Capacity Building, Education, Training

To
Resident Community Volunteers
Ashwini
Introduction:
The success of the participatory development depends upon the enthusiasm, confidence
interest and motivation among the women. Resident community volunteers are the illiterate women
living in extreme poverty and adverse circumstances they have been not exposed to the newer ways
of the life they have the major role to play in the community development with the assistance of the
community organizers, assistance, project officers. By giving education and training we can change
their vision, outlook and perception. The most important component in the urban area is education
and training of the community volunteers, which can remove the inertia and make the employees of
the urban local bodies and the beneficiaries to accelerate the process of development.

Training to the community volunteers:

Community volunteers posses immense potential energy. This can be translated into the
kinetic energy provided this is channelized through practical training. Training is the essential to
make the volunteers to be capable, active and motivated. What are the important aspects that need to
be there in the training programs?
1.Creating the confidence among the Resident Community Volunteers :
Training should ensure that the women become confident and sure of their potentialities. It
can help them in taking their own decisions. Confidence will create chain reaction in the socieconomic development in area. To make them aware that they are as important as the citizens of the
city must be ingrained in their minds, so that their inferiority complex is removed. This has to be
done with love, affection, sincerity and devotion on the trainees and community organizers.
2. Making them understand the importance of the Cleanliness of the Home and Environment:
They must be made aware about the small things like the clean water, cleanness of the
surrounding, proper drainage. Most of the diseases spread through unclear environment. Making
women volunteers to understand changing status of the women and need to harness the women
potential energy for the national development:
The women is the pivot around which the family, society and humanity itself resolves. Its
well-said hat the hands that rock them candle rule the world. Women play a significant role in the
development of their offspring.
Much that has been granted to the women by law is not yet to be with in he reach of them all,
in reality. Continual large scale effort is needed to liquidate he limitations, still suffered by the
women to work shoulder to shoulder for improving the standard of the living of the Indian masses
Today the technological advancements and in general development in every sphere and race
against the time have compelled women to come out of the confines of the house and contribute
more to the main stream of the life. It is pity that a large majority of the Indian women are still

steeped in ignorance and not been able to break themselves away from the clutches of the traditions
and beliefs. Only the microscopic minority womenfolk has been able to utilize the rights entered in
the constitution.
During the last 3 decades, a number of movements began to raise the consciousness of
women with regard to their inferior status and to seek ways of improving it. These movements were
born and nurtured whenever the woman has access to the national, regional and the global activities.
Leaders of these movements were becoming the more aware of the realities of the situation. Women
have a clear perception that, participation in the socio-economic development of their county, its not
only the right of every women but it is their responsibility. The 27th General Assembly proclaimed
1975 as International Year For Women as there was lot of discrimination against the women.
He theme of the IWY Equality, Development and Peace. general assembly elaborated its theme, its
obligations as:
I. To promote the equality between the men and the women.
II. To ensure the full integration of the women in the total development effort, emphasizing the
womens responsibility and important role in the economic, social and cultural development in the
national, regional and in the international level.
III. To recognize the importance of the womens increasing contribution to the development of the
friendly relation and co-operation among states to the strengthening of the world peace.
3.Improving educational status of women through adult education and functional

Literacy
Education is the key factor in elevating the status of the women. Many of the national
programmes, like the family planning, grow more food; cottage industries are not a great success
because of lack of creative participation of the people especially the women. There are many causes
responsible for the low literacy among the women in India ex: early marriage, prevalence of child
labour, unsuitable and inadequate facilities in the school etc.
Education is the most potent factor for changing womens position in the society. We must
correct the imbalance by encouraging the education of the girls. The use of the Non- formal and
adult education system is useful to impart the education the illiterate. Napoleon once said that Give
me good mothers and I will give you good nation. By this we may conclude this that women
education help in the nation building.
4. Improving the opportunity for the Organized And Unorganized Employment:
Planners are generally agreed that one of the most important means of improving the status
of the women is to secure for them a fair share of employment opportunities.
5. Education to the Volunteers about availability of the Health services in their area:
Health services are undoubtedly inadequate especially in Bastis of the city. Women service
has 4 components:
I. Care of the general medical problem
II. Care of the gynecological problems
III. Obstetric problems and family problems
The purpose is to provide planned maternal service and child health service to ensure that
expectant and nursing mothers maintained good health. Women volunteers may be educated about
the government sponsored health services like the sub-centers, subsidiary health center, primary
health center etc.
6. Education about nutrition and nutritional service


Education about the planning adequate family welfare programmers

Imparting the education for the family health

Training the women in the art and science of participation in their own welfare.
Women should themselves extent pressure to get the due benefit for their welfare. They should unite
to from voluntary organization to help themselves.
7.Training for the child development

8 Training in taking collective decision on their own welfare

The ultimate success of the participatory development rest upon meetings together and planning for
the collective welfare.
Education and the capacity building constitute the key to development; beside bring a
basic tool for empowering the women. The education of the general public should stress upon
improving the gender sensitivity creating the equal opportunities and integrating superstitious and
social evils. Education and training specifically for the women should comparers vital inputs for the
awareness generating enhancing knowledge base, skill level developing communication ability,
building confidence besides fostering a team work approach for participation decision making.

Conclusion:
Once these volunteers shed their inertia the process of development would be very fast and
the life of the city would become better and peaceful. Resident community volunteers are the
kingpins in the process of participatory development. Therefore there is a need to train them in the
art and science pf participation, so that they can help in the improvement of slums.