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Director, Save A Family Plan India,

Aiswaryagram, Parappuram P.O., Kanjoor Via, Ernakulam District, Kerala State, India – 683 593

Phone: 0484-2462130, 2462230, 2466324 & 3943325

E-mail: augustineb@safp.org safpi@safp.org

Editorial Team:

Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara and Mr. Jacob. P.O Issue Number 3 October-December 2008 Director’s Desk In the context of Save A Family Plan and its development programs, animators are the appointed individuals who act as intermediaries between local partners (under the direction of SPED Coordinators) and the rural village communities in which projects are implemented. Local animators and grass roots volunteers are the real ‘ambassadors of development’ at the community level. They provide the necessary link between the local NGOs and community groups and families, by facilitating the transfer of new development knowledge and skills, and in building community consciousness. Each of SAFP’s 51 partner organizations appoints four animators (for a total of 204) to lead the SAFP programs at the grass root level. These individuals are critical to the success of the community development and family development programs, in that they are a visible and constant presence within their communities, and as equal stakeholders, are committed to the success and ultimate sustainability of development interventions. This process of using animators to inform and communicate with fellow stakeholders can be further enhanced by providing them with more intensive training. The training program will enable the animators from various partner NGOs to have an enriching interaction and experience sharing, become capacitated and deepen their commitment. More over, the animators will gain knowledge on how to deal with various types of people and become a real asset to the partner NGOs.

I wish much success to the animators who are going to participate in this residential training program organized by SAFP. Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara A Success Story from the WIN Society

“UNITY IS STRENGTH” This is one of the examples for unity of Chellanam village people. Chellanam is a small coastal village which we selected for SPED II project. Most of the people in this remote area go for fishing to earn their daily food. Some months ago, one of the mobile tower owned by the reliance company started their construction near to this coastal area. But it was found that they did not get proper sanction from the government authorities and yet they started the work for the installation of a mobile tower. The people objected to the installation due to 3 reasons:

• The radiation from the mobile tower is harmful to the people in the surrounding areas.

• The sanction for installing the tower was given within 200 meters from the sea which is considered as a prohibited area according to the CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone).

• The height of the tower is more than the normal which is also a threat to the coastal

security.

After getting the proper information regarding this through the RTI act, villagers started agitating against this tower construction by forming one action committee. Villagers faced lot of problems, like threats and objections but their strong desire and unity dissolved all. WIN made

an intervention among the people and encouraged them to work till they got justice. SHG members of WIN joined their hands with the public against this social problem, and raised their voices in order to obtain a peaceful and healthy environment in their society. After days of strikes and agitation, the action committee acquired a stay order from the court. When we analyze this success story, we can say that this recognition of the strong desire of the Chellanam village community has resulted because of the unity of the people. Bimonthly Review Meeting for the SPED II Coordinators The bimonthly review meeting and presentation of activities were conducted from 6th October to 8th October, 2008 for the SPED Coordinators from the NGOs which are implementing the watershed sector. Dr. Sunny George was the main resource person for the meeting. 28 Coordinators participated in the program. Among them, 8 were female and 20 were male. For the Coordinators from the NGOs who are implementing the Health and Education sectors, the meeting was organized from 8th October to 10th October, 2008. 16 coordinators participated in the program. Among them, 8 were male and 8 were female. Monitoring and Audit Visits to Partner NGOs Mr. Jose Varekulam, Program Support Officer, conducted field monitoring and audit visits to the partner NGOs of Prem Nivas in Gujarat, Raipur DSSS in Chattisgargh and Jabalpur DSSS in Madhya Pradesh and audit visits to Marthandom DSSS and Kottar in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Joy K.V- Program Support Officer, made field monitoring and audit visits to the partner NGOs of CAP India, Ernakulam and Kothamangalam DSSS and conducted audit visits to Ooty DSSS, Palakkad DSSS, WIN Society and Ernakulam DSSS. He also monitored the beneficiary selection process of income generation programs for unwed and abandoned mothers, being implemented by Ernakulam DSSS. Field monitoring visits were made to the partner NGOs of Idukki DSS, Ooty DSSS, Palakkad DSSS, Vijayapuram DSSS and Calicut DSSS by Jacob P.O, Program Officer. He also conducted visits to the NGOs of Vijayapuram DSSS, Thalassery DSSS, Irinjalakuda DSSS and Kottapuram DSSS to monitor the training on gender mainstreaming to the clergy. Training for SAFP Animators The residential training program for the animators was organized from 12th December to 14th December, 2008 at Aiswaryagram, Parappuram. Animators are the grass root level organizers of SAFP activities in the 51 partner NGOs. It was recognized by SAFP that capacity development of the animators is very important for the sustainability, cost-effectiveness and success of SAFP activities. These animators are involved in Family Development and Community development programs, implemented by the partners. The depth of their knowledge, skills in implementing

