years ago. She had three children, two daughters and a son. Both her daughters have died. Her son abandoned her after his marriage leaving her penniless. She struggled for her own survival.  The cow loan has restored her dignity with livelihood to become self-reliant and self-sufficient.

Mother 3-  husband died due to alcoholism. She has got three female children and all of them are studying. One of her child is doing nursing course. She works as a daily wage earner with insufficient income hardly enough to meet all her family needs and the education of her of her children. The loan has helped her buy a cow and generate income to create the desired economic changes in her family with proper food, health and educational needs of her children.

Mother 4 – husband succumbed to death due to alcoholism.  She has got three children and all of them are studying. She is the sole bread winner in the family. With her meager income, she was finding it very difficult to educate her children. Through this loan, she will set up a small petty shop which will bring an additional income to the family. This will enable her to create assets to provide proper education for her children.

Mother 5 – husband died of sudden cardiac arrest. She has got three children and finds it very difficult to give them proper food and education. Her children are doing 3rd level education. Though she is uneducated, she wants her children to be educated well. She has got cow loan and will generate adequate income out of this to educate her children without much financial constraints.

This is the mother who got the loan from the repayments

Mother 16 husband abandoned her 10 years ago. She has a son studying in 9th grade.   She is an agricultural laborer. Due to decreasing nature of agricultural activities caused by the constant failure of monsoon and the drought situation in the district, she suffers from seasonal unemployment. Even when there is work she gets very low income hardly enough to meet both their needs. Life for her and her son is always at stake. The for a cow will bring a ray of hope into the lives both, she and her son, creating sustained source of income for them. With this assured source of income she will be able to envision a bright future for her son with good education and employment.