The Joy of Saving

‘We wish to save,’ is what the community women told Touching Lives. As a result, a Self Help Group of 25 women was formed 6 months ago, to save money regularly. The women decided the amount themselves and have been saving regularly for the past six months.

An ongoing communication with them, regarding the utilization of savings and quality usage of their wealth has been very revealing. Surprisingly, in the process, we realized that they are more than aware of the quality utilization of these savings! We were happy to hear that, they were saving for:

- Education

- Health

- Saving in Bank

- Insurance

- Daily Activity Chores

On 31^st July, their savings for past six months were refunded. The happy surprise on their achievement spelt success J .

Apart from this, to encourage them, Touching Lives gifted Non-Stick Frying Pan to them, the amount of which was donated by well-wishers. This not only made them happy, but the joy of bonding was beautiful to witness. Feeling a sense of being cared for and wanted surely touches hearts.

A new cycle of the saving system (Bachat Khaata) has begun. The participation has been outstanding. The group has decided themselves to save double the amount this time and want to continue saving more. We witnessed two very important things as well- a great sense of synchronicity within the Self-Help Group, and that people have grown united naturally. Touching lives is only a catalyst, and a learner in process of serving.

Thank you... J

-Touching Lives Team

Joy of Colours

Just imagine yourself in front of a blank paper and a pack of crayons. Also, imagine yourself having that in front of you after ages. And you also hear a voice within you to make some drawing on it.

A sense of mixed feelings? Funny, exhilarated, confused, lost or may be bit hesitant!

This is what exactly our women experienced at our 2nd SHG Monthly meeting today. We envisioned the women at our centre to build more bond with their own self; their inner self. There is child in every human being and this child always wants to explore, learn, enjoy and be in the moment. We thought, here is where we could bring this inner child play their minds on the paper.

Thus, we did an ice-breaker activity with the women today. The objective was to have them do something different and novel from their everyday chores. There were some who just jumped in the pool while there were few who were initially little hesitant however, ones they began, they left no corner of the paper uncoloured.

Looking at the mothers draw something, the children were attracted towards the activity and they volunteered to help all those who initially felt little lost. The children helped by giving them ideas and also participated actively. In the process we observed:

a) It became an interactive session between the child and the mother; an opportunity for them to communicate on a different level altogether.

b) The children seemed completely excited looking at their mothers taking initiative in the activity.

c) Any process in the start requires some efforts; however once the process starts it becomes easier. Initially, one has to drive the process and then the process drives oneself.

d) There is a child in every human being which feels the need to come out through creative expressions.

e) The activity was a sort of catharsis for them.

f) Sharing and helping each other, within the SHG was quite an impact.

Apart from this, we as a mentor learned that;

a) We need to give them more such activities which gives them an opportunity to practise moral values which not only aides oneself but also strengthens the bond within the groups.

b) Preparing an activity sheet for them at every meeting would help to share with them more useful and awareness based information with them.

c) Documentation of our learning is also important and sharing such knowledge with people may be useful to have them apply such related activities at their NGOs, SHGs etc.

So yes, we did enjoy the play of colours with them. With every dot that they connected with crayons, a magic was happening within them and with every magic happening within them, there was sparkles in their eyes. And those colourful twinkling eyes were magic for us!

So, here is for you…Come twinkle with us!

-Dr. Sonia Mackwani

Touching Lives MicroWorld Team

The Magic of Self Help Group

Working with SHGs is like working in the moment!

We had a wonderful time connecting with the two Self Help Groups formed in our TL center. Today, I would like to share some of the learning that came across while working with these women.

To have a wonderful network of SHG and to have the project’s objective accomplished few things that we learned:

Intentions: It is very important to have our objectives and goals clear of why we want to do what we want to do. The clarity of these intentions helps us organize things accordingly. These intentions help the universe too to conspire in such a way that helps us attain our goals. So, here we were with our intentions to touch lives of the women for enhancing the quality of life by saving system and through the saving system also helping them out with how to use their savings.

Flexibility: Another important aspect that we learned is that our project should be subject to flexibility according to the ‘needs’ of the people. And that the project is further subjected to the changing needs in the times ahead. For example, it was important for us to understand that the saving is not really the main goal; the main goal is to have them feed their children, to build the roofs of their houses during rainy season, to have them pay the school fees, medicines etc. Thus, it is important here to understand that the main objective was to work as a catalyst towards having them achieve their ‘needs’ through the means of ‘saving system-Bachat Khaata.’

