India project profile

Dumaria ADP

Education
Non-formal education (NFE) centres provide part-time education for preschool children and children who drop out of, or cannot attend, formal school because of financial or other reasons.

Dumaria ADP pays NFE teachers’ fees, provides school uniforms, stationery and sports equipment for primary school pupils and runs adult literacy classes.

Health
People who temporarily migrate to other areas during periods of food shortage often have no choice but to take work in unhealthy and often dangerous environments, such as stone crushing factories. Workers unavoidably inhale dust in these factories, causing lung problems. Tuberculosis, which is passed on through coughing and sneezing, is quickly spread between the workers and to their families. Malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition are other common health problems in Dumaria.

World Vision regularly conducts mobile clinics to diagnose and treat illnesses, and assists government immunisation campaigns for children and pregnant women. Educational programmes raise awareness of health issues, such as nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, birth registration (so children can access health services), sanitation, diarrhoea treatment and HIV/AIDS.

Agriculture
A variety of crops are grown, but poor soil and seed quality and lack of irrigation limit production.

Dumaria ADP trains farmers in irrigation methods and helps build wells, check dams (which replenish the water table) and lift irrigation schemes (which pump water from low-lying areas to fields above).

The ADP also trains farmers in the use of fertilisers and pesticides and supplies them with good quality seeds. Many families have received bullocks to help them plough their fields. Thresher machines assist villages to process wheat crops themselves rather than hire machines at extra cost.

Economy
Agriculture is the backbone of village economy, as there are few other opportunities for earning an income.

Through village development committees or women’s groups, people can borrow funds to establish small businesses such as grocery shops, bicycle repairs and handicrafts.

Training is provided in home management and in skills that can help people to supplement their income, such as vegetable gardening, doll and incense making and snack food preparation.

The ADP provides cows to especially needy families so they can have a regular source of income from selling the milk, as well as the nutritional benefits of drinking milk themselves.

Community empowerment
Each village elects representatives for its own village development committee (VDC). Committee members learn leadership, project management and bookkeeping skills and become progressively responsible for planning, sourcing funds, monitoring and evaluating community development projects.

Through children’s clubs and other gatherings to mark international days such as World AIDS Day and Children’s Day, children learn about the importance of caring for each other’s needs for harmonious family and social relationships. They also gain an awareness of the social and health problems caused by alcohol, smoking, child marriage and the dowry system. (Dowry is the giving of goods by a bride’s family, placing a material value on the life of a girl. The expense of the goods given may impoverish a family, or a girl’s life may be threatened if goods are promised but not given.)

Sustainable development
World Vision started Dumaria Area Development Programme in October 1994. The ADP is working with the community to increase its capacity to access resources for ongoing development without World Vision’s direct assistance. We will keep you updated on their progress.