4 May 2024
Our partners hosted a training day for leaders of women's self-help groups in the KKPI federation. This federation is based in the Palani hills. It has 47 groups, most of them from tribal communities. Life is tough in the hills. They have to fight for the right to own land, which has often been in their families' management for generations, and income opportunities are scarce. This federation is leading the way to defend those communities and unite to share resources and support one another's development.
This training day enabled the group leaders to analyse their strengths and weaknesses and plan to take systematic action. Issues raised included stopping child marriage, what to do in cases of abuse and organising to secure public infrastructure. These programmes are how sustainable, grassroots development happens. Rather than coming in and telling communities how to develop, we merely facilitate a space for leaders of the communities to become empowered to make the changes that they want to see happen. The cascading effects of these programmes mean that future generations will develop this work and soon these marginalised communities will be in control of their own destinies rather than be pushed around by the fast-paced development of the rest of society.