Gram Bikash Kendra (GBK) is a local-level, non-profit development organization working in the Northwest Region of Bangladesh. Since 1992, GBK has worked as an enabling force for vulnerable section of the community. In particular, GBK's work focuses on women, children and indigenous people. We have strong links with National and international organizations, including HEKS - Switzerland, ICCO - Netherlands, PKSF - Bangladesh, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Nayantara Communications-Bangladesh and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
DALIT project
Developing Alternative Life skills & Initiatives Together- DALIT Project
A. Introduction
Traditionally the Dalit (scavenger) peoples live from cleaning toilets, sweeping offices, road, markets, and drains etc. Because of this, they are victims of extreme social marginalisation, living apart from the wider community with minimum livelihood, health and sanitation facilities. Recently, their traditional jobs have become difficult to obtain because of competition from members of the wider community, jeopardising food security. GBK is working to create alternative skills for the people and education opportunities for their children, enabling the next generation to live with respect and dignity.
B. Details of donors:
The DALIT project is funded by HEKS, Zurich, their board and their back donors.
C. Project Goal:
The Dalit peoples in GBK’s working area are able to fulfill their human potential, live with dignity and are treated with respect by the greater communities.
D. Projective objectives:
To develop mutual understanding through problem and livelihood status analysis of the Dalit families in the working communities
Dalit children within primary school going age have opportunities to attend in primary education
To sensitize the Dalit peoples about their life skills, health, gender, social discrimination, and responsibilities
To start advocacy discussion with the local government (municipality), railway authority, government institutions and greater communities on the Dalit peoples situation
E: Working area of the project:
The DALIT project is directly working in the following 7 communities of 5 municipalities in Dinajpur, Rangpur and Nilphamari district of Bangladesh, with a total number of 1782 participants.
F: Activity accomplishment:
F.1: PPS & NFPE school activities:
Dalit children are unable to attend government primary school due to their poverty and high levels of social exclusion. Students and guardians in the wider community don’t allow them to school. The DALIT project operates 7 pre-primary and non-formal primary schools to teach Dalit children. Each school has two female teachers recruited from the wider community. Through this process, greater community’s movement to the dalit communities will increase. A total 151 boys and 163 girls are studying in school.
Result/Impact:
Dalit children participants now have opportunities for education and are more aware of it’s importance.
F.2: Day Observation:
The DALIT project has arranged events on 16th December (national victory day), 21st February (mother language day) and the 26th March. Dalit community people, mothers, students, youths participated in these events in 5 different working areas of the project.
Result/Impact:
This was an excellent opportunity for the dalit people to meet with members of the wider community. Because of this, attitudes towards the Dalit peoples are changing slowly in the wider community.
F3: School /Cultural Centre maintenance:
There are rooms in each of the seven communities used as the meeting place of the community people and also used as the classroom for the PPS and NFPE students of the community.
Result/Impact:
In maintaining the centre rooms, the community peoples are motivated to work jointly by which unity will be build up among them. They at least have a community place for holding meetings about their own issues.
F4: Teacher’s Training on Child Rights, Child trafficking and child protection:
A training course on “Child rights, child trafficking and Child protection” was arranged for the DALIT project school teachers during 25-28th February at GBK’s central training centre.
Result/impact:
The teachers learned about the children’s definition, their rights and how to protect child rights. They also known about the different declaration and laws against child rights violations.
F5: Teacher’s Orientation on Gender Awareness:
All project staff and teachers attended a gender relation and development orientation on 27-30th March.
Result/impact:
The project staff now understand gender issues and are expected to reflect this knowledge in their lives.
F6: Teacher’s Training on Education Material development:
This teachers’ training was held for the Dalit project school teachers between 20-22 May.
Result/impact:
Teachers’ knowledge of education materials, including supplementary materials, has increased.
F7: Teacher’s Orientation on Conflict Management:
All project staff and teachers attended an orientation on conflict management held between 17-19 May.
Result/impact:
The project staff now understand conflict and its resolution techniques and are expected to use their skill in community level at work.
