24 months ago, Hand in Hand India introduced the Village Upliftment Programme -VUP in Konerypatti Agraharam Panchayat.

Major activities conducted under this programme include child labor elimination, school strengthening project, socio-economic development of women, micro-finance, enterprise development, basic health and personal hygiene, computer literacy, good governance and environmental protection.

Women empowerment & Job creation

Achieved 18 Self Help Groups – 216 women enrolled.

Child labor elimination & education

•  78 children enrolled in schools
• 68 awareness programs on child labor conducted – 1702 persons participated
• Panchayat is now declared child friendly

 Health

• 139 group awareness meetings and mass awareness conducted – 2662 persons attended
• 2 general medical camps in place which 343 persons have benefited from
• 3 special medical camps in place which 296 persons have benefited from (ortho, ophthalmology, gynecology, pediatric)
• 55 toilets constructed (in collaboration with local government, 80% of the households were motivated to construct toilets)
• 64 attended health training modules (personal hygiene, water & sanitation, maternity & child health, anemia, nutrition and community health)

  Citizens’ Centre

• 757 persons made aware of computers
• 148 persons underwent computer courses

Environment

• 17 awareness programs on environment conducted
• 61 mass cleaning camps organized
• 10 sets of dustbins were set up

 General program outcomes

• Income generating skills training program like tailoring and foot-mat making boosted women to start home based enterprises.
• SHGs have become the sources of income for the welfare of the families.
• Slow learners have shown improvement in subjects they found tough through Children Learning Centre.
• The renovated Anganwadi has a conducive atmosphere for learning and parents have now started sending their children.
• Health based interventions created improvements in health and hygiene conditions of the villagers.
• Increased awareness on computer (IT related) and basic rights have been witnessed among the community people.
• Promotions of Kitchen garden units have helped both women and adolescent girls to improve their health status
• Most of the people have started to promote organic farming and maintaining the surrounding premises clean and green.
• Green friends (Garbage collectors) received special resource kit through HIH India. 

Program impact

• The improved economic conditions have made families self-sustainable and helped them to lead a better lifestyle in terms of education and other aspects of life.
• The tailoring training provided to the women has made them self-reliant and they are also supporting their families financially.
• The periodical veterinary camps were helpful in controlling seasonal diseases like foot-and-mouth in cows, buffalos, goats & sheep and production of robust calves.
• Children learning center has given more attention to the slow learners to improve the standard of learning.
• Special ophthalmology camp supported the senior citizens in the community by ensuring the clear vision.
• People are aware of drinking water, personal hygiene, maternity and child health, nutrition, anemia and community health.
• People started segregating waste using dustbins installed in the premises of the panchayat.
• Promotion of kitchen garden has benefited the adolescent girls and women in the village to improve their health status, their ability to work well and their family status improved.

Here you can download and read the full report

Hand in Hand India will continue to monitor the village through the Village Development Committee to ensure that the community has been able to take ownership of the development work and that the VDC is active and sustainable.