Self Help Groups and microfinance programs:

For the women empowerment Community Seva Centre is running 220 SHG and providing loans for their livelihood and business empowerment which includes milch animal, goat rearing and rabbit rearing, with the support of  Canara Bank, ICICI, Bank of Baroda, HDFC and the training support by Govt. of India.

Microfinance is usually understood to entail the provision of financial services to micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, which lack access to banking and related services due to the high transaction costs associated with serving these client categories. The two main mechanisms for the delivery of financial services to such clients are (1) relationship-based banking for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses; and (2) group-based models, where several entrepreneurs come together to apply for loans and other services as a group. Through this program around 320 beneficiaries benefited and enhanced their livelihood.

Family Counseling Centre:

Every family is unique with its own combination of strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes families get overwhelmed by what seems like an endless list of challenges when it comes to juggling work, school and individual family members’ needs. Family counseling centre, which is aided by Central/State Social welfare, has been run by Community Seva Centre since 2008. Through this service about 320 family problems have been solved and resettled. Various awareness programs have been conducted on health, education and family issues through the same service.

The main problems dealing in family counseling centre are the following:

• • Wife Beating
  • Desertion/separation
  • Treatment/harassment
  • Extramarital
  • Abduction (kidnapping)
  • Drug addiction and alcoholism
  • In laws problem
  • Child custody
  • Dowry problems
  • Help for marriage
  • Vocational training
  • Unwed mother and unwanted pregnancy
  • Legal aid required
  • Required shelter in home/orphanage

Awareness Programs:

Community Seva centre conducts information, education, communication and awareness programs on particular issues for the community which include health issues, education issues, self employment issues for women, child agency, employability skill training etc.

Community Seva Centre staff also provided breastfeeding mothers with awareness on the purpose and benefits of vaccinating babies and explained thus how to protect their babies from disease. More than 5000 mothers have benefited from this source.

Beautician Course:

Beauticians provide a range of facial and body care treatments at salons, day spas or in their own businesses. Community Seva Centre organized six months long training sessions about skin care, waxing, relaxation massages, nail care, lash and brow tint and cosmetology. These courses involved adult women, adolescents and widows.

Antenatal care (ANC) & Prenatal care (PNC):

The Community Seva Centre provides ANC & PNC awareness to the people of villages. While surveying the villages around Ariyankuppam Commune Panchayat, the antenatal care service utilization was generally good while the postnatal care given to newborn children was very low compared to other population groups in the region. Promoting women’s education and behavioral change communication at grass root level, provision of the services at both home and health facilities, and improving the quality and capacity of the health providers are some advice & aware to the target community peoples. Community Seva Centre staff have also told people about the importance of this program and  this project benefits more than 500 pregnant and lactating mothers a year.

• •  Doctor from PHC  at Thavalakuppam  elaborated  about the prenatal care includes general health advice for mums and dads-to-be as well as some simple do’s and don’ts to try and ensure a healthy pregnancy. For those couples who are finding it difficult to get pregnant we offer early fertility advice and then, if required, can refer on to one of the excellent local fertility specialists.
  • Antenatal care ensures that mum and baby are regularly monitored throughout the pregnancy making sure the pregnancy progresses smoothly and that specialist intervention is sought early if required. Antenatal care usually involves a ‘shared care’ approach between your GP and the local hospital or private obstetrician. Some couples may elect for all their care to be with a private obstetrician. In this program many pregnant women participated and gained knowledge. 

Mother & child care and nutrition program:

The fight against persistent underweight, stunting and wasting among children in developing countries is based on appropriate maternal, infant and young child feeding practices including micronutrient deficiencies prevention and control. More than half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition, which weakens the body’s resistance to illness. Poor diet, frequent illness, and inadequate or inattentive care of young children can lead to malnutrition.

If a woman is malnourished during pregnancy, or if her child is malnourished during the first two years of life, the child’s physical and mental growth and development may be slowed. This cannot be made up when the child is older, it will affect the child for the rest of his or her life.

Our program for children and women gives a caring, protective environment, nutritious food and basic health care to protect them from illness and promote growth and development.

Immunization and family planning:

Our community centre is giving awareness through a family planning awareness program for men and women giving different family planning methods, namely pills, depo, implants, IUDs, condoms. All participants were positive about family planning, mentioning a number of benefits like the health of both the child and the mother, improved family financial status and providing adequate time and resources to care for the family.

The use of family planning helps the family to be able to provide the children with their basic needs, when you have planned it is easier to take care of them, mothers also get time to rest and recover their health, the children will be healthy because the mother has enough time to take care of them and breastfeed them. 

General women’s programme:

Community Seva Centre is keen about the empowerment of women in the society. They were brought under one federation called Seva Mahalir Sangamam. It has more than 175 women self help groups and executes its services with the support of Community Seva Centre. The Self Help Groups members were given training in accounts keeping, leadership and enterprise development activities. 

• • Tailoring: 150 women underwent a tailoring course and the District Industrial Centre has sent 7 trainees. The trained women themselves started earning income through tailoring by stitching blouses, skirts, frocks, churidar etc. And every year 50 womens benefited in this project.
  • Coir training: 50 women in Karikalampakkam village underwent training for motorized ratt spinning with the stipend of Rs.500 per month. Added to that, they were given a motorized spinning machine at a subsidized rate of Rs.2500. Similarly, the coir production during training period was sold in the market and also exhibited in the Chennai Exhibition and Pondicherry Exhibition organized by the Community Seva Centre. As a follow up activity, DIC conducted a quality improvement programme.
  • Rural awareness programme (RAP): Central Board for Workers’ Education, Chennai had conducted a series of ‘Two Days’ RAP in eight villages and the participants were given incentives Rs. 150. 320 women participants enjoyed the programme and they were given knowledge on health care, gender issues, human rights, women and child rights.
  • Parents meetings: Monthly parents meetings were conducted for CCF sponsored families and they were imparted knowledge on health & sanitation, nutrition, Basic education etc.
  • Better nutrition better life project: in order to prove the given statement, additional health tips were provided for the poor people. In the nutrition programme following aspects were covered:
    

• • • One week certificate course: with the help of Dept of Food and Nutrition, a one week certificate course was conducted for 40 female youths. This course was offered for providing employment opportunities for the unemployed female through employment exchange or to start their own business like pickle making, jam making etc;
    • Oriented nutrition training: in order to provide healthy and neatly prepared food for the children of preschool run by the organization and the government run centre, 20 caretakers and teachers underwent nutrition training and they practiced in their centers. Added to that, they also teach the parents of the children about nutrition food and how to prepare it;
    • Kitchen gardening: 190 families were given vegetable seeds kits with the help of the Agriculture Department to form kitchen gardening in their backyard. This arrangement helped the people to make use of green and fresh vegetables at free of cost. On the other hand, wastewater from their house is also utilized properly and to reduce the mosquito menace;
    • Giriraja chicks: 200 families were given with giriraja chicks (hybrid chicks) for dual purposes. This arrangement was made for malnourished children and ill-healthy families. The female chicks give up to 180 eggs in a year and male chicks might be used for meat.