F8: Study Visit for Teacher and Staffs:
On 12th May, a study visit was arranged for the project team to visit an Early Child Care and Development (ECCD) programme in Dinajpur, funded by PLAN Bangladesh.
Result/Impact:
The DALIT team learned several best practices, including classroom management, education mother’s materials and their use, lesson plan, record keeping and display. A close relationship has developed between the organizations.
F9: Promotional Training for Teachers:
A residential “Promotional Training” course was organized on January 26-30.
Result/impact:
Participants became familiar with the new classes and texts and can now teach them. Their concept and knowledge in conducting and managing classes overall was also strengthened.
F10: Class Room Material supply:
Classroom materials including- chalk pencil, duster, flip chart, flashcard, signboard, national flag, students attendance and other registers, learning friendly compact disk, CD player, colour television are supplied in each of the school. Mat for the students; stool for teacher are also supplied in each school.
F11: Education Materials supply:
Every student receives a new set of Bangladesh National Curriculum and Text Book Board text books.
Result/impact:
The students are receive books and other education materials free of cost and the parents are getting release from cost of their children’s education. Books are partially collected from the upazila education office, which is developing good relation among GBK and government officials.
F12: Monthly Refreshers for Teachers:
The school teachers monthly teaching target, technique, processes are determined through monthly refreshers course, held in the 4th week of each month at GBK,s central training centre.
Result/impact:
Through the refreshers process, the teachers get opportunities to share their teaching experience and knowledge with others, including different teaching techniques, classroom management etc.
F13: Nutritional Food for Students, pregnant and lactating mothers:
The DALIT Project provides nutritional food for the school students six days in a week. The SMC members regularly assist and monitor the nutritional food activity in the respective community.
Result/impact:
Awareness of necessity and importance of nutritional food for children and lactating and pregnant mothers are increasing among the mothers and the community peoples.
F14: School Uniform for students:
School uniform is given to each of the students, along with shoes, socks, name cards and school bags. The SMC members and the project go to market to buy these clothes.
Result/impact:
School uniform engenders pride in the students. Dalit people have the opportunity to enter shops and talk/bargain with the shopkeepers as a big customer and are accorded dignity as a consequence.
F16: Cleaning/washing Materials:
The project provides cleaning materials to the project school students.
Result/impact:
School students are more aware about health than before. They take regular baths, cut nail and hair regularly etc. this is having a knock-on impact on their other family members and in the community.
F17: Hair Cutting:
In the first year, GBK gave financial support alongside motivation towards regular hair cutting among the children and their parents. The parents are now more aware about it and they spontaneously are doing this. This activity has a good result in the community.
F18: Learning Compact Disc show:
In each of the school, students are shown many cartoons, learning CDs and child friendly events once in a week, including SISIMPUR, a USAID funded child education and child learning programme.
Result/impact:
This is an entertaining method of teaching, helping to develop children’s learning and good habits.
F19: Annual Examination:
A regular process of performance evaluation of the school student is held twice a year in the DALIT project, once between 19th-26th June and the final examinations between 17 to 24th December.
Result/impact:
The school students’ performance is evaluated and they are inspired on the basis of their results.
F20: Student-Parents-community peoples annual gathering and sports and cultural competition:
A gathering was arranged in parbatipur municipality community centre on 24th of March. There were around 600 participants including project school students, SMC members, and community leaders.
Result/impact:
During the cultural and sports competition, Dalit people feel proud like other peoples in the community. This is the first time in their lives they attended in this type of event freely and enjoyed a lot.
F21: SMC Quarterly Meeting:
Each School Management Committee (SMC) consists of 7 members from the respective community including 3 women. Each SMC held 8 meetings this year, playing a key role in daily operation of the school.
Result/impact:
Through the SMC, community members’ awareness ofeducation has increased. The SMCs play a vital role in purchasing school uniform as well as other goods, and in checking nutritional food distribution.
F22: Mothers’ Meeting:
Arranged once a month, participants include school student’s mothers, along with other women in the community. The main objective is to encourage mothers to send their children to school.
Result/impact:
Mothers are now thinking about the cause of their current situation, and can understand the importance and necessity of their child being educated.
