A Pathway Towards Development....

Goela is a small village in the Mewat district of Haryana, India. Approximately 193 families live in the village and depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood. Though it is a small village, the average size of the family varies from six to eight people, which makes its population exceed 1200.

Like most villages surrounding it, Goela is also deprived of many common amenities. Goela’s health center was abandoned for almost 14 years. The school building was damaged and had only one teacher for nearly 200 students of different grade levels. The school building had a leaking roof and the younger children sat on bare floors even during peak winter months. Farmers followed outdated farming practices which resulted in poor productivity and thus lower income.

Even though the Government of India has made attempts to reach out to villages, providing water and electricity connections and basic health and education centers, the services are still erratic and inadequate. The villagers continue to live in isolation as they are incredibly poor and illiterate.

Very few families have direct water or electricity connections in their homes. Most other families either live with the circumstances or they take illegal connections from the public supplies. The illegal water connections are poorly fixed which invariably leads to water leakages and contamination, forming unhygienic puddles in the village.
These facts were surveyed by the Sehgal Foundation when it adopted Goela in 2002 to undertake development activities. The Integrated, Sustainable Village Development (ISVD) model developed by the Foundation is unique to assisting villages in India. TheFoundation’s ISVD model focuses on five key elements crucial for rural development: Water Management, Rural Health, Family Life Education, Income Enhancement and Alternative Energy.

Following the survey, the next phase the Foundation undertakes is to motivate the community to participate in the development activities. The Program Leader for Community Mobilization, Mr. Bhagirath Ram Poonia says, “persuading a community to recognize the benefits of participating in the development activities, requires building trust. This is the most time consuming and challenging phase of the Foundation’s work.”

Several community meetings and focus group discussions are organized to discuss various projects and their benchmarks. The field worker for Goela, Kamlesh says, "Initially I was completely lost, and I didn’t know how I could get anything done in this village. I used to lie awake at night thinking about how I should go about my work. Then I decided that I would start by building close relationships with each of the 193 families". Kamlesh traveled door to door talking about the Foundation’s different programs. Her commitment and continuous efforts eventually generated faith among the villagers.

Once the community was convinced of the Foundation’s sincere interest in the betterment of their village, the Panchayat (village council ) agreed to give an abandoned community building to the Foundation for implementing its programs. The Foundation initiated the development work by renovating the community center. Following this a Family Life Education (FLE) center was started in May 2003. The center provides basic education, tailoring and other skills useful for young girls who are not attending school. Young girls between the ages of 11-18 attend FLE classes from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. during weekdays. After this initial project the Foundation began implementing all of its other programs, together with the community. The Community Center now has roof water harvesting unit with an underground storage tanks, solar light, toilets, room for community meetings, a farmers information center with demonstrations and is a venue for other NGOs to execute their work .

Achievements of other programs:
Family Life Education

Goela’s Village Education Committee (VEC), which had been inactive for years, was revived The VEC in conjunction with the Foundation provided help in filling teaching vacancies, repairing the school building, supplying mats for students and constructing a platform for flag hoisting on national holidays like Independence and Republic days. The school boundary wall was raised for security purposes. Sports equipment was provided. Trees were planted in and around the school and students were made responsible for the care of these trees. A roof water harvesting unit was built.

Currently, a kitchen is under construction where the Government supplied mid day meal will be prepared for the children. And a library is being set-up.

The Family Life Education Center has been a great success; 74 girls have passed the six months curriculum. This is approximately 85% of the total number of adolescent girls in the village. The girls’ increased self confidence and improved communication skills are evidence of the curriculum’s impact. Approximately 30% of the young married women in Goela have started using family planning methods after completing the course. The girls, who obediently accepted the prevalent social norm of being married before the age of 15, now desire to marry between the ages of 16 to 18.

Health

After several meetings with the District Commissioner, the defunct health center was renovated and made functional. Currently the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife regularly visits the center. Several training sessions have been organized for women and FLE girls pertaining to various health issues - women’s meetings focused on general health, hygiene, care of the mother and child, nutrition, family planning and when health issues warrant visits to the clinic. Immunization for mothers, newborns and growing children is regularized and the number of immunizations is rising each year. By collaborating with other health organizations, the Foundation organizes health camps, or sends the villagers to nearby health camps organized by other institutions. It has linked the people with the Government curative facilities in the vicinity.

Sanitation is another important component of rural health. In 2003, Goela had only two latrines, villagers used open fields for defecation. Door to door visits by the Foundation’s field staff to convince people to own and use a latrine took time and effort but now more than 50% of the families own a latrine. Villagers are also meeting with the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) to construct more latrines or provide subsidies.

Lack of a proper drainage system was hazardous. Villagers disposed the domestic waste water anywhere out of their house, streaming raw sewage into the lanes forming dirty puddles. This created an unhealthy breeding ground for diseases. To address this issue, the Foundation introduced soak pits - simple drainage structures that safely dispose this water underground. Since its introduction in 2003, 18 soak pits have been constructed in Goela.

Water

Water literacy campaigns bring awareness about water conservation and water harvesting methods to all age groups. Jal Chetna Yatra (water awareness walk) was organized in 2005 which resulted in the construction of three recharge wells. Six hand pumps have been installed in strategic locations and the school’s roof water harvesting system is used to sensitize the children about the importance of water. Approximately 10% of people did not have access to the public water supply, because of the elevation of their homes. The village development team requested the government for a bore well at this location, and resolved the issue.

Income enhancement

Farmers in the Mewat follow outdated farming practices resulting in poor productivity. Therefore, a farmer resource center was established in Goela. Farmers are able to study demonstrations and get information on various aspects of ‘better agricultural practices’. New agricultural practices such as bed making, chiseling, and crop diversification, intercropping and vermi-composting adopted by more and more farmers are concrete examples of success. A farmers’ association was formed; farmers are now combining their vegetables produce and selling to leading outlets like Mother Dairy and Subhiksha . This benefits the farmers due to economy of scale and has eliminated the middlemen. About 20 % of the farming community has experienced an increase in income of about 15%.

The Foundation’s biggest success working in Goela has been to identify the altruistic people in the village and bind them into a strong team. Consistent support from the Foundation’s staff uplifted the team’s spirit. Open communication discussing possible pitfalls also helped. As the village team tasted one small success after another, their confidence grew and now they independently and regularly meet at the Community Center to plan their activities. Recently, they approached another organization for building roads in their village which is completed.

Though there were a few setbacks and some projects could not be completed within the planned time frame, the community continued to actively participate. Considering the fact that Goela’s community has taken charge of their own development, the Foundation assisted in registering a Village Level Institution (VLI) so that their leveraging power for future development work can continue even after the Foundation withdraws from the village. In February 2006, Goela’s VLI was registered and it operates out of the Community Center.

With the active participation and support from the community, enthusiastic and dedicated field workers and the Foundation’s multiple strategies of development, Goela is progressing from an underdeveloped to a developing village. In a short span of four years, Goela's village has demonstrated encouraging results.

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