AID Chennai

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AID Chennai

• Post Tsunami
• Vision, Strategy Plan

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AID Chennai Pre-Tsunami

• Organization
• 35 full-time volunteers
• worked together with TNSF volunteers
• Teams
• Material Production Team
• Science Education Team
• Pre-primary Primary School Team
• Middle School Team
• Health Team

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AID Chennai Pre-Tsunami

• Programmes
• Hundred Block Plan (HBP)
• Integrated program in health, education and
  community empowerment
• Makkal Palli Iyakkam (MPI)
• Arogiya Iyakkam (AI)
• Self Help Groups MALAR, DEEPAM etc.
• Policy intervention
• TN govt. policy on malnutrition

Resource Group in Health and Education
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Post Tsunami AID Chennais Role

• Leadership
• Immediate Medium Term Relief
• Identified and worked with grassroot groups in
  Cuddalore, Nagai, Chennai districts
• Liaison b/w State Govt. and NGO groups
• Formulated a longer term rehab plan in Chennai,
  Nagai, Cuddalore

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AID Chennai post-tsunami

• Organization
• Many part-time volunteers from the engineering
  and software industry
• 60-70 full time AID Chennai volunteers
• Full time field volunteers identified in village
  clusters where AID Chennai has been working
  post-tsunami
• Good relationship with govt.
• Support from UNDP UNICEF
• Resource group to other grassroot NGOs in TN

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AID Chennai Vision

• To bring about a significant improvement in the
  quality of life of the poor and marginalized all
  over Tamil Nadu. In particular to improve the
  quality of education, health, gainful employment
  and agricultural practices. To work on the above
  issues with a secular and equity oriented
  perspective.

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Philosophical basis for Approach

• What are interventions that wouldnt have
  happened after relief agencies leave the area
• In each interventional area
• Understand the depth of the problem and
  effective ways to address the problem
• A Mechanism for scaling up the solution
• Need a strategy to work both in the Tsunami as
  well as the poorer non-tsunami villages

• Implementation Plan
• Model Development - integrated cluster
  development
• Creation of Resource Groups
• Work with other groups to scale model, influence
  policy

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AID Chennai Areas of Intervention
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Short term interventions in Tsunami affected
areas

Construction
Boats Nets
Relief Supplies

• Purely gap-filling role
• Support role to govt. initaitve
• Ensure marginalized groups receive support

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• Six different roles for AID Chennai
• Program Development and Implementation
• Learning and creating new program components
• Implementing in AID Integrated Blocks
• Implementing in other villages/schools on a test
  scale
• 2. Program Implementation - Resource Group Role
• Joint programmes with Government/Institutions
• Joint programmes with other NGOs
• Joint programmes with local groups like tuition
  centers, youth groups, womens groups, etc.
• 3. Support Resource Group Role
• Developing resource materials and
  distributing/selling to a larger network
  schools, NGOs, Govt, individuals, etc
• Helping groups with training, funds, volunteers
  and ideas

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Six different roles for AID Chennai (contd.) 4.
Reaching out colleges, companies, media,
newsletters Writing, talking, videos and reaching
out to the outside world about our programmes and
issues Sensitizing people on the issues on the
ground Motivating people to join volunteer and
donate Raising funds for the teams programmes
and activities 5. Team Building Getting new
volunteers and fulltimers into the
program Developing ways to motivate them and
involve them fully Building capacities and
creating a resource group that expands in numbers
and scale and dimensions of work. 6. Policies,
Studies and Campaigns Developing a policy
position and working with NGOs and Movements on
brief campaigns and public sensitization Forming
or participating in long term coalition(s) of
NGOs and movements with a clear and progressive
perspective on policies and intervention
strategies.
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Structure for Implementation

• AID Chennai Volunteers Network
• Company College Chapters (e.g. Sathyam, Loyola,
  MCC)
• Focus Groups across locations (similar to cells
  across chapters in the US)
• AID Chennai core group
• 2. AID Chennai fulltimers
• 3. AID Chennai field teams
• Eureka Village Branches
• Block Resource Teams
• Block fulltimers Team

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Implementors

• AID Chennai 2 clusters Koovathur and
  Kelambakkam - 28 villages
• NESA SWC 3 other clusters in Nagai,
  Cuddalore Pondicherry 65 villages

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Nature of programs across different interventions

• Infrastructure alone programs
• boats, nets gap filling
• Long Term Programs (Min. 3 years to see impact)
• These are field programs like a health
  counseling program, or a support center for
  children, or an income generation and vocational
  training program, or a school quality improvement
  program.
• Programs not usually affected by decision to
  change/ quit/ leave
• Long Term Community Service Programs
• These are service systems like starting and
  running model schools, running a health van or a
  health center or a mobile science lab program.
  There is an initial infrastructure cost in these
  programs and an annual running cost.

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Sustaining Longer Term Service Programs Need
for Corpus Fund

• Basic Running Cost A corpus fund will meet the
  expenses for this part. Estimated an interest
  return of 8 each year on the Corpus. This corpus
  ensures that basic running cost is met. Limiting
  the corpus to the basic running alone makes the
  corpus a smaller part of the entire cost and
  keeps the organization on its toes trying to
  raise funds each year by reporting the previous
  years work.
• Additional Running Cost Each year this amount
  must be raised to ensure quality improvements in
  the program and to ensure additional reach or new
  components are added to the service system.

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Responses from Balaji to initial queries
(1) The annual expenses are smaller
(understandably) than the corpus fund suggested.
One question that comes to mind Can the same
approach that has been used for most projects
including HBP be applied here support the
project for 3-5 years and see if some other help
materializes from the govt/ Panchayat, self-help
money (as in the Malar model) etc. The proposal
has suggested a corpus model. We would like to
understand the corpus model from the point of
view of sustainability of the program.
Specifically, it would be interesting to know if
the change in approach (given that HBP did not
use a corpus model approach) is needed for
sustaining this project. If this is indeed the
case, does AID Chennai have new insights into the
sustainability of large scale projects like these
that were not articulated before?

