Tarun Paryavaran Vigyan Sanstha (TPVS) celebrated International Women’s Day at Deora village of Mori Block, District Uttarkashi with local women including SMC members, teachers, Asha workers, ANM and the local Pradhan. This is the first time in the history of Deora that so many women celebrated the special day together.

Mori Block is hard to reach, and as a consequence a large percentage of women are illiterate and unaware of their rights. International Women’s Day provided an opportunity to spread the awareness and importance of women’s rights in the community.

Members of youth and women’s groups were informed about Women’s Day, the need and importance of equal opportunities for education and how women’s participation led to balanced growth in communities. The women of CBOs took the opportunity to voice their needs, and to share and acknowledge their problems in an open community forum. In an otherwise male dominated society, women were listened to on how the abortion of female foetuses, early marriage and problems related to poor sanitation added to the burdens on their already difficult lives. Other stakeholders like Asha, Anganwadi workers and school teachers thanked tdh Germany India Programme for providing a platform to spread awareness about women’s rights.

The gathering raised the following issues and demands:

• Equal opportunities for women in employment
• Respect for their ideas and suggestions within the home
• Promotion and enhancement of education for girls
• Removal of gender-based discrimination
• Construction of toilets. (Currently open defecation continues to embarrass women).

The program ended with local songs presented by the women’s group describing the harsh conditions in the area.

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DACHSER has been honored with the German CSR Award, presented by the German CSR Forum, in the “Engagement for the Civil Society” category. Bernhard Simon, CEO of DACHSER SE, and Edgar Marsh, Chairman of the Presidium of terre des hommes Germany, accepted the award from the jury foreperson for this category, Brigitta Wortmann, a member of the Board of Speakers for Germany’s National Network for Civil Society.

DACHSER’s collaboration with terre des hommes in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which started in 2005, has the motto “From education to sustainability”. Projects aim to protect children’s rights, improve access to schooling and professional training, and ensure the preservation of natural resources. Efforts focus on encouraging groups of children and young people to get involved on behalf of their own future, in keeping with the idea of helping people to help themselves.

To make social engagement a tangible experience for its employees and the broader public, DACHSER joined forces with terre des hommes to launch their first youth exchange project in 2017. As part of the exchange, DACHSER sent five trainees to its project areas in Uttar Pradesh. In return, five young people from India came to Germany, where they participated in a week of events entitled “So geht Heimat” (This is home), organized by DACHSER, terre des hommes, the theatre and the city of Kempten. The week featured a colorful range of cultural events that brought together different concepts of “home” using Allgäu and India as examples.

In explaining the jury’s decision, Brigitta Wortmann spoke about how social engagement is necessarily a multilevel undertaking: “This category focuses on a company’s civil engagement and its impact on society. In doing so, it is important to consider how this engagement is embedded in company strategy, how the company organizes its collaboration with civic partners, how it involves its employees in CSR activities, and whether those activities generate benefits for both the company and for society in general.

“Our CSR activities in India, and also Nepal, Namibia, and Brazil are designed for the long term,” explains Bernhard Simon, CEO of DACHSER SE. “The youth exchange and the ‘This is home’ week encouraged our employees to come together and share their thoughts and ideas, and did the same for the people of Kempten where our global headquarters is located. And it did so at a time when immigration is a hot-button issue in our society. That’s why I’m so pleased that the jury honoured our comprehensive CSR concept today.”

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terre des hommes Germany participated for the second successive year, after our inaugural
presence at the last year’s IGCC AGM. The tdh team used the opportunity to interact with
many organisations who had already visited us last year, along with new organisations who
we met for the first time. tdh Germany – India Programme took advantage of the IGCC
platform to further its associations with existing supporters, such as Mr. Georg Graf,
Regional Representative in India, Freudenberg Group, as well as reach out to new supporters.
The tdh team made most of the opportunity to interact with guests attending the event to
shared our work, areas of intervention and developmental outcomes.

tdh was the only development sector exhibitor, sharing space at the Product Display
Exhibition with companies such as Standard Chartered Bank, Veloces Engineering and
Services, Volkswagen India Private Limited and Messer Cutting Systems India Private
Limited.

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The event began with the audience, panellists, Dachser staff and tdh G-IP staff mingling over high tea before seating themselves for the panel discussion to commence.

Ms. Ingrid Mendonca, Regional Co-ordinator-South Asia, tdh G-IP welcomed the audience on behalf of tdh and Dachser and introduced the panellists, moderator and subject of discussion, while also briefly overviewing tdh, its purpose and activities.