activities and the capacity to deal with various types of people are very essential. To equip them efficiently towards this purpose as a pilot program, a three day residential training program was conducted at Aiswryagram for the first group of 27 animators. Among the participants 24 were women and 3 were man. The participants were from the partner NGOs of Ernakulam DSSS, Varapuzha DSSS, Cochin DSSS, Kothamangalam DSSS, Irinjalakuda DSSS, WIN Society and CAP India. Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara- Director SAFP, welcomed all the participants and inaugurated the training program. In his inaugural address he expressed that the training program is intended to enable and enrich the animators so that the SAFP activities will be well organized at the grass root level. The efficient and effective implementation will lead to achieving the expected results of the activities. Fr. Augustine Bharanikulangara explained to the animators, the various programs implemented by Save A Family Plan. The major subjects dealt with during the training were Leadership, Communication, Counseling, Home Management, Participatory Exercises and Analysis and Monitoring & Evaluation. The resource persons were Mr. Bently Thadikaran, Mr. Joshy Varghese, Mr. Rajeev Ravindra, all from Rajagiri Outreach, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamasssery, Cochin and Mr. Jacob P.O, Program Officer SAFP. All sessions included group exercises, group discussions, presentations, role playing etc. The participants were quite active and this made the sessions lively and useful.

Content of the Sessions for the Training of Animators

by Mr. Bentli Thadikkaran ( Rajagiri Out Reach, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences)

Communication

Communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior. It is the art and technique of using words effectively to impart information or ideas.

Many of the problems that occur in a society are the direct result of people failing to communicate. Faulty communication causes the most problems. It leads to confusion and can cause a good plan to fail. Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another. It involves a sender transmitting an idea to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.

Communication Process

The communication process includes 3 steps

1. Thought: information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea, information, or feelings.

2. Encoding: a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols. 3. Decoding: the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information

that he or she can understand.

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Verbal Communication

• Verbal communication is further divided into written and oral communication. Oral communication can either be face-to-face communication or a conversation over the phone or on the voice chat over the Internet. Spoken conversations or dialogs are influenced by voice modulation, pitch, volume and even the speed and clarity of speaking. Written communication can be either via snail mail, or email. The effectiveness of written communication depends on the style of writing, vocabulary used, grammar, clarity and precision of language.

Non-Verbal Communication

• Non-verbal communication includes the overall body language of the person who is speaking, which will include the body posture, the hand gestures, and overall body movements. Facial expressions also play a major role while communicating since the expressions on a person’s face say a great deal about his/her mood. Non verbal communication can also be in the form of pictorial representations, signboards, photographs, sketches and paintings.

Different Types of Communication

1. Intrapersonal Communication: a person talks to his /her own self. It is essential for self examination.

2. Interpersonal Communication: the communication between two persons 3. Person to group: Communication extended by a person to group. eg: classroom 4. Inter-group Communication: Communication between groups.

