OVERVIEW
The BSC is a non profit, voluntary organization which is run under the aegis of St. Xavier's Non Formal Education Society in Gujarat, India. It currently works in over 100 villages in three different districts of Gujarat. The Centre has been involved in the field of development, research and training for over 20 years and its grassroots involvement is with some of the most deprived and oppressed sections of Indian society. Primarily, BSC works with India's Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as with women with the goal of empowerment and poverty alleviation. The Centre believes that poverty, discrimination of any kind and underdevelopment are human-made constructs. BSC is committed to working towards the eradication of poverty and discrimination and the development and empowerment of the most marginalised communities of Indian society.
Overall, the BSC aims to:
- Raise social awareness leading to unity, self respect, self-reliance, and the development of people's power to organize themselves
- Educate India's oppressed in techno-managerial skills in order to achieve an effective transfer of technology
- Assist in the creation of people's organisations which are socio-culturally and economically viable.
It is BSC's belief that these organizations must be owned and managed by the people themselves!
MISSION STATEMENT
The BSC, as a voluntary organisation, is commited to fight injustice against humankind and nature through the creation and promotion of sustainable local organizations of the marginalized, which are managed by the people themselves. The BSC works with the people to bring about justice through organizing the rural poor, especially the Dalits, Tribals, and women.
STRATEGY
For the past 20 years BSC has been pursuing it's goals through training and non-formal education. The Centres strategy stresses dialogue with the people, community building and co-operation. Education is not merely an academic exercise, but a joint effort in which the outsiders (agents of change) and the local population work together.
BSC stresses a participatory approach to development. This translates into a system where both teachers and students are equal partners in the process of learning and personal development. Underlying the BSC's approach is the belief that every individual is important. It is only through the understanding of each participant individually that a greater understanding of the interactions within groups can be achieved.
One of the main instruments of learning and development is the group formed by the participants in any training course. The participants are asked to simultaneously concentrate on themselves, on group processes and on each other. It is BSC's belief that understanding can only be realized through effective communication.
In relation to skill-based training, the Centre's approach stresses the demystification of "expertise". Training is imparted through participatory methods which stress practice of the skills as well as a variety of improvised methods of learning for those who are illiterate. Such skill-based training is used in areas such as: social forestry, wasteland development, community medicine, accounting, fisheries, and the management of co-operatives.
ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN
The BSC undertakes activities in a variety of different fields:
- Education and mobilization of groups and the formation of viable local organisations
- Techno-managerial assistance in the day-to-day functioning of various village activities and local grassroots organizations
- Technology research for rural development and women's empowerment
- Theoretically based study and training on common social issues
The Centre's training's are divided into four distinct areas:
- Training in social awareness and personal growth
- Training in understanding and facilitating Human Processes in groups
- Training in specific skills ie. cooperatives, fishery, land improvement, savings and credit, voluntary organization monitoring and evaluation
- Training in Not-For-Profit Organisation - understanding and management
The techno-managerial assistance is mainly imparted through fieldwork. This includes promoting co-operatives, community health programmes, reforestation, social housing, wasteland development, agriculture, cottage industries, animal husbandry, and credit programmes.
Geographical Areas of BSC's development interventions:
The Centre operates in three areas of Gujarat:
A) BSC's oldest area of operations is the Bhal area of Khambhat Taluka in the Kheda district. The Centre has almost completed its planned withdrawal and now only maintains a supportive presence (for example, the BSC still sits on the board of The Federation - the autonomous local level organization which has been established in this region)
B) The second area is Dhandhuka Taluka of Ahmedabad District. This coastal saline area located around the Gulf of Cambay has been a major area of intervention since 1989.
C) The third, and most recent area of work is the Tribal area of Danta Taluka in Banaskantha district in North Gujarat.
