Nishtha Community Centre was launched in 2004 in a refurbished house next to the health clinic. It is an open welcoming space providing facility for a wide range of vibrant activities.

The large meeting hall in which youth and community programmes and trainings are held.			The office cum computer room provides space for the organisation of our programmes as well as a training and practice facility for youth learning to use the computer.
The Library contains a good selection of Hindi and English books and periodicals including popular magazines and daily newspapers. In addition, a selection of DVDs and video cassettes of good quality movies can be played on our large screen TV in the workshop room.			Accommodation for special needs patients, a refuge for women in need and for guests or resource specialists.

Functional kitchens provide space for tea, snacks and large quantities of food to be cooked and the school children or groups of people to be fed on the ground behind the centre on the covered verandas when it is raining.

Bathrooms with solar heated hot water and provision for handicapped people

Clean filtered water is provided for the community through three purification and filtration systems located in different parts of the village and in the local school. Tapping points in the Centre entrance court.

Community Centre Staff

		Dr Kishwar Shirali, rtd Associate Professor H.P. University, Shimla (Psychology Dept.). has been involved with women’s empowerment issues since 1971. She joined the staff of Shimla University where she engaged in research, workshops, seminars and activism on women’s issues including self esteem, sexuality, literacy and body awareness. Since her retirement in 1997, Dr Shirali has been involved with psychotherapy and alternative healing in the Kashmir valley as well as with all Nishtha’s workshops and community based programmes.
		Philippa Russell has been working with Nishtha Rural Health Education and Environment Centre for the past 10 years. Her role has been that of administrator, working on all aspects of the Trust set up, personnel management, accounts, the research project, project proposals and reportage. She has designed and implemented the construction of the Community Centre.
		Padam Nab is in charge of the school nutritional enhancement programme. He buys, prepares and distributes the fruit and snacks to the school children forming a personal relationship with each one of them. Salochana works part time with Padam Nab and the school children and helps to clean and maintain the community facility.
		Community Coordinators Mishru Devi, an experienced community outreach worker and Deepa, a young single woman are responsible for the smooth running of the centre. Deepa is particularly involved with the single women’s outreach programme while Mishru Devi co-ordinates the income generating and stitching programmes.

Women’s Programmes

Nishtha Well Being Centre - a facility available to all those in need of emotional help. Dr. Kishwar Shirali, our experienced psychotherapist runs this programme and is available to see patients as required. We also work with families of alcoholics and women who suffer from domestic violence. Space is always available to accommodate women in distress who need time out from their families.

Single Women’s project - widows, women who are separated from their husbands or do not choose to marry are socially stigmatised members of Indian society. Nishtha is facilitating the development of the single women’s movement in this area by contacting single women in the locality, proving a centre in which they can hold meetings and workshops and connecting with other organisations working on what is becoming a nation wide movement to press for a change in both social attitudes towards and the legal status of women without husbands. Single women’s issues include financial uncertainty, lack of education, low social status and legal and political vulnerability.

Stitching training – two sewing teachers train groups of either recently married or soon to be married girls in basic sewing. This is a socially acceptable activity which enables young village women who are otherwise isolated by traditional ideas, to come out of their homes and meet with others. They are automatically enrolled in the youth club and are encouraged to become active members.

Women’s meetings and functions including the Mahila Mandal Meetings and 8th March Women’s Day celebration are held in the centre.

Assisted education – financial and practical assistance for girls to avail of the higher education offered to their brothers is provided through a sponsorship scheme.