Tips For Communication

1. Be more patient in listening than talking 2. Do not talk unnecessarily 3. Talk with a smile on face 4. Down to earth conversation leads to success in life 5. Start with addressing 6. Give thanks and say sorry when it is needed

7. Address a person by name 8. Stop before you are asked to 9. Speak only the truth 10. Respect other’s opinions and suggestions 11. Respect a persons mood before talking 12. Talk very precisely including the necessary content 13. Do not open your mouth if you are not clear about the subject 14. Talk with confidence

COUNSELING Counseling is an interactive process in which the counselee is one who needs assistance and the counselor is one who is trained and educated to give this assistance. WRONG NOTIONS ABOUT COUNSELLING

1. Giving advice: It helps the person to find solution by himself/herself 2. Motive is to find a solution- it is presenting the problem in front of a trained person 3. Counseling and guidance are the same.

STEPS IN COUNSELLING

1. Building a relationship between counselor and counselee The counselee should find the freedom to express his/her feelings. The Counselor should be well aware of the feelings of the counselee

2. Acceptance Accept the client as he/she is. The client may be a killer or immoral, but he/she is an individual. So the counselor should respect him/her

3. There should not be a mask between counselor and counselee The counselor should not make decisions or give instructions, but help the counselee to make a decision.

Counselors

Counselors are introspective, cooperative, directive, and attentive. Counselors find helping others to personally develop and reach their potential to be personally gratifying as they have a strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others. Counselors often communicate to others in a personalized manner and are positive and kind when dealing with others. Counselors are good listeners and are highly intuitive. They are often able to detect the emotions or intentions of another individual before the individual is aware of them. Counselors are sometimes amazed at their ability to read the emotions of others and this extreme empathetic ability could be the psychological basis for premonitions, mind reading, and other psychic phenomena.

Counselors usually have intricate personalities and rich inner lives. They tend to keep their innermost thoughts and emotional reactions to themselves, which can make them tough to get to know. Counselors tend to be private people, possibly because their ability to take in the emotional experiences of others can cause them to be easily hurt. They have great depth of personality and can understand complex issues and individuals.

Counselors often prefer to work on a one-to-one basis with others or to work intensely with people close to them. Counselors are happy doing jobs that require solitude and close attention. They are also happy working with others provided that the personal interactions are not superficial and they are given some quiet time in order to reenergize themselves. Counselors usually exert their influence behind the scenes rather than being a visible leader.

Counselors often work well in organizations. They value staff harmony, are good at consulting and cooperating with others, and they are concerned with the feelings of others. They strive to make an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. Counselors can also act as a barometer of the feelings within an organization.

Emotional conflict Emotional conflict is the presence in the subconscious of different and opposing emotions relating to a situation that has recently taken place, or, is in the process of being unfolded, accompanied at times by a physical discomfort and, in particular, by tension headaches.

Symptoms

These inner emotional conflicts can sometimes result in physical discomfort or pain, often in the form of tension headaches, the duration of which can range from a few minutes to days, and, in some cases even months, but would normally be a few hours. These tension headaches can be episodic or chronic, with episodic normally occurring less than 15 days a month, and chronic occurring 15 days or more in a month and sometimes stretching over a few months. The pain associated with tension headaches is normally mild to moderate, but can be severe.

Possible Remedy

Physical discomfort or pain without apparent cause is the way our body is telling us of an underlying emotional turmoil and anxiety. One way of dealing with such physical manifestations is by becoming aware of the real life conflict that triggered them. While it is not easy, and at times might even seem impossible, by relaxing, calming down, and trying to find out what recent experience or event could have been the cause of our inner conflict, by bringing these underlying conflicts to our awareness, by rationally looking at and dealing with the conflicting desires and needs, a gradual dissipation and relief of the pain is possible.

Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with effective coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress, with stress defined as a person's physiological response to an internal or external stimulus that triggers the fight-or-flight response. Stress management is effective when a person utilizes strategies to cope with or alter stressful situations.

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Govt. of Canada, to this Newsletter. www.acdi-cida.gc.ca