The panel discussion commenced thereafter during which a range of topics concerning CSR in India, four years after it became mandatory by law, were dwelt upon by the panel.

The panellists were in agreement that while India needs to improve the rate and impact of social change, existing provisions within the Companies Act 2013 provided an adequate framework for action. Georg highlighted that legislation, while useful, may not be the ideal or only driver of change, even if corporates are asked to give account of their CSR performance. The key to successful CSR was an attitude of responsibility and care for society, which in turn guided individual and corporate behaviour. Noshir added that while India was the only country with such legislation, a number of Indian corporations had been torchbearers on the social front for decades, long before legislation, underlining the point that attitude, not legislation, was paramount.

Responding to Bharat’s question, “How can we unlock the potential of exponential returns for Corporations and Society?” Huned saw employee engagement as a huge opportunity. Apart from employees volunteering for CSR, corporations could in turn help young adults from the projects they supported. Drawing appreciation from the audience and panellists, Huned revealed that Dachser, which has been supporting social projects in the villages of UP for 12 years, is looking at employing youth from these projects as trainees.

Roshni’s response was equally interesting. She pointed out that while both NGOs and corporations have the same ultimate goal, there is often a mismatch between their approaches and their individual visions of change. This acted as an impediment. As grassroot social change takes time to take root and germinate, the sooner NGOs and Corporates could become partners, the better for all. All the panellists were united in their belief that “closing the vision gap” was a key priority.

The event ended with tdh staff presenting the panellists with tokens of appreciation. Everyone who attended the event, panellists and audience alike, found it very useful and enjoyable, spoke of their interest to attend similar events in the future and thanked and complimented Teams Dachser and tdh G-IP for arranging the event.

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I like that our partners are selected for their professionalism and deep commitment towards the empowerment of children, youth and women.  Our programmes are designed to enable the beneficiaries to move forward with their socio-economic development endeavours.  The constant monitoring, evaluation, encouragement and accompaniment makes our partner organisations work enthusiastically towards our common goals.

Overall, my experience with tdh Germany India Programme is satisfying and fulfilling. I’m happy to be making a difference in the lives of downtrodden people in South India, and I am proud to be part of this wonderful movement.”

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When I joined, the Right to Play project had already started in Pune. The project envisages children from marginalized communities exercising their right to play, which is part of United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Children. Who are these children and why do they need support? They are the children of brick kiln workers, construction workers, waste pickers and some from NT-DNT communities. Due to low wages and the pressure of earning their daily bread, parents cannot pay attention to their children’s recreation needs. From early years they play near their houses, in the sand and mud and with whatever objects they can lay their hands on. This often hinders their development. No one really looks after their safety. The government schools the children go to are also ill-equipped in sports.

Through the Right to Play project, run by tdh’s partners, children receive professional football coaching twice a week. Football is a full body exercise. Football also builds teamwork, swift action and physical stamina. In just 4 hours a week, a lot has changed for the children. Many partners observe an increase in concentration and improvement in academic performance. Fights among children while playing are almost zero now and mutual understanding has improved. Girls are especially interested in acquiring new skills and have shown an impressive change in their behavior and game. It’s been 9 months since the project commenced, benefitting 70 children. Under-14 and Under-17 teams have been formed. A few of the children have been selected for their school teams. Once Right to Play teams are trained at par with other teams in the city, they will participate in local football tournaments.

The enthusiasm on the children’s faces is testimony to the success of the project. Most of them are receiving professional coaching for the first time, especially girls and that too in shoes and jerseys they are provided with. It gives me immense pleasure to see the joy on the faces of children as they play.  I dream of the future where every child across the globe will have access to recreation and games.

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I was born in Delhi and have spent four decades here, visiting pretty much every part of this vast city. Over the years, I’ve seen children begging outside temples, selling flowers and magazines at traffic signals, serving tea and food items and washing dishes at roadside hotels. I always wondered why there is so much poverty and helplessness around us. What is happening to the childhood of these children? Why do they need to work? Why do they not have books and toys in their hands? I felt driven to work on this issue, which took me into a life in the social development sector.