F23: Study visit for NFPE students to government primary school:
The Project staff and teachers take project school students to the nearby government primary school once a month. It is hoped that, the students will be familiar with primary school atmosphere and will be regularize in that school after completion of the project school education.
Result/impact:
The dalit children’s fear about school has been allayed. This will help prepare them to go to school in class (iv) after passing class (iii) in the project school.
F24: Training/workshop through department of Narcotics:
An orientation on “Bad impact of drinking alcohol” was held in March with the assistance of department of narcotics of the government of Bangladesh in different communities.
Result/impact:
Participants were made more aware about the serious harm of their health for drinking of alcohol.
F25: Poster Publication:
In the reporting year, a poster urging creating of education opportunities of the Dalit children has been published in the occasion of the global education campaign week in April.
Result/impact:
The poster has been appreciated by different peoples and authorities. We believe that, the poster will at least make human beings to think about the vulnerability and lack of education of the dalit children.
F26: Media Campaign:
To draw attention of the state authorities and other stakeholders to the situation of dalit peoples, members of the media were invited to visit the school and different activities of the project.
Result/impact:
From this activity, journalists wrote a number of articles and those were published in leading local and national dailies, and inspired the project staff and Dalit communities for continuation of their effort.
F27: Project Participants health Awareness and Family Planning Training:
Between March and November, a number of health awareness and family planning orientations were held, with over one hundred and fifty total participants from local communities.
Result/impact:
The participating people’s awareness about health and family planning increased.
F28: Project Participants citizen’s rights Awareness Training/Orientation:
In November, GBK facilitated a number of day long orientations on “citizen rights awareness” with a total of over one hundred participants.
Result/impact:
Dalit peoples’ awareness about their rights and responsibilities towards the country is increasing.
F29: Women/adolescent girl’s tailoring and embroidery training:
In the last year, 4 women from Babu Para community started tailoring training and 3 from them are continuing training in this year as well. Hopefully, by the end of this year they will be provided some support to start their tailoring business in a small scale. Three women in Jahangeer Nagar have been given training last year and they are doing embroidery and, in Rangpur Sadar hospital Horizon colony, 4 women are getting embroidery training. This will lead to more secure livelihoods.
F30: Dalit youth joins GBK:
One Dalit youth has been appointed at GBK’s head office as office peon. He is a member of the GBK team and has fitted very well. Hopefully this will encourage other people to recruit from the Dalit community.
F31. Goals reached:
The major achievement that the project attained so far are-
The majority of children participants now attend school regularly.
Many of the parents are more serious about their child education.
Alcoholism is decreasing. The school students forbid their parents to drink.
Personal cleanliness among the children is increasing.
Couples are more aware about planned family, importance of family planning and health care.
The pregnant and lactating mothers now can understand about extra food for their body.
From the gatherings and different event, Dalit people are now slowly understanding about their situation, causes and the actually want to be out of these problems.
By participating in activities like purchasing goods for school uniform, they are able to go to market and bargain with the shopkeepers with dignity.
G. Main focus for the upcoming reporting period:
GBK believes that, once the Dalit children are educated, they will be model citizens. They will be involved in other job instead of their traditional roles. Social exclusion will be reduced through this process.
With the dream, GBK has been planned admit the project school graduated students in class (iv) in government primary school. To further this goal, the school teachers and the project staff take our students to a government primary school once in a month. Hopefully our student’s confidence will improve, as will the wider community’s attitudes towards the Dalit children.
As shared in the earlier report, we GBK also have planned to start HOME for the meritorious students of the project. The meritorious students will live in the project operated home, study in different institutions and also nursed for better future in the home as well. Other activities of the project will be continued as well including- day observation, training, meeting, IGA support etc.
The project staffs including the teacher will be given training related to child issues including- child right, child trafficking and child protection, gender awareness development, education material development, conflict management etc. Study visit for teacher and staff will be arranged in the coming year as well.
Trying to involve the dalit people in alternative job/skills will be a continuous process in the coming year.
H. Action envisaged to overcome problems and to reach goals:
Community conflict among the families is very common and happen everyday. The greater communities neglecting attitude is also a big problem. While working with them, the problems are resolved through communication with local elected representatives, administration, local elites.