SUPPLEMENTARY SCHOOL SUPPORT FOR JUST ORGANISATION FOR NATURAL GROWTH (JONG):

DPG provided a small support to the tune of Rs.72,000/- to provide supplementary classes for nearly 500 school-going children spread over 20 villages in Sivagangai district. The main objectives of the programme are to prevent dropouts at primary level, to promote better performance of rural children in studies, to promote peer level motivation for rural children to continue education, to promote creativity and talents of children, to promote leadership and personality development of rural children, to promote thrift and savings among children.

Priya is a girl studying in 5th std. she stays with her grandmother at Ambalar Kuduyiruppu. Her parents are like nomads. Her father has unsteady behaviour that he does not want to stay in one place. He shifts his place of living often. In this context, priya lives with her grand mother and continues her education. In the month of may2006, her grandmother died and her parents took priya along with them. They decided to discontinue the education of priya and involve her as child labourer in the farm where they worked. The supplementary education teacher heard about this and counseled Priya’s parents. Then she spoke to Priya’s aunt who lives in the same village. Now Priya’s aunt accepted to keep her in her house and help her continue the education. Her faher opposed it and wanted to make Priya a child labourer. But the members of women Shef-Help Groups’ of Ambalar Kuduyiruppu pacified him and now Priya continues her education. A happy ending for the girl.

SAVE NILGIRIS CAMPAIGN

Save Nilgiris Champaign (SNC) 1985 was a spontaneous reaction to the mindless destruction of the natural wealth of the Nilgiris. DPG extends its occasional support to SNC to initiate few activities. During the year, DPG supported SNC to maintain the John Sullivan Memorial Centre at Nilgiris. Sullivan was the first Collector of Coimbatore to Visit Nilgiris, which was then part of the Coimbatore district. Sullivan, personally and in his official capacity, laid the foundations for a thriving economy on the hills based on tourism and modern agriculture. He developed all major roads leading to the hills. Sullivan’s life was tragic mainly because of his obsession with Nilgiris. He left behind no trace of himself except a photograph and an Oak tree in front of the Stone House. This memorial built from the remains of Sullivan’s first house is a tribute to the extraordinary man. The Sullivan Memorial is managed by a committee comprising the Government and a NGO representative – DPG which partially supports SNC to maintain this memorial.

ARGHYAM – WATER & SANITATION MANUAL

A Bangalore – based organization entrusted DPG with the responsibility to develop a comprehensive handbook for Community Sanitation systems in rural and urban areas, which will serve as a guide to organizations and others, who are new to the field of sanitation and also to those who are interested in setting up a sustainable sanitation system in their areas. The broad outline of the manual is to cover all the aspects required to design, develop and manage a community-sanitation system in an integrated, sustainable manner in terms of environment, finance, technical and social / institutional. DPG, with the help of consultants produced the manual, which was well appreciated by the sponsoring agency.