OUR STORY

The Historical Evolution

The social change and empowerment mission of Sahayi perhaps evolved, at least partially, from the founder G. placid’s own initial exposure to the lives of the poor, marginalized and the excluded, as well as to those individuals, groups and social organizations worked to improve their conditions.

The founder was initiated into social work through National Service Scheme ( a scheme to harness the unused energies of the university youth into nation-building activities ) of the Indian Government while he was a graduate student in 1972. As a volunteer and Leader of this forum, he worked among Fisherfolk in coastal areas, who are one of the most vulnerable people in the state. His state Government service in the Department of Tribal welfare, created for the welfare and upliftment of the most vulnerable tribal community in the state, brought him into direct contact with the community, their pathetic conditions and unresolved issues.

After completing his Masters Degree in Economics he joined Cochin University as a programme officer in their Continuing and Distant Education programme. Subsequently he joined in the Centre for Development Studies as a Research Associate. During this period he established a Voluntary organization- West Kallada Social Welfare Society, in his own native place - West kallada in Kollam District for organizing welfare programmes for the marginalized communities and training programmes for the unemployed youth in the area. Through these engagement and services he gained wider experiences and exposures to the developmental issues pertaining to different sections of our society. One of his major assignments in Centre for Development Studies was a research study on the NGO and VDO sector in Kerala. These exposure eventually led to work with an NGO – Trivandrum District Fishermen Federation (a federation of 30 grass-root fishermen co operative societies in Trivandrum District,

Disaster Mitigation Role of Local Government – Lessons from Kerala [G. PLACID]

Tsunami relief and rehabilitation intervention were very new to SAHAYI. Even though we had no such experience, Sahayi could explore a new series of innovations in addressing such situations. Organizing community mess, psycho-social care, ensuring community participation in planning and implementing programs for addressing community issues, etc., were a few of them. Various interventions of Sahayi generated a lot of data regarding the socio-political, economical, and religious attitudes and approaches and their positive and negative effects and challenges that could be faced by an NGO when it really intended to make some differences. The learning which we gained during the process is enriching and will be very useful in the future.

An overview of disaster management issues in the context of Tsunami Disaster prepared by Dr. Antony Gregory, which emphasizes the need to establish and sustain a holistic disaster management system that will support and enhance the development process, is also included.

Integrated psychosocial support for Tsunami-Affected Community.- Experience of Sahayi in Alappad Panchayat KOLLAM [G. PLACID]

Sahayi had no experience in mental health and psychosocial intervention among disaster victims until the Asian Tsunami struck the Kerala coast. Sahayi had been primarily a capacity-building NGO, with significant intervention among CBOs and local self-governance institutions in Kerala. Alappad Panchayat and the Panchayat committee were virtually paralyzed, Sahayi felt a moral obligation to intervene, with programs of relief and rehabilitation. Sahayi addressed issues and groups, largely ignored by governmental and non-governmental organizations. Mental health of the Tsunami victims was one such issue, and Sahayi had to organize itself to meet the challenge.

Seeking expertise from NIMHANS and DEEDS, Bangalore, and organizing Community Level Workers from among the tsunami survivors, Sahayi initiated a psychosocial care program. The program has been reported as effective by external and internal studies. This paper attempts to review the strategies adopted as well as the major findings of the evaluation studies. The strategy involved three components: community participation integrating psychological care with relief and rehabilitation programs and ensuring the sustainability of the psychological care program for long-term interventions. A holistic approach was adopted, and the program for psychosocial care was integrated with other relief and rehabilitation programs. Community participation and involvement were ensured by engaging tsunami survivors from the locality as Community Level workers for the implementation of the program. The CLWs have been trained in psychosocial care, interaction and communication skills, and organizing and leadership. Review meetings and consulting involving CLWs span beyond psychosocial care and encompass socioeconomic intervention forming part of the rehabilitation efforts. Further, the CLWs have been encouraged to organize themselves into a community-based organization, and this organization, with its own resources and programs, including income generation and empowerment programs, can carry on the psychosocial intervention when Sahayi leaves the scene.