Open Communication: Here, to start with, we did a general open survey of the community people learning about their basic living world. The second step was to let them know what is there in our mind, however abstract that is. This helps to have an open communication of what we are intending to do. Not only it is important to communicate the best of the project but also share the ‘truths’ with them. For example:- you let them know that it would also take time for you as a team to reflect on their needs and develop a program for them and this process may take time. Letting them know complete information that you too need time and resources to prepare allows them to understand that their points are considered.

Here it is also important that there is not much gap between the development and the execution.

Creating space and time: Creating an environment where the group members can directly or indirectly interact with each other. Even while making groups, doing an activity which is based on communication, life-skills, etc helps them to have a space where they can share themselves and time where they feel that they are respected and given a chance to exchange thoughts. We have realised that they know better whom to choose as the leader and that they are fine and quite co-operative.

Trust: The most important factor is the trust. Before we wish to have them trust us, we completely need to trust them. We trusted them and their abilities. We trusted them and their needs to change their lives. We trusted them with all their apprehensions and questions. WE JUST TRUSTED!

Second, we trusted our work, our project completely. In spite of modelling the variations each time, we still believed in the potentials of our objectives and our work.

Third, we believed we can execute project qualitatively. We believed in our team and the dedication. Time also plays an important factor for building trust. For example, we reached to our meetings and the SHG discussion on time. This helped them to understand the seriousness of the work to be done together.

Well, I am quite happy to share these learning with you and this is what we call as the Magic of SHGs. I look forward to sharing more on the interesting stories with you! Meanwhile... enjoy the pics.

Thanks,

Dr. Sonia Mackwani

Touching Lives MicroWorld Team!

Bachat Khaata and Livelihood project

After having started with the education project for the kids, TL has initiated a new micro-credit and livelihood project for the women of the community. The idea is to help them be self-dependent by improving their savings and also help them meet their ends by setting up their own small earning system.

The micro-credit and livelihood project team initially started off with a micro-credit framework in mind. We did some research on how the micro-finance and loan system works in terms of the flow of money, interest rate, and the like. Our intention was to setup a system wherein we would provide them with loans and a platform to learn new things which can help them earn some money and thereby improve their standard of living.

However, after massive discussion sessions with the women, we realised that the women at the community are barely able to save any money on a daily basis. They are sometimes able to just manage to sustain their daily requirement of food with the money they earn. We immediately realized we need to change our approach from a micro-credit role to more of a help encourage savings role.

And thus was born a novel idea of ‘Bachat Khaata’. What we intend to do is setup a savings scheme for them wherein, they will pool a certain sum of money on a daily basis and at the end of the month a portion of the sum will be locked for 6 months and the rest will be given back to them to spend on their requirement. By doing this we, in a way, are forcing them to save money so that they can spend judicially.

Apart from the savings system, we also figured out the importance of creating Self Help Groups among the women at the community. It makes so much of a difference when a group of people come together and collectively help each other meet ends. With this in mind, we simultaneously initiated the process of creating self help groups and introduce the savings system to them within the groups.

Also, another thing we came across while interviewing the women is that they are really eager to learn a new art like stitching, embroidery, and the like. Basically they want to setup a small business so that they can keep themselves occupied and at the same time earn money to feed their family. It turns out that we are in the process of engaging stitching classes for the women who are interested to do so.

Slowly but surely, we are able to foresee our ideas taking shape and create a better environment for the various families to live in harmony. We believe our savings model will help us in our path towards setting up a micro-credit facility at TL. Our long term objective is surely to work towards creating one for them.

As it stands today, after having organized a couple of meeting sessions with the community women briefing and introducing them with the concept, we are all set to form the self help groups and at the same time behind the scenes are giving shape to the Bachat Khaata concept. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned in for updates.

Regards,

Milind Gandhi

Micro-Credit & Livelihood Project Team,

Touching Lives Micro World

(We are open to any suggestions, ideas, and improvements. Please feel free to put a comment along with your email id and we shall get back to you)

Touching Lives Micro World - A humble beginning

Greetings from Touching Lives.

This space has been created to share the latest happenings on the Livelihood project that we are running for the families at the community. We shall keep updating the blog with the very latest. Your suggestions, feedback are welcome.

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