In 1997, FSC’s approach underwent a radical change. This was on two accounts, firstly, the organisation decided to follow a neighbourhood policy and secondly diverse kinds of intervention were initiated. The fallout was that the area of intervention was restricted to the geographical limits of “A” and “B” municipal wards to avoid duplicity and to make possible the adoption of a more intensive and multi-faceted intervention strategy.
Hitherto, FSC’s outreach had been limited to making visits to the homes of sponsored children. However now for the first time, keeping in view the holistic development of the child and the need for a nurturing environment at all levels, it was determined that intervention would have to be at the level of schools, family and the community which comprise the significant stakeholder groups that have an impact on the development of the child.
FSC’s foray into the community was initiated with this rationale. Azad Nagar was the first slum community that we worked with. However we did not enter the slum community with any pre-determined programme. Instead we began by interacting with the youth group that was pro-active but lacked direction. Hence we channelised their energies in a more constructive manner and enabled them to take up issues of community development. Through the youth group we met with the women in the community and in the initial period restricted our role to information dissemination. As we discussed various socially relevant issues at these meetings, the women gradually began to express their concerns and problems related to alcoholism, wife battering, garbage disposal and food security.
It was thus that the points of our intervention emerged. Following is an account of the different kinds of intervention that the organisation has undertaken over the past decade not only in the Azad Nagar community but also in other slums like Ambedkar Nagar and more recently in the Sundar Nagar and Sudam Zopadi slum communities where we spread our work slowly and steadily making positive impact. |
