Vol 5, No 10 | October 2009       >>www.vibha.org >> info@vibha.org  

– Mahua Chatterjee
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”- Henry Ford.

And that’s what Pragati 2009 was all about! An effort to come together, be together and work together to connect, share, and work towards enhancing the existing efforts of Vibha and its Project partners. With an objective to culminate ideas, practices, and experiences, the participants brainstormed and proposed ways to take a step further towards social development and make a difference.

Pragati was held at Bengaluru, India from October 2, 2009 till October 4, 2009. Vibha supports over 40 ongoing projects across India and the US. Around 30 of these project partners from the Indian states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, and volunteers from the cities of Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, San Francisco and Bengaluru, participated in this first-of-its kind conference.

The conference was presided over by Ron Victor, President and Founding Member of Vibha, and other leading not-for-profit organization experts, who have spent considerable years in the field of societal development projects focusing on children, youth, women, rural development, and underprivileged communities. The other speakers who actively participated in the conference are experts in their profession and are applying their experience, expertise and learning towards the development and operations of the social sector. These prominent experts included:

• Dr. Preetam Yashwant - Commissioner, Government of State of Rajasthan, India
• Deep Ranjani Rai - Associate Director, Dasra, Mumbai, India
• Sreekanth S Rameshaiah - Executive Director, Mahiti, Bengaluru, India
• Jyotsana Lall - Founder Member of Gram Vikas Trust, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India
• Anil Baranwal - Advisor, Account Aid, India
• Medha Lotlikar - Educator/Counselor with over 20 years of experience

There were key areas of social development and organizational functions, measures and issues which were taken up in panel discussions which comprised of some of the very active projects supported by Vibha. These discussions covered areas and success stories/models like

• Leveraging government support
• Staffing issues at Non Profit Organizations
• Monitoring and tracking performance of organizations and projects
• Use of technology to improvise and boost processes and reaching out
• Defining long and short term goals, and it’s importance in achieving results
• Quality education – Pre-school, Primary and Secondary.
• Disabled children - Approach, Structure, and Strategies

In May 2009, Cyclone Aila hit the coastal areas of Sunder bans leaving about 2.3 million people affected in West Bengal, India. More than 100,000 acre land has been submerged under saline water. 1215 mi of embankments were overtopped and another 248.5 mi were caved in. An area already remote and largely inaccessible has been further devastated. Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha (BTS’s Sishu Tirtha & Green Buds – Child Care Centers), one of the Vibha supported projects for the past five years was also hit.

This project happens to be located at Kultali, one of the largest islands in Sunderbans-An archipelago. It stretches for almost two hundred miles, along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary, West Bengal (India) to the Meghna River Estuary in Bangladesh. Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha (BTS) was born out of a local club on the Kutali island in 1982, when major floods mobilized club members to help flood victims reach safer places and to petition the government to provide relief and support. Vibha has been funding some of BTS’s undertakings since 2004.

For these devastated villagers of Baikunthapur, Cyclone Aila had left a long road to recovery. As already a vast majority, about 85%, living here are very poor. They squeeze out an existence collecting non- timber forest produce like tiger prawn seeds, fishing, vending vegetables and fish, and by working for a daily wage. Now the agricultural lands will not yield anything for a few years due to the salt deposited by the saline waters. Fresh water fish farming also face the same problem.

We thank you, our patrons, for your support in helping Vibha respond to the calamity. Vibha disbursed $6400 towards short term relief fund to Baikunthapur Tarun Sangha (BTS). This money has been utilized on procuring basic amenities like rice, wheat, drinking water, clothing materials, cooking utensils and plastic sheets for temporary shelter. As part of the rescue efforts Vibha sent its own team of social activists with substantial exposure to rural development in West Bengal and in the Sundarbans in particular in the post Aila scenario to visit the sites and review its status.

A team of four from diverse fields but with exposure and knowledge of rural development and needs, visited the geographical area and the sites in particular with a view to fulfill the following objectives.

• Assess Construction Needs specified in ‘Project Proposal’ given by BTS to Vibha
• Interact with flood victims to fathom their indirect and intangible losses in addition to the direct losses like damage of houses etc
• Understand needs in terms of the present scenario of exigency
• Review work being undertaken by BTS
• Recommend worthwhile and achievable solutions

During the transect walk in Patharpratima, a village on the island, a young boy in his late teens was found busy doing beadwork on a sari. When enquired, it was found that the family together undertakes the work. The remuneration for each sari of the kind he was working on was Rupees 700 and in a month the turnover is of 4-5 sarees. Around 15 families in the village were engaged in this occupation through an intermediary. This is a good example of their resilience and recovery.

Vibha has been funding the operation of the two Child Care Centers (crèches) run by BTS. Vibha also funded a permanent brick and cement structure to house the two child-care centers and furnish them with basic amenities at a total cost of $3300. Vibha has also been funding recurring expenses like staff salaries, food, emergency medicine, school uniforms and educational aids to supplement the funds provided by West Bengal Social Welfare Advisory Board (CSWB). CSWB provides $820 annually and Vibha funds the remainder $2600. Vibha plans to continue providing support for meeting such infrastructure requirements for this project in the coming future.

Cyclones like this are not a rare event, there is one almost every other year. People lose everything except their hunger and thirst... moving millions of these people to a safe zone, people who are mostly poor and do not have a means of transport, is a humongous task...Please donate generously to help this community rebuild their lives and if you have any views and suggestions on alternate means of livelihood for these people, please post them on our Vibha Facebook profile or Orkut profile.

On Sunday, October 4th, Vibha Los Angeles held its 4th annual Dream Mile 5K walk-a-thon at beautiful Lake Balboa Park in Encino, California. The number of registered participants this year almost doubled from last year. Close to 200 participants joined together to contribute for the same goal: improving the lives of underprivileged children.

The day started off with a nourishing breakfast of fruits, muffins, and fresh chai. The first event was the children's 1k run around the lake. It was a joyous moment to see some ducks join the children in the walk! In the main 5K event, die-hard runners and medal candidates were the first to start on the call of “On your mark, Get set, and Go!” The walkers followed with determination to beat the clock with their best times. The first, second, and third place awards were presented to top men and women runners. All children got medals and certificates for their participation and enthusiasm.

In addition to the flagship 5K and 1K walk and run, the event had many other interesting activities such as face painting and balloon animals.  Vibha project briefings were delivered by Jayesh Issrani and Gokul Kumar, and a dance was performed by UCLA Wish members Naina Singh and Anisha Asher.  The day was capped off with a scrumptious lunch sponsored by Valley Woodlands and Taj Mahal Cuisine of India.

Many people contributed to the success of the 2009 Dream Mile, however the team especially wants to recognize Deepak Kumar for the tremendous job he did leading and organizing this event.  His initiative and enthusiasm were the driving forces towards such a remarkable event.

More than 25 dedicated volunteers worked very hard to ensure the success of the Dream Mile.

The 2009 Dream Mile caps off a great year for Vibha LA. The collective efforts of all of the volunteers have helped the Los Angeles Action Center grow immensely and contribute more to Vibha this year.  We are excited for a bigger and better 2010! 

Your feedback is important to us. Vibha welcomes any comments, suggestions or questions you may have about our projects, programs, products, monitoring etc. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like to see Vibha showcase it please let us know.

Together, we can do much more!
Dream a Little! Do a Little!

Vibha 1030 E El Camino Real, #424 Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: 408-997-9992 | Fax: 775-593-1061

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Vibha is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization that seeks to restore; underprivileged children, their basic rights to food, shelter, health and education - in short, a future. All donations to Vibha are tax exempt in the US.