The year 2021 was also marked by the Covid pandemic. Cewas staff maintained contact with the village population and were able to resume core social and legal empowerment tasks. An overview of activities can be found in the 2021 Annual Report.
With a charity in September 2020 we wanted to enable CEWAS to
continue their Food Bank project and to provide staple foods to the
villages. Because of the pandemic unfortunately we were not able to carry out the
evening as planned. Instead there were severeal Indian Take Away "Food for
Food": With a solidarity surcharge of CHF 5.- on each menu to support the Food Bank project of CEWAS.
We thank "Stiftung intact" for this wonderful cooperation!
Thanks to the close knitted network built during the years of work in the villages, CEWAS is able to relieve the greatest needs where other NGOs or government officials don't reach. CEWAS staff has bought biological staple foods in bulk from local farmers, packed them in smaller portions and sold them at an affordable price. The demand is big, which is why CEWAS plans to establish little shops in the villages to allow access to staple foods of good quality, independent of supply chains and market prices.
With your donation for "Food Banks" you enable CEWAS to establish these shops and to continue to provide food for the villagers.
The village meetings are well established. CEWAS is active in 35 previous and 20 new villages. The withdrawal from 10 other villages has been possible as the women's groups there have become independent and are now able to take care of their projects themselves and also to actively participate in politics.
The Corona crisis poses an almost unimaginable burden in the poverty-stricken villages. Income-generating projects will be very important in the coming time. Since no meetings could take place recently due to the curfew, CEWAS uses the money saved in this way for the development and expansion of such projects.
A center for social and legal empowerment of village communities. Our dream became true. Thanks to all supporters and volounteer workers. We are looking forward to a place of learning, social change, cultural events, joy and happiness.
The focus of this year's project trip was the new building. During a week there was a lot of discussion about the further construction phases, the financing and ideas for the future use.
With great pleasure we are able to announce that we have reached the goal of our crowdfunding project to collect CHF 13'000. We already have transferred this sizeable sum to CEWAS India and the building of our training center continues.
Our heartfelt thanks to everybody who supported our project with their generous donations!
Last October CEWAS director Saravana’s request to build a house on her plot, was state-approved. As proprietor of the grounds she would like to give CEWAS trust the building rights in order to build a training centre including offices and a seminar hall on the ground floor.
On this year’s visit of the project I was accompanied by a group of seven dedicated Swiss women. We had the opportunity to gain insight in all the different fields of activity of CEWAS: We talked to people concerned, whose cases have been dealt with at CEWAS, attended a meeting with group leaders from about 30 different villages and had discussions with women’s groups in two villages.
Between 10 and 15 february the fotografer Walter Keller and me spent time in CEWAS. CEWAS staff members took very well care of us. We stayed in Saravanas house and Umapathi organized a program for us. We visited two villages, one drop-in center and a street play. One morning all the fifty village leaders came together for a meeting. In all meetings we had a nice mutual sharing and very reflective discussions.
When Sathya came to CEWAS, she was nine months pregnant and desperate. She was unmarried, the child's father refused to marry her. Unmarried and pregnant she was a disgrace to her family and was sent away. In CEWAS she delivered the child and later on started working for CEWAS. With the help of CEWAS she managed to reunite with her family. She now lives as a single parent back in her village - a very unusual situation, which shows that change is possible. Her work at CEWAS, her fearless interaction with the police and the court has given her a certain status in the village. She is respected.