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No - we cannot use a 3-5 year funding model. In
HBP and other projects we can wind up the project
after 3-5 years. We cannot do this here. A
school cannot be shut down even if you have no
funds - a support center program can! Secondly,
sustainability is based not only on the funding
that comes from a source, but on a group's
ability to raise funds regularly. For example AID
Chennai has the confidence that we can raise on
an average about 30 Lakhs every year from the
various sources that we are in touch with. We
can therefore take up committments of that scale
without worrying about the next year's funding.
We know that next year we will be able to raise
that scale of funds if we make some effort. Good
years mean we raise it with no trouble, bad year
means we raise it with more effort! But if the
scale is ten times the normal scale (bec of the
Tsunami), then our regular channels cannot
support a program of this magnitude. Even with a
lot of effort it is not possible for us to raise
this amount the next year. That's why we need a
corpus - not for the full amount, but for the
amount that must be compulsorily raised to
continue the project. With our other contacts
(that includes (though not solely) AID-USA!) we
can hopefully raise the remaining required each
year. Having put in so much into infrastructure
and projects - it is important to continue the
programs and that requires minimum for the
continuation of the projects - that's why the
corpus. Also - in most cases - we spread out
efforts over a wide area - we therefore work
where the response is very good. We also have a
lot of time to build up community involvement and
motivation. In this case the areas we are working
in is small area - local mobilization is harder,
also the time is short and so there isn't time to
do enough local mobilization. This also leads to
a need for a corpus - as one cannot be assured of
a lot of local support to sustain the project.
Of course this does not mean there is not enough
local participation - once a project has funding,
if useful, done well and carefully, people will
be willing to benefit from it. But to pay for the
services is a different matter - much more
tougher! Participation accepting a service and
finding it useful. Paying for it finding it so
useful and valuing it highly enough that they are
willing to pay for it. These are not both of the
same degree of ease.
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(4) The proposal/other reports suggest that AID
Chennai has a working relationship with the state
relief commissioner/local DC in some affected
districts and specifically that organizations
like AID should focus on program operations while
the govt will focus on infrastructure. Also, the
proposal says - "The government and UNICEF have
recognized our critical role in these areas and
consider our work as models for replication If
the above is indeed true, don't we want to try to
off-load infrastructure costs of the model to the
govt. and work in partnership, so that we can
concentrate on program issues? Ans No. We
want to influence what the govt does in its
projects. We don't want them poking their nose
into our model projects. Our model projects are
our strength giving us the ability to influence
their projects. We will of course work with them
on some joint projects - like teacher training
and improving govt schools.
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(5) If AID is to fund the infrastructure
components, this proposalsuggests a trend towards
a parallel/competing with govt vs a
gap-filling/improving current services of govt
model. Is this a wrong inference that we may be
making? What are AID Chennai's thoughts on
this? Yes - wrong inference. See it in the
context of a larger interevention with the
existing government infrastrure and programs. If
we were only doing the indep schools and indep
programs the inference makes sense. WE are
already working with the govt schools and health
programs in a big way - without any direct
infrastructure or programs. Now the independent
programs and infrastructure helps us in setting
up models to influence the larger programs we
have with the government's existing schools and
PHC, etc. So the purpose is not to set up
parallel programs - it is try out independent
ideas and demonstrate it and build it to some
level of competency that can then be used to
influence the existing government programs and to
make them change for the better. It is parallel
only if the programs are not going to feed into
govt. programs. Here the purpose is to do
exactly that - so it is not parallel.
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(2) Eureka Model Primary School The cluster
model says that there will be 1 model primary
school servicing 5 villages (expandable to
20 villages). Wont there be resource competition
in the village where the model primary school be
situated? i.e. assuming the cluster center will
be physically situated in a Tsunami affected
village with non-Tsunami villages making up the 5
villages around it? Is the govt. not
building schools in the Tsunami affected village
itself? If not, why not? If so, will this model
school not compete with the govt. school for kids
and resources (teachers) in the village it is
setup in? Ans There are lots of schools in the
area - govt and private. there are still lots of
children not in school! So this question though
theorectrically meaningful is not a practically
relevant question. Yes - it will draw some
children from the govt schools. But it will also
improve the quality of the govt schools and draw
more children overall into the education system -
thereby also increasing the number of children in
govt schools as well. The govt is rebuilding
schools broken - not building new ones. But as I
mentioned earlier there is still a need for good
quality schools and for improving the existing
schools quality.
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(3). Children and Women's Health - How do you
guarantee there will be a good relationship
between the trained health activist and the
PHC/govt.nurse? Won't you compete when you have
the learning center stock medicine and have
testing lab facilities? We have been doing this
in 800 villages in the HBP! Don't worry we can
ensure a good relationship - our job is to
improve, not blame - that's why we can build the
relationship in a positive direction. When the
scale increases, the medicines will come from the
PHC and the VHN - they can show usage - so no
competition.
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Structure in AID US

• Overall coords (Brunda, Govind, Anand,
  Chandrika)
• Component Specific Teams

Primary Education Component Chapters San Deigo
Agriculture and Ecology Chapters Cincinnati
Middle School Component Chapters New Orleans and
Dallas
Equitec Technology Interventions Chapters Austin
and Milwaukee
Health and Womens Empowerment Chapters San
Diego, Baton Rouge, and Bay Area
Sports, Theatre, and Youth Groups Chapters
College Park
Income Generation and Vocational
Training Chapters New York and Philadelphia