From the psychosocial intervention and its outcomes, Sahayi could learn some enriching insights as narrated in this paragraph. Disaster survivors need immediate psychosocial help as well as long-term community-based mental health support to deal with mental consequences such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, etc. Major long-term commitments will be needed if the victims are to gain their mental health. The psychosocial care intervention in typical post-disaster situations is often far inadequate, particularly when whole communities are affected. Programs for restoring the mental health of disaster victims should be an integral part of the Disaster Management plan of the national and state governments. NGO interventions are often short-term, although the impact of a disaster event on mental health is often long-lasting. These, however, must be accomplished by long-term plans to rebuild essential mental health at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Special attention needs to be bestowed on psychosocial issues of women and the elderly in post-disaster intervention. In the rehabilitation of disaster victims, emphasis has always been on the involvement and participation of the local community. Psychological care of disaster victims is no exception. The self-help and healing capacity of the community need to be mobilized. The creation of long-term community-based mental health support, involving community-level mental health workers, will be especially vital. A comprehensive program for training community-level mental health workers shall be an essential part of the Disaster Management Plans of the national and state government. The commitment and professional capacity of local volunteers not only ensure continuity and sustainability of psychosocial support but also ensure the availability of a committed professional group whose service can be utilized elsewhere in similar situations. Linking psychosocial support with socio-economic programs would be an effective intervention strategy. Psychosocial intervention should form an integral part of the relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The impact of Sahayi’s psychosocial intervention has been assessed in this paper based on empirical data drawn from four independent field studies. The studies reveal that there has been a significant improvement in the health of the people in families where Sahyai’s psychosocial care team had intensive intervention. An external study has launched the efficacy of the intervention strategy of Sahayi as well as the commitment and capacity of CLWs.

The Experience of Sahayi : Capacity-Building for Sustainable Development (Gregory Placid) in the book-Improving pepole’s Lives –Lessons in Empowerment from Asia. (,Edited by Mukul Sharma.)published by Sge publication New delhi/London in association with The COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION ,London -2003

This book is the outcome of the commonwealth Foundation’s second NGO Documentation Fellowship programme ,which held in the Asian region from September to December 1999. It is part of a Commonwealth –wide series on the theme of lessons in Empowerment .The Foundation is an intergovernmental organization resourced by and reporting to Common wealth governments. It works within civil society in the Commonwealth and facilities connection between people ,their associations and communities ,so as to encourage the mutual learning the field of professional and community development .To this end, it initiated an analysis and documentation programme in 1998, with a view to publishing material about the work of Ngo’s especially in developing countries, which would be written not by outsider, but people working within these orginisations.

This Asian Volume documents NGO work across a huge geographical area, from Peshawar to Penang. It reflect the diversity of this area ,in the countries represented – India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka- and draws out important lessons in empowerment for rural communities, community based orginisations, women and ethnic minorities. The Foundation is indebtd to the four Fellows for recording their stories ,and to the editor, Mukul Sharma of India, for helping to shape their material .The foundation is indebted to the Aga Khan Rural Support programme and sahayi for each allowing members staff (Ali Dastgeer and Gregory Placid ) to participate in the fellowship programme ,and also to the university of Peradeniya and the University Sains Malaysia respectively for granting leave of absence to the two other author featured in this book(Muthvadivoo Sinnathamby and Siti Hawa Ali).

Organizational Strategies

Conducting extensive campaigns, awareness programs, consultations, seminars, workshops, and round table conferences.
Disseminating information on various topics.
Providing intensive and participatory training, as well as other educational interventions, to enhance the capacities of leaders from NGOs/VOs/CBOs/CSOs, Elected Representatives, and Local Self Government Officials.
Empowering women, youth, marginalized individuals, and those who have been excluded.
Engaging in action research and Impact evaluation of governance and development interventions, primarily for the purpose of public advocacy and policy lobbying.
Advocating for peace and social cohesion.
Fostering skill development, entrepreneurial growth among women, and supporting micro enterprises and income-generating activities.
Managing and mitigating disasters through community participation.
Advocating for good governance and promoting best practices by offering professional management consultancy support to various agencies.

Major intervention Areas

Sahayi's initial focus was on enhancing the capacity of voluntary organizations. Starting in 1994, this focus expanded to encompass the broader field of participatory development, local self-governance, and civil society organizations. Following the Tsunami disaster in December 2004, Sahayi took on the additional responsibility of providing relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction for the affected community. They also initiated disaster preparedness programs for the youth and children in the community.

One of our key support services involves offering professional management consultancy support for activities such as project identification, planning, and the preparation of project proposals. We also facilitate participatory training, conduct action research, and perform impact evaluations of projects and development interventions for non-governmental organizations, Local Self Governments, government departments, and national/international development agencies, among others.

In addition to providing various stakeholder groups with awareness and capacity building support, Sahayi has developed and updated a range of learning and training materials on various topics. These materials are published and distributed to various stakeholder groups.

Since 2012-13, there has been a strategic shift in our intervention policies, approaches, and resource mobilization. The current focus is on prioritizing the delivery of professional management consultancy support and services in response to the demands of partners, collaborators, and other agencies at local, national, and international levels.