2016

MF Issue Area : Healthcare

Aim is to provide access to quality healthcare and absorbing health shocks financially. The operational areas will focus on rural and semi-urban villages, where there is a significant population living below the poverty line. The primary occupation of the households is agriculture.

Project Objectives:

• Chaitanya is launching a comprehensive community-based micro-health insurance model that enables members to share their risks of illness as a community.
• To decrease the burden of health illnesses, those who purchase the product receive discounted out-patient (OPDs) and inpatient services, medicines, and diagnostic tests at network facilities.
• To increase the quality of care received.
• The product promotes preventative care measures.

Chaitanya will appoint one doctor for every 500 self-help groups to visit remote underserved regions where medical facilities are not as available. The doctor will be assisted by Jankar (Jaankaar).

Jankars are members of the local community recruited to serve as health resource persons. They will be trained in preventative health care through the certificate program offered by the state open university.

The Jankars will focus on increasing awareness through relevant health camps, encouraging proper health care usage, promoting preventative measures, providing referrals to network hospitals, and assisting with minor health problems; the Jankars will serve as an interface between members, the insurers, and medical facilities.

MF Issue Area : Environment Protection

Vision and Mission Statement of Organization is to bring about a society that respects nature, upholds these principles in its policies and laws, and uses natural resources judiciously so that wildlife and forests are conserved. Goal of the Organization is to ensure that India’s wildlife and forests are well protected and safe for posterity.

Project Objectives:

• To carry out research studies that will generate scientific information that will help to guide management actions for wildlife conservation.
• To implement projects with participation of local community and government agencies for wildlife and forest conservation.
• To carry out advocacy to bring about policy changes that will be beneficial for conservation of wildlife and forests.
• To create awareness about wildlife and forest conservation in the public, the government executives and the policy makers.

Major area of work is conservation of private forests; WRCS has carried out studies that help to further information on conservation of private forests in Western Ghats of Maharashtra. WRCS is carrying out a project for conservation of private forests at Koyna with participation of local community.

MF Issue Area : Underprivileged

Support for Orphans & Vulnerable. Gramin Vikas Kendra, Jamkhed was founded in 1995 as non-profit organization in Ahmednagar of Maharashtra. It was started by a team of dedicated persons with the aim of helping the children from paradhi community and orphans children and also children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS.

Gramin Vikas Kendra, Jamkhed (GVK) would like to secure funding to provide a small orphanage which will provide children with a safe and stable home, education and support throughout their childhood. JVK is seeking funds to provide shelter home for 50 children & remaining 50 children with substitute parents near the shelter home; mostly from Pardhi community. There are about 300 more such children but there is lack of funds, which prevents implementation of rehabilitation services. Maharashtra Foundation’s funding will be a catalyst for the future activity & sustainability of this program.

Project: Budgets, Orders, Schemes and Services (BOSS) Course

MF Issue Area : Empowerment

Save Indian Farmers (SIF) is a registered non-profit organization [501 C (3) status] here in United States. SIF’s main objective is to promote awareness regarding the issue of farmer suicides, help the families of the victims and fund projects that will help the farmers and their families in long term. The goal is to create rural entrepreneurs with sustainable monthly income and independent, self-reliant contributors to Indian society.

Adopt-a-widow project details: Through small businesses such as clothing store, goat keeping, flour mill, tailoring, grocery, stationary store and milk dairy, ladies from 7 talukas of the Yavatmal district will earn daily income to sustain and support their families.

MF Issue Area : Education

One of the major factors which largely influence the developmental process of children is ‘Elementary Education’. The most influencing factor affecting the quality of ‘Elementary Education’ is teachers’ professional development. In-service teacher education has emerged as a critical area for intervention in the Indian education system. Results of various surveys persistently show poor levels of achievements in basic mathematics and literacy among the students of elementary schools.

Intervention is needed at various levels for effective change and desired results. Educators almost unanimously agree that long term interventions are helpful to bring positive transformation.

To address this need QUEST has taken an initiative for capacity building of in-service teachers. Goal is to address pedagogical issues faced by practicing teachers at a scale through blended learning programs.

Project Objectives:

• To enhance teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical understanding through focused theoretical and practical input and to design.
• To develop a system for teachers’ professional development which could be further scaled up to reach to the teachers working in the remote areas, using appropriate technology.

MF Issue Area : Disabled

Suhrud Mandal is a registered NGO, working for Educational & Vocational training rehabilitation of children with hearing impairment. Schools have been using regular schools’ Balbharati textbooks for years together. There are no special textbooks available for the children with hearing impairment.

In year 2011-12 teachers worked to develop partial adaptation of textbooks. The encouraging results of the project made Suhrud Mandal to decide on rewriting entire text books for all school subjects for grade I to IV. And also to prepare formal text books which can be provided to all the special schools for children with hearing impairment in Maharashtra State. Nearly 20,000 children from special schools and from inclusive education program of Maharashtra state will benefit from this work.

Books on environmental Sciences and History (4 Books) will be ready by October 2015. Suhrud Mandal would like to expand this project up to 8th grade in next three years. Children have been deprived of appropriate educational learning material. Hence they lagged behind scholastically for years together, which reflected in poor job employment opportunities. This newly developed material will enhance children’s reading and writing skills in the formative years, and they will be ready for inclusive education at the early stage, which is the main objective of Suhrud Mandal.

MF Issue Area : Welfare

With roughly 94,000+ schools spread across 35 districts within Maharashtra, 20+ districts have limited-to-no access to libraries neither have any good reading books.

In addition, news about corruption, rape & atrocities that shape the daily media coverage is making responsible people uncomfortable. There is a dire need to provide equally un-biased view of good things happening around & inspire the young generation to keep them motivated to lead well-cultured & satisfying life.

Samkaleen Prakahashan along with Unique Features has taken- up this challenge & developed a set of 14- such inspirational books covering various fields from technology to governance to social work to history with each set worth Rs. 2,500/ & have distributed them to roughly 3,500 schools so far. Response has been extremely positive confirming the need to expand the coverage.

First phase is to distribute these sets to 10,000 additional schools within next 10+ years. This specific project will help distribute this set to 100 schools.

MF Issue Area : Anti-violence against women

Gender Sensitization and Mentoring of young men – Men against Violence & Abuse (MAVA) (3-yearproject, $12K for second year) MAVA is the first men’s organization in India directly intervening against gender-based violence on women.

Established in 1993, MAVA is working towards building A movement that explores the role of men as ‘partners’ and ‘stakeholders’ – addressing gender issues (including women’s empowerment) through cultural advocacy, direct intervention and youth education initiatives.

In this project, young adult trainers will conduct gender sensitization workshops largely focused on youth between 18-25 years of age. Workshops include interactive sessions, experimental learning and personal dialog, leveraging youth-friendly media e.g. film-screenings, skits, youth “melavas”, awareness songs etc.

Expected outcomes include – youth talking comfortably about gender and masculinity issues. Project will develop action plans to address issues of gender based violence through networking and tie ups.