Highlights of £5 Million 🥳🌏
SOTE CELEBRATE £5 MILLION IN DONATIONS
The role of Salt of the Earth is, and always has been, the bridge between you, our supporters, and our carefully selected partners (NGOs) in Tamil Nadu. The NGOs consult with the communities they serve and make funding recommendations, which, in most cases, we are able to approve.
When everything is considered the amount of change and benefit that has occurred as a result of your support is enormous and long-lasting. Below we highlight major examples of what your donations have been spent on.
Saltpan workers, early 1990s
MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES
Saltpan workers and their families were the first to benefit. These people lived and worked in a hostile and unhealthy environment. Work was low paid and seasonal. Working conditions were substantially improved and sunglasses were provided to offset the tremendous glare caused by the sun’s reflection on the salt crystals. Child labour, which previously was rife, was eliminated.
A leprosy colony created by sufferers who had been ostracised by society was a major beneficiary. Homes and a community centre were built as well as a medical centre where daily treatment was given. Support groups were set up which were invaluable in improving the inhabitants’ feelings of self-worth.
Elsewhere gypsy, snake catcher and begging communities have been similarly supported.
School children being screened for covid
EMERGENCY APPEALS
On 26 December 2004, India was one of a dozen countries hit by a devastating tsunami. Houses and facilities were destroyed, and several hundred thousand were lost. Murray and Janet, who were in India at the time, visited impacted locations and launched an emergency fundraiser that raised over £200,000 in three months. Our tsunami appeal funded food, clothing, cooking utensils, and shelter for thousands of fishing village families who had lost everything. It funded replacement nets and boats, and provided counselling services for many traumatised men, women, and children.
As well as our appeal, we obtained over £200,000 from CAFOD, a large Catholic charity, to build eight new village community centres in affected shoreline villages. Our tsunami response provided support to an estimated 1 million people.
From 2020-2021, we launched two emergency appeals to provide aid during India’s Covid crisis. The appeals raised over £80,000 and provided food, water, medical support and hope to many thousands of marginalised families. The appeal funded extracurricular schooling that taught and fed children for 18 months in the complete absence of government education.
Food relief during Covid-19 crisis
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
A major issue our NGO partners have always brought to us is the position of women in the villages in a highly patriarchal society. As a result, the recruiting, training and supporting of Women’s Self Help Groups (WSHGs) has always been a big priority and will continue to be so.
Some changes in the past 25 years have been external, like the arrival of mobile phones for example, which allowed arrangements about the next meeting to be passed around. However, more changes have been brought about as a direct consequence of membership of WSHGs. Over one hundred thousand women have received training which enables them to save money regularly, support each other and commit to making life better for themselves, their daughters and their communities. The personal change and growth in confidence arising from membership of these groups has brought about real social change in the villages.
A march for women’s rights, early 2000s
International Women’s Day Celebration 2022
Bore well, pump and storage tank in rural village
Reverse Osmosis Plant
WATER
The rural poor are without running water in their homes and they mostly rely on government pipelines. Unfortunately, these pipelines, which supply water to a central water tank, are often inadequate, and irregular and the water is of poor quality. On top of this, salt intrusion of local water tables is a growing problem.
As water is so fundamental to good health and well-being, the provision of it has always been a priority and over 100 water generation and purification projects have been built. In most cases, bore wells and pumps have been installed as an alternative to government water supplies. In addition, ten reservoirs have been built to catch the monsoon rain as have several rainwater harvesting systems. In response to the 1996 drought, money was raised to buy two water tankers which supplied life preserving liquid to desperate villagers. Two reverse osmosis plants to make brackish water drinkable have been commissioned, as have water storage tanks to villages, schools, and community buildings. 2,000 water SAWYER filter kits for families for home use have also been distributed to the most needy.
New granite floor in primary school
EDUCATION
Via our child sponsorship scheme, thousands of sponsored and other children have been given extracurricular education classes to supplement the often inadequate government schools. Our partner NGOs over the years have tirelessly worked to encourage parents to send their children to school, and now nearly every child attends full-time education up to the age of 16.
School premises and facilities are often inadequate and poorly maintained and many schools have been helped. Toilet blocks, fresh water facilities, granite floors and teaching equipment such as smart boards have all been provided.