Over the past two years, during my visit to the brick kilns of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, I have seen children working in the toughest of conditions. Watching children transport bricks, and mix water with soil for raw bricks in the fierce heat of May-June, it is really hard to accept our country’s claim of rapid progress and development. These children are not counted in government child labour statistics, because their wages are paid to the family and not to them individually. When it comes to entitlements, the children are denied every right- education, health, safety and recreation. Last year, while visiting a kiln in Ajmer, Rajasthan, I discovered that two months earlier, a two-year-old child had been crushed under the wheels of a tractor. On another kiln, a four-year-old child had fallen into the furnace. I had goose bumps hearing this. It came home powerfully to me that these children are nobody’s priority- not the government, the labor department, the brick kiln owners or indeed society’s. With the kilns situated at a distance from villages, the children were largely invisible, with schools and health workers not wanting to take responsibility for them. They spend their entire childhood migrating from one state to another, from one district to another. As adults, in the absence of any other livelihood, they enter an identical life on the kilns to that of their parents and families.

Last year, India completed 25 years of ratification of UNCRC. The government rededicated itself to providing every child in our country their rights. While a lot of work has been done in this area, there is still a long way to go. Existing government schemes and assurances require commitment to implement them. Government and the society must work together honestly, or problems will persist.

This issue is really close to my heart. I dream of a day when every child will have a book in her hands, when every child will have a toy in his hands.

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In these remote Adivasi areas, where poverty forces parents to work as daily wage labourers away from home, it is not uncommon for the eldest daughter to forgo school to take care of the household chores. For the most part, Barsarani’s story is no different. Like most girls in her village, she was being coerced to leave school by her parents. Like most girls in her village, her days would be given over entirely to household responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning and caring for three very young siblings. But Barsarani is different. What makes her stand out is a love for education and the ambition to be a doctor one day. In her words, “Education is the only light that will bring us out of this dark tunnel of poverty.” With unwavering determination, the teenager balances her household work along with school. Admirably, she has not missed a single day of school.

It is no surprise that when Sikshasandhan, a partner of terre des hommes, and an organization working to promote children’s education in the area, established a Children’s Club, Barsarani was its first member. With her inherent leadership qualities and a vibrant personality, she quickly became a peer leader. She is now running a peer learning centre in her village where she provides remedial classes for 15 children.

As an active member of the Children’s Club, Barsarani soon took up the concerns of her classmates. One such issue was a separate toilet for girls in the Dolipada Primary School. Barsarani raised this issue in one of the Children’s Assemblies organized by Sikshasandhan and a resolution for separate toilets for girls was passed. This was shared with the School Management Committee and with the Block Education Officer. An additional toilet was finally constructed in the school as a result of the Children Club’s intervention.

Barsarani’s ambition to study and become a doctor has driven her to challenge her parents’ attempts to make her quit school. Currently in 8^th Standard, her industriousness and tenacity has convinced her parents to support her to complete her education and pursue a career in medicine. Barsarani’s determination to be educated and her awareness of other social issues ailing her village is like a gentle wind of change blowing through the Adivasi village of Dolipada and infusing hope in the hearts of many teenager like her.

Barsharani is part of the project shikshasandan supported by Aein.

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Marcel is part of the Youth Group, formed as part of Project Dolphin by the organization the ant, with support from terre des hommes Germany. To promote sustainable development, the ant invites active participation from Santhal/tribal youths to uplift themselves and integrate into mainstream Indian society. Marcel was introduced to the Youth Group when he joined as a trainee supervisor to conduct summer camps at the ant’s campus. The camps were for kids from Class 3-5 and youth were trained to assist the ant’s staff.

Never having previously been part of a youth group, Marcel discovered that group meetings gave him an opportunity to learn new things. “After joining, I am learning to be curious and ask questions and trying to find scientific reasons behind many things that happen around us,” says Marcel. Not a fan of science classes, Marcel has found them more interesting since joining the science sessions at the Youth Group. Performing live experiments and looking through microscopes have helped Marcel to understand science concepts better. “Before these science sessions, I had never seen a microscope. But now I am able to use one and gradually understand the reason behind a particular science concept,” he says.

Marcel believes that life will change for the better. Being an active member of Project Dolphin’s Youth Campaigns on sustainable development in the area, he brims with energy and has a vision and plans to build a better community. He wishes to increase awareness among his community members about irresponsible felling of trees in the village. Marcel and his friends organize dramas and road shows to spread awareness about the issue. “I now have the confidence that we can work towards a better future and I look forward to a positive response from my community.”

Despite a deep interest in India’s history and current events, social science remains Marcel’s all-time favorite subject and fuels a dream of becoming a professor. He is committed in his ambition to overcome poverty through education and in the process, guide other teenagers from similar economic backgrounds. He is an inspiration to many young men who now have come forward to take part in community activities in the area. The youth of Bengtol today are heralding a wave of change and new hope shines brightly on the horizon of this remote village in Lower Assam.

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