How It Began: It was established as a cultural society 50 years ago in a remote West Bengal village, but in the last 30 years has refocused on rural reconstruction for the Sunderbans area, and also semi-urban areas of Kolkata. They work closely with communities and villages to make sure their projects are sustainable and in keeping with the environment. They have grown from one village to working in 4 villages and several areas in Kolkata, and the offices and centres are key to the communities that use them.
The Organisation Now : They provide community focussed holistic development of villages through various different projects and programmes including the model village project striving for every village to have safe drinking water, children in schools, at least one family member earning a livelihood, latrines and to be self-sufficient. Their microfinance projects have enabled many groups to save and then invest in a sustainable livelihood generating scheme, or invest in their child’s education.
Accomodation And Location : The project is in the Sunderbans which are about a three and half hour journey from Kolkata. The project is in a remote area and it’s about 20 mins by auto to the main road and then about 40 mins to an hour by shared auto to get to the railway station. You will stay in the charities guesthouse which is a two minute walk from the healthcare clinic where you will be working. It is simple but clean and next to their offices. You will be able to get all meals at the guest house, which are again basic but nutritious.