Income generating projects for disadvantaged local women are being developed in order to change their traditional depandance on their families and thereby grant then financial autonomy and social status. At present Martin, an Austrian volunteer who is very skilled in cooking and baking is conducting his 12 month civil service at Nishtha. With this valuable resource person on hand, Nishtha has taken up the challenge to offer practical training in bread baking & cakes and patisseries production. We are also training the women in business management: planning, marketing and accounting as well as in hygiene, packaging and kitchen maintenance.  Photo Gallery

Focus on School Children

School children’s nutritional enhancement programme ensures that all the poorest children in our immediate locality receive daily supplemental food. The school children fill the courtyard twice a day with their bright chatter as they wash their hands in solar heated warm water and receive their fruit and protein rich snacks before returning to their lessons

Tuition for students who failed important exams – many middle income families pay for tuition for their children when they have to re-sit school exams which have to be prepared for alongside studying for the next class. Poorer children often drop out of school. Therefore we asked a retired school principal who lives locally to work with three young graduates interested in taking up teaching as a career to organise classes in Maths, English and Hindi for students during the monsoon school break.

Children’s holiday club took place for the first time during the monsoon this year and continues weekly. Our community co-ordinators, volunteers and our Project Officer all do sessions with the children to provide creative and environmentally aware activities.

Youth club programmes for both boys and girls

Sports, gym sessions – gym equipment was purchased last year which is enthusiastically used by a limited number of boys. Several volunteers and our staff have introduced games and cricket and basket ball teams have been formed. A project to improve the village play ground is underway.

Computer training A computer teacher comes each evening to work with small groups – both boys and girls (50:50 in each class) in basic computer skills. Advanced classes are also offered when qualified volunteer trainers are available.

The Library with books and periodicals draws the local youth and our staff and a weekly film evening is a popular event.

Arts and Crafts are welcomed by the girls who make cards, jewellery, bags and so on – volunteers who can teach particular craft skills are welcome.

Language and writing development trainings are held.

Outings/hiking are a source of great delight. Most local young people have little opportunity to visit even quite nearby places or to hike up into the mountains and camp. This activity is therefore becoming a regular feature of the youth club.

Folk song and dance training the Nishtha cultural group meets regularly for practice sessions and performances. Two well known Gaddi musicians have given their time to training the group in the local tribal folk dances and songs with such success that they have been giving performances outside the centre. Nishtha is undertaking to create a set of the traditional costumes for the use of the Nishtha troop.

Environmental Awareness: we hold clean up days, discussions and produce information posters and meetings with the youth and school children. Nishtha also produces hand made screen printed shopping bags to encourage people to reduce their use of plastic and to raise awareness of environmental issues

Agriculture: Programmes include tree and herb planting, vermiculture and organic agriculture

Disaster management: first aid, understanding of water resource management, and disaster relief planning are areas we wish to develop.

Raising Awareness in Local Government – Nishtha project Officer, Mohinder Sharma is greatly interested in local village government. Representing Nishtha, he has over the past two years attended several meetings held by an organisation called PRIYA who are working to inform the local village people about their rights and role in local government and the welfare of their communities. The Panchayats are the elected councils of groups of hamlets containing 2,000 voters set up all over India. In this system the responsibility for carrying out local development projects is devolved to the village councils by the Government of India. This system, which effectively gives the power to the people was Mahatma Ghandi’s bequest to the rural poor. However, ignorance and the blatant flaunting of people’s rights by the rich and powerful marginalizes the greater proportion of the population, allowing the powerful to use government resources for their own gain. Most people are no longer aware of their rights and role in local governance, therefore this program is of immense value to society.  Continued

Construction

In 2002 we purchased the house next to the health clinic which was simply built and in poor condition from a family who wished to move to the Punjab. Extensive repairs and improvements were undertaken during 2003-4 including strengthening the foundations, raising a support structure for a second floor, roofing the entire structure to save the leaking concrete flat roof from water damage and repairing the walls. The original look of local Khanyara stone work and mud rendering has been maintained along with a slate and bamboo roof and simple wooden flooring. The courtyard area is paved with local heavy slate chakkas providing an area to sit and the back garden has been landscaped to provide an area for events and functions.

We are very grateful to the German Embassy in New Delhi for funding the repairs and improvements to the Community Centre and to the Australian Embassy for assisting us in launching our community programmes. Photo Gallery