HEALTH
Healthcare services in many rural villages were non-existent when we started. Now, with your support, access to healthcare for over 100 rural communities has been created by mobile clinics staffed by qualified doctors, with free medicine provided for those who cannot afford it. Two Jeeps were purchased for these clinics, thus enabling patients to get medical help without travelling many miles and giving up a day’s pay in order to go to a government health centre.
Cervical cancer screening camps have screened thousands of women and have supported patients throughout their cancer surgeries. Eye camps have tested villagers and hundreds have been operated on for cataracts for free. Over 10,000 pairs of glasses have been supplied. Our anaemia programme
for adolescent girls has helped to improve the red blood cell count of over 100 young women and provided valuable menstrual health information.
At hypertension camps, our partners have screened several thousand adults and provided lifestyle counselling for any concerns. In 2021, MASARD launched an ambulance service and transported close to 50 Covid and non-Covid related cases to nearby hospitals. MASARD’s child and family counselling service are the first of its kind in the local area and has helped over 100 individuals to deal with female domestic violence and marital problems, anger, anxiety and depression.
Village man with prescribed glasses
Rural Clinic in Action
Rural Development Centre
FACILITIES
Since 1988, help has been given to rebuild schools and homes, gardens, secured compounds and to build community centres. Offering a designated space for our partners and the people they support to call their own has been a privilege to provide.
In 2018 a much needed three-storey Rural Development Centre (RDC) for MASARD was built. The building is a multi-functional space, acting as a counselling office, admin office, meeting room, and training centre. In 2020 a community kitchen facility was built for our partner CRUSADE. The space caters for celebrations, Self Help Group and staff meetings.
Tailoring class for people with disabilities
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
In a society where most live hand to mouth in poverty, the plight of the disabled is even more difficult. What little government money there is available is often impossible to access because of ignorance and illiteracy and job opportunities are extremely limited. Parents of children born with disabilities are often ostracised leaving them without help of any kind.
Over the years help has been provided to combat these great injustices. For 15 years support was given to a specialist residential school for children with learning and physical difficulties and a mobile clinic was set up to visit the homes of affected families to give treatment and support. A successful campaign was run to make schools more accessible and receptive towards children with disabilities.
Currently, support is pledged to 185 specialised Self Help Groups for 1200 people with disabilities. Members are provided with a safe space to thrive and are supported in obtaining loans and national IDs. Groups have access to training such as tailoring and embroidery. In 2020, CRUSADE launched an independent trust to support members with disabilities and their families.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Since we began working in rural Tamil Nadu the climate has presented increased challenges to the life of the villagers. The area is currently experiencing record high temperatures.
To help alleviate this over 350,000 trees have been planted across Tamil Nadu, each tree selected for its timber, medicinal, fruit-bearing, or shade producing capabilities. As well as trees, hundreds of kitchen gardens have been set up allowing families to cultivate their own organic vegetables and fruits. Medicinal herb cultivation training has been provided to several hundred Self Help Group members for them to enjoy home-grown supplies of homoeopathic remedies. This activity has been accompanied with climate change awareness campaigns.
Both CRUSADE and MASARD now operate their own tree nursery to help supply saplings to the villages and organic grow bags are being produced to allow produce to be grown on rooftops and pavements for hundreds of families.
Campaign to plant 10,000 trees and environmental awareness march
Health and Beauty skills training for young women
INCOME GENERATION
By empowerment of rural people through skills training workshops, many families have been helped to create sustainable incomes. Over the years, close to 3,000 men and women have been trained in tailoring, embroidery, wire bag making, animal rearing, hair and beauty services, pottery, or sari embellishment. Training programmes have enabled people to become self-sufficient and build savings.
Loans from the savings accounts of Self Help Groups savings or local banks have enabled many members to start their own businesses and take pride in their achievements.
In 2020 MASARD trained over 100 young women in a variety of training programmes to empower them with options after education. Several of these young girls are now running successful wedding beauty services, embroidery, and tailoring businesses.
We hope you will agree with us that your £5 million has not only provided much needed support across a wide spectrum of activities, it has provided excellent value for money. Help us continue our vital work by providing general donations, or setting up a direct debit.