Possible Floods at Harishchandrapur

Ms. Bimala Baru, a Staff of SWI who is the Coordinator of a Village Resilience Project, living at Harishchandrapur II Block reports that the Fulahar river is above the danger mark for the past 15 days and is now eating into the bund (dike of mud) that is protecting Harishchandrapur. The situation, she reports that, is grim if the situation continues as the erosion on the dike is fast and quick. This can lead to the Fulahar river getting into the mainland and destroy vast acres of land threaten lives of the people of Harishchandrapur. SWI, as an immediate step, in consultation with the Block Development Officer, will use loudspeakers to alert the people on the situation and ask them to be prepared for the worst. Your prayers and support are welcome. Humanitarian Agencies are alerted through this to be prepared for giving required assistance if necessary.

On Trades and Practices : FVTRS & SWI

FVTRS and Social Welfare Institute conducted several trainings in various trades to empower the youth, specially the drop-out students in the three districts of Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur. This successfully completed project was mainly looked after by Ms. Sanchari Baral and other Staff of SWI. The narrative Completion Report as a pdf file is available on Completion Report of FVTRS-SWI joint project.

FVTRS Bengal Partners Meet

The Partners of FVTRS from West Bengal met on 26 July at St. Mary's School, Malda for some discussions on further strengthening the tie among the partners. Since the Director of SWI R. Puthumai A. Nazarene is the Coordinator of the Partners, he will be attending the meeting of all Coordinators on 31 July at Bangalore. The whole report of the meeting is available by clicking on Report of W.Bengal FVTRS Partners' Meet.

CRS Visitors at Raiganj

The Deputy State Representative Ms. Sudeshna Mukherjee, Mr. Pallab De, the Partner Support Officer, and Ms. Sucharita Chakraborty, the Linkage Officer were in Raiganj on 11th July to discuss further development plans at SWI, Raiganj and also to have a meeting with all the Operating Partners on the Phase Out Plan of CRS - USAID supported food-aid programs. On 12th, Ms. Sanchita Banerjee joined the three, and they visited some of the Agriculture related field areas and they were very much impressed by the fact that women were actively involved along with men in agriculture development programs and also that some of the Self Help Groups promoted by SWI had received 14,00,000 rupees for developing organic farming and production of organic fertilizers. On 13 July, Ms. Sanchita and Mr. Pallab were in Raiganj and we had a whole day of discussions with the Staff at various levels and it was enriching to understand some of the further areas where CRS can become a partner with SWI.... including in the area of starting a Community Radio for Awareness Building among people on various socio-economic, cultural and agricultural areas of development. We had also discussion on strengthening the linkages with Self Help Groups through the monthly newsletter which SWI published in the past three years. Puthumai A. Nazarene, the Director, and all the Staff thank the CRS team for being with us and spending so much time with us.

Valiant Salma is in Bed

Salma Besra is a valiant tribal woman who has been a social worker and a health worker in the surrounding villages of Bolaigaon and Bajebindol in Raiganj Block, North Dinajpur district. She had fought against illicit liquor sales in the villages to such a level that the liquor-selling families hated her. She planted sting operations with the help of the Block Administration to catch two women and and a man who were involved in flesh-trade and human trafficking of girls to Delhi and other northern states. This was reported by newspapers! Now she has fallen sick suddenly and she is partially paralysed. Her husband deserted her few years back. With two children in the school, she had the energy to work for the poor, and she has formed over 25 women's groups. Having had no education, this year she has joined "Open School" for writing the tenth Standard. The district hospital at Raiganj could not help her much although all expenses were borne by Social Welfare Institute. She is presently bed-ridden at the dispensary run by the Sisters of Divine Saviour at Bolaigaon. She needs to go for some physio-therapy, which is not available at Raiganj. Salma needs our prayers and support.

Supporting Community Development Programs

The Community Development Project covering parts of South Dinajpur District has come to a close. The project was supported by Caritas India between Apr 2005 - Mar 2007. The project was designed for promoting Self Help Groups and Strengthening them. Whereas it was designed by the Director R. Puthumai, it was implemented by the Project Staff, and Fr. Markus Mardi did the monitoring and immediate management of the Project. We thank Fr. Markus and all the Staff who were involved in it. We also thank Mr. Sanjay Rozario, the Regional Manager, Caritas India and everyone at Caritas India in Delhi and Kolkata, and the donors and well-wishers of Caritas India for the support we have received over the period. The Completion Report is made available by clicking on CDP Completion Report. Caritas India has already given an extension of this project to cover some other parts of the same district.

Adieu ! Dear Friends....

Mr. Prasanta Kumar Bhadra, who was associated with the Routine Immunization and Pulse Polio Projects as Documentation Officer was given a farewell at a brief function at SWI on 02 July 2007. Mr. Bhadra was great at Microsoft Excel and in handling accounts of the project on Tally. His cheerfulness and readiness to help was always appreciated. Mr. Haraprasad Ghosh, who joined SWI after completing his Master Degree in Social Work in June 2006, also leaves SWI for a better opportunity. He will be given a farewell on 03 July. His jovial nature and willingness to put up with difficult situations is always a source of inspiration. We wish them all the best!