Cluster-in-charges

In the last post I wrote about the structure of Vishakha. Today we'll zoom in to the practical work of Vishakha and concentrate on the work of the people called cluster-in-charges.

Cluster-in-charge training in Salumbar office.

The responsibilities of a cluster-in-charge are varied. They are the Vishakha's women and men on the field doing daily relations work for the organisation, building rapport in the villages and doing capacity building activities for the women and the girls. In order to spread the cause and the vision of Vishakha, the cluster-in-charges are forming relations in their village clusters in general and specifically concentrating on certain people. For example, Anganwadi workers in the government sponsored child and mother care centers are a vital connection for Vishakha for both gaining information and spreading the cause. For this need to connect with the people in the different villages, the cluster-in-charges are usually local people working in the area and with the people they know well.

In addition to building the local network required for important contacts, the cluster-in-charges are working closely with the local Anganwadis. One of their numerous tasks is to do mapping of the local area. The cluster-in-charges do population counting but they particularly concentrate on the adolescent girls so that they know the amount of the girls in their area. In addition to the amount of them it is important to know the general situation of the young girls living in the area: Are they married? Are they working? In what sort of conditions are they living? This is the information important to understand in the field of social development and women empowerment.

A local girl refilling the water bottles of the cluster-in-charges

By getting to know the local girls more personally, the cluster-in-charges understand more about their daily lives. Another thing that the close relations make possible is the identifying of different skills the girls and other locals have. For example, if there is a person competent in playing a certain instrument well she or he might be asked to join a common happening later on to entertain and improve the unity of the village group. Of course, the skills or contacts of the identified individuals could be anything else as well.

Cluster-in-charges in training, Udaipur.

After the cluster-in-charges know more about the local people they are also doing case studies in order to find interesting and inspiring personal stories. For example, there might be a local villager who has become an air hostess, an occupation not at all common for a woman from small rural village. For many, especially for the girls and women, the life in their village might not seem full of opportunities and the lives often feel predestined. By telling the stories of women who have achieved things not so common for them and spreading the general awareness about women and their achievements Vishakha is doing the important and inspirational empowering work for the local girls and women.

More about Vishakha

You already know that the idea of the NGO is women empowerment. In this post you'll find out more about how Vishakha is doing its work.

Let's start with the structure of the organisation. Vishakha has staff of around 50 people working on offices around Rajasthan and on the field. My internship is concentrated on the Udaipur office and Salumbar office, where the latter was a base for introductory trips around the countryside. Main office is located in Jaipur and there are also other offices.

Main force of the staff are the cluster-in-charges, the people who are the first contact to local villagers wherever Vishakha has projects. Every c-i-c has a cluster of villages under his/her responsibility where they contribute to the women empowering work in many ways. Then there are the block coordinators who have block of clusters under them, coordinating with the villages and cluster-in-charges. Blocks form districts that are the responsibility of district team members.

All the time there are special concentration points for Vishakha where most of the effort is put. At the moment the three main points of concentration for Vishakha are domestic violence, girl empowerment and counceling centres for the youth.

First there is the big problem of violence against women, specifically domestic violence, where more attention is needed across the country. Vishakha challenges the violence by providing community based programmes, by researching on experiences of violence, by building capacities for case work in violence intervention and with the Mahila Salah evam Suraksha Kendra centres, among other things. The MSSKs are centres where women facing violence can seek support. Counceling and linking women with essential services such as legal advice, medical services and support for short stay are some of the services MSSK centres provide.Vishakha also has the MSSK module for other organizations to spread the much needed centres.

The other priority for Vishakha at the moment is the Adolescent Girls Initiative where the NGO is concentrating on girls between 11 an 19 years of age. In the UNFPA AGI project the concentration point is the thinking process so instead of, for example, supplying the families of the girls with food or other necessities, the programme aims to make the girls more initiative and wants them to stand on their own feet. Staying in schools longer and not marrying or having babies at a very young age are the main goals of the initiative. Important object of the AGI is to get the girls out of their rather sheltered lives and to see and understand more of the society and of the world.

Third main concentration point for Vishakha at the moment are the counseling centres. In this very new project started in Jaipur and Baghru in 2014 Vishakha is working closely with the youth in the villages.