History of the Project
SURABI has been making a study of the Province in its effectiveness in different place of its presence from 1998 to 2002.  It took place in two levels external and internal.  The former was done with the people around our institutions and latter with the Salesians, the staff and students.  The findings were analyzed scientifically and the following results were obtained:
+ The services of Salesians have been appreciated and recognized by all the beneficiaries.
+ The active presence of the Salesians has brought a transformation in the lives of the people.
+ The method and value system was greatly appreciated

At the same time the following were also found:
+ We are empowering people who approach us and our institutions
+ The real needy people are not even aware that there is a place for them in our system
+ The beneficiaries are far away from other places and the people around our institutions were not much benefited

Thus, a new approach is followed in the formulation of the project.  The project aims at Economic empowerment
            Educational empowerment
            Social empowerment

The Project is approved by the Provincial Council and funded by the Belgian Government through DMOS-COMIDE, Belgium for five years from 2005-6 to 2009-10.

Design of the Project
The entire Province is divided into seven regions namely, Andaman, Chennai, Jawadhi Hills, Kotagiri, Polur, Pondicherry and Thirupattur for the project implementation.

Each Salesian community is taken as a unit and the center for implementing the project around the Salesian presence.  The local Salesian community facilitate the empowerment activities.


Scope of the Project
Building a just and peaceful civil society towards prosperity through supportive, strategic and socialistic approaches”

General Objective
Overall improvement of the socio-educational, economic, political and cultural conditions of the poor slum/rural/tribal youth and women from economically vulnerable and socially excluded communities in the identified intervention areas of Northern Tamil Nadu served by the Salesian Province of Chennai.

Specific Objective
The economically vulnerable and socially excluded rural/slum/tribal women and disadvantaged youth utilize their human and social capital to develop their potential through improvement and upgrading of enhanced knowledge and need-based job skills, better access to labour markets and income generation programmes, that will bring economical development, social transformation and community participation.

Target Group
The poor and the marginalized youth and women living in the 7 Regions mentioned above.  These will be direct beneficiaries and the indirect beneficiaries will be the dropout school children, street children and the youth at risk. And the families of group members and the villagers

Strategy
The mobilization of youth and women in the target areas through Self Help Groups and empowering them socially, economically and politically through entrepreneurship training and market oriented skills training in short term module through existing TVET centers and job placement through Vazhikatti”  Thus the Programme Project was formulated  for the development of its target group, the underprivileged slum/urban/rural/tribal women and youth, youth at risk, street children, school drop-outs and child labourers, in the identified intervention areas of Northern Tamil Nadu served by the Salesian Province of Chennai.
     
SHG(Self Help Group), which is a popular method for empowerment of the people is taken as means to achieve the goal of empowerment.  SHG is not an end but a means to achieve the goal.  The SHGs are in turn are grouped in to clusters and clusters into Federation.  Within five years, these people structures are made into self sustainable and the Salesians become the animators of these people movements

This Empowerment is done by organizing the people into Self Help Groups, inculcating in them the habit of thrift and savings, providing training for starting tiny industries, entrepreneurship training for self-employment, starting of cooperatives for sales of the products, participating in the planning of the local administration and to cater to the needs of the local area, making the machineries like educational departments, village self government units effective.

Activities
The target villages are visited and PRA is conducted to identify the target group; Awareness meetings are conducted in the villages; Self Help groups are organized among the identified beneficiaries; Various training programmes are conducted for the groups; Small savings are encouraged and deposited in the banks; inter-lending among the groups is facilitated for their consumption needs; Thus formed SHGs are trained to take up income generation programmes like running a grocery shop, whole sale rice shop and they are boosted to take up public contracts. The groups take the responsibility of education of the children in the village by putting them in the school, by conducting evening tuitions and coaching classes.

They will elect their own leaders who are known as animators an representatives.  They will lead the group and the leadership is rotational.  Each member will save an amount weekly or monthly as decided by the group.  The amount to be saved is also decided by the group. Each month they also contribute a small amount as subscription for the expenses of the running of the group. The savings and the subscription are deposited in a bank and operated by the animator and the representatives jointly,

Trainings
Two types of trainings are given to the group. Namely, group training and employment oriented training.
1. Groups trainings
These trainings consists of the following:
Group account  keeping
Leadership training
Legal Aid training
Health & Hygiene training
Women’s rights
Child’s rights
Business training
Banking
2. Employment training
Business account keeping
Self employment trainings
Trades
Business banking
   
As a first step, the members are encouraged to save a minimum from their earnings.  The group pressure is so much that each one decides that he/she can save in spite of the difficult situation.

In the second step, the groups of the same locality are brought together to start some business activities.  This gives self confidence to the members and also the experience gained is shared by the members, in turn it becomes a Business experience for the group members. The internal lending is discouraged and the income is shared by the groups which becomes part of the group savings.  It is the main activity in the first year.

In the third step, the groups are encouraged to start some business activities.  It may be done by all or part time by few and full time by others.  With the experience of the group’s business the group does well and the profit is shared by the members.  At this stage the members should be able to pay the savings from the group enterprises.  This should be achieved at the end of the second year.

The fourth step.  With the experience of the group the individual or some individuals jointly venture upon business activities.

The members gained a lot of experience and the minds of the members are ready for business activities. This should be achieved at the end of the third year. In the fourth and fifth years the clusters and federations are strengthened and many more groups become part of the clusters and federations.  At the end of the fifth year the whole structure should be managed by the people themselves with the help and guidance from SURABI.

C l u s t e r s
Clusters are made up of groups in a particular geographical location.  They should be close to each other.  The elected members from the groups form the cluster.  The members of the cluster elect their own President, Secretary and Treasurer.  This cluster acts as a link between the groups and the Federation. It facilitates all the activities between the groups.

F E D E R A T I O N
It is made up of elected members from the Clusters.  The Federation will elect its own president, the Secretary and Treasurer.  It will coordinate and facilitate all the activities between clusters.

Fr. Lawrence Soosai SDB
Bsc. B.Ed., MBA., DNGO, MHRM
Mobile Number +91.9444041904

Location

The Director
SURABI
The Citadel
45 Landons Road
Chennai – 600 010