Visit to SAVE Trust 2018

Report visit to SAVE Trust May 3 rd 2018 by Dutch Amaidhi Foundation

SAVE Trust offered board members of Dutch Amaidhi Foundation the opportunity to visit 4 of their projects on May 3 rd. Mrs. Mary Indira, management trustee, her son mr. Anvish Indira, project co-ordinator, and other members of staff received us, Peter Deurloo, chairman and Dilia Deurloo-Hunsche, board member of Amaidhi foundation- with great hospitality and enthusiasm. This brief report will describe our impression. SAVE Trust is founded in 1997 when the family Indira decided to dedicate their time and efforts to helping the poor and destitute families in their area. In order to make a start, the family sold its properties and founded SAVE Trust. Anno 2018 , 20 paid staff members and 30 volunteers are working in their projects. We visited:

NCLP (Child labour) school, Chilly factories where adults and children work, Children, students and families of the Disabled sponsor programme, Mining workers children and families, Women farmers of the Microcredit project in Peracharla and Visadala.

NCLP school: SAVE Trust offers the children of families who work mainly in the chilly factories, free education up to standard 6. Staff members collect the children early in the morning, bring them to school and in the afternoon back to their parents. Families are given a government stipend, which compensates for their loss in income. Hence this programme prevents the parents to engage their children in child labour. Attention is given to awareness of the need and advantages of education, and sports. We were impressed by the way SAVE trust is using the subsidies the government provides, in the collaboration with the officials in the field of Education and at the same time filling in the gaps the government leaves. These families have been doing the same, low paid job, on daily wages for generations . SAVE Trust has taken up the challenge to raise their situation by facilitating education for the children. The risk, due to the government not taking action and lack of funding may be that, after standard 6 (highschool) parents again will engage their children in child labour.

The Disabled sponsor programme: Over the years, SAVE Trust has been assisting physically handicapped children and students with their studies. Most of them have diseases which affect their movements. Before Dutch fund Benie Foundation contributed and after some years replaced by Liliane foundation which only supports for handicapped children up to standard 10. With great effort SAVE Trust has been paying for the children in junior college + 1. Two handicapped students who were/are studying to become primary teachers have been receiving grants by Dutch Fund Frangipani, combined with private support from Amaidhi board members. For us, it was moving to meet the two students who (almost) finished their training in primary school teaching, after 4 years of correspondence. SAVE Trust has employed one of them and paid salary, in their school for mining children. He applies for higher studies and combines this with his job. The other student, an almost blind girl will finish her study in July. SAVE Trust will keep assisting them in finding a job, f.e. by facilitating the online application. SAVE Trust has recently requested Amaidhi for mediation in funding the education of 2 other students in junior college. We also met a former student, now adult who was supported by SAVE Trust who now successfully works as a driver.

Mining workers children and families, the school. Over the years, Save Trust has been conducting several projects in different areas for the families of mining workers. Also a lot of children also work in these stone quarries.Programmes involve free education for the children, catering their basic needs, and health. Healthy food and medical aid to the families are given. Educational materials like books, uniforms, shoes, schoolbags facilitate going to school, so the children won’t be engaged in child labour. The help of SAVE Trust here is in addition to the (little) help the government provides in giving some materials. Qualified volunteers teach the children in school. Skills training for women in tailoring and embroidery aged 18-40 years is provided and income generation support/providing means of livelihood for older women. By learning new skills in tailoring and embroidery, soap making etc and by providing sewing machines as means of livelihood, the women will be able to acquire new jobs and raise their standard of living. Hence, these facilities will be of great value in reducing the poverty in this area. SAVE Trust intends to start a project in skills training and income generation in the area Perecharla, for which the organisation has no funds yet..

Empowerment of poor women farmers via Microcredits. Last year this project was carried out in Emani, 2 rural areas of Guntur district and Perecherla and Visadala, of which we visited the last 2 villages. The government strives to increase the number of FPO’s: Farmer Production Organisations and provides subsidiaries. The groups SAVE Trust has formed consist of 10 women; the profits for everyone are of a sufficient amount. FPO’s are a way of empowering women and facilitating the start of their own business. By strengthening famer capacity , productivity is enhanced and also by coaching the women, access to the market was improved. 178 women were the beneficiaries and we spoke to 6 of them. They choose to grow and sell chillies, leaves, rice and coconuts. The harvest was favourable and also the selling brought profit, so it might be considered as a success. This project was partly financed by Dutch Foundation Castricum Helpt Mutthathara and partly by a bank loan. The project was finished, reports were sent but since revolving funds are used, more women can join. The women farmers chose the name ‘Navajeevan Womens foundation’ (‘Navajeevan’ means ‘new life’, hence new chances, new respect) and we considered the name very appropriate.

Our overall impression about the way SAVE Trust conducts the projects

We were very impressed by the professional way SAVE Trust carries out its projects and also by the great number of projects which have been completed in the past 20 years. They have earned a lot of gratitude and respect among the beneficiaries and surely deserve our respect as well.

Before starting a project SAVE Trust always first conducts a full background research to ensure that the most needy women and children will be involved in the project. This is their strategy in all their projects. Women are asked to decide in which skills, oriented towards future work, they want training. The same goes for the achievement of the means of livelihood. Establishing the goals and objectives and content is hence based upon the need of the inhabitants and in agreement with their wishes and desires. ‘People don’t receive fishes, but instead receive fishing rods and are taught how to catch fish.’ During the projects, monitoring is done on a regular basis, variable for each project. Project proposals and the reports afterwards are always comprehensive and consist of a full description accompanied by copies of bills and photographs. Mrs. Mary Indira and mr. Anvesh Indira, are both voluntary working like many teachers, social workers